Ramsay Cudlipp tries out one of the most tranquil holidays you can experience narrow-boating
‘IT’S the best method of forced relaxation,’ said my new friend Sarah, as our boats gently bumped against each other in the lock.
We were three days into our week-long journey along the Kennet and Avon Canal and I knew exactly what she meant.
Living on a narrow-boat – and travelling in it – is one of the most tranquil holidays you can experience. Everyone you meet – such as people like Sarah, who we learned had owned a narrow-boat for nine years and spent at least two months of the year exploring the K&A – is unfailingly friendly and helpful, and you’re all operating at a slower pace than normal.
We travelled with Condor Ferries on the impressive new boat, Liberation, and enjoyed the fantastic views from the Horizon lounge at the bow of the ship. We were due to collect our 50-foot home for the weekend from Foxhangers Canal Holidays, a family-run company that operates from a site in Devizes that was once a farm, on Saturday afternoon for a week’s trip.
The night before we collected our boat we stayed in Chippenham, the closest town to Devizes with a train station, at the Angel Hotel – a converted 17th-century coaching inn with impressive large rooms and friendly staff.
The next morning, before we took charge of our boat that afternoon, we walked the few miles to Devizes along the canal, which meant we walked passed the Caen Hill locks – a famous flight of 29 locks over two miles that can take five hours to negotiate. It was an intimidating introduction to what we were about to undertake, but watching pensioners tackle the locks with ease helped us relax a bit.
Also, we were planning on heading in the opposite direction and would encounter just eight locks before reaching the outskirts of Bath, our destination.
Stepping aboard the 50-foot Fennec Fox for the first time was a pleasant surprise.
We were amazed at the amount of space inside the cabin, and how cleverly it had been used, and also the facilities. There was everything you would ever need – dozens of plug sockets, a full-size under-counter fridge, TV and DVD, an AUX connection for smartphones, four gas hobs, an oven, a shower, a comfortable double bed, lights in every corner, and even a hair dryer.
It was like being in a floating cottage for the week and the local village shop had kindly delivered our shopping order – milk, fruit etc – as part of an arrangement they have with the company.
Foxhangers say that they pride themselves on giving people a comprehensive introduction and tutorial to operating a narrow-boat and we found the reassuring words of Mike to be very comforting.
After a full debrief, we pulled over to drop him at the towpath and began our journey.
It’s hard to put into words how it feels to be puttering along the canal on a warm August evening but I’ll remember those first few hours of our trip forever. We both said that we felt instantly relaxed and excited and the fact that you are moving (we were aiming for a pub in Seend, about two and a half miles away) gives you a sense of purpose.
The tiller takes a while to get used to, what with its turning point slightly back from the centre of the boat, but with a speed limit of 4 mph it’s very hard to get into any serious trouble and we were soon feeling confident enough to squeeze through narrow gaps or to pull over at the side before a lock or swing bridge.
Tackling the locks is great fun. Occasionally you will team up with another boat, which makes them much quicker to negotiate, but even with just two of you it’s simple enough.
One stays on the boat and the other takes the windlass (a type of key that is used to crank open the gates to fill or empty the lock) and does all of the manual labour.
At first we raced to get through the locks but we soon realised that there was no point rushing – narrow-boating is not a race.
That first night we reached Seend just before 7 pm, giving us ample time to moor up, shower and change before heading to the Barge Inn – a popular canal-side pub.
Mooring is a fun game, we discovered quickly.
You become very picky about where you will ‘park’ your boat and the satisfaction of finding a perfect spot and securing the boat so that it is tightly held against the bank will put a smile on your face for at least an hour.
Inside the pub we bumped into a few friendly faces that we had seen out on the canal and enjoyed swapping stories about where we were going and how we had all handled the day’s locks and swing bridges, before grabbing a bite to eat and wandering tipsily back to our mooring for a late-night drink under the stars on the bow of the boat.
And that set the tone for our week. We would get up fairly early, fire up the engine and travel for a few hours – stopping for lunch at a pub or the side of the canal, before mooring up near a small village or town for the evening.
The pubs along the route are all superb. Well-stocked with a huge selection of real ales and ciders (this is CAMRA territory), they all serve hearty grub and even have free dog biscuits on the bar. In fact, our one regret was not taking the dog.
Our boat was described as dog-friendly, as the doors create a secure pen, and everywhere we went seemed to be very accommodating of four-legged friends. Next time…
We especially enjoyed Bradford on Avon, a charming market town with a great range of restaurants and pubs.
We stocked up on fresh local cider, hand-made pies and even enjoyed a fried breakfast in The Bridge Tearooms, a well-known café that dates back to 1675.
The scenery is stunning. The canal never runs straight for that long, so you have to concentrate, but you can still keep an eye out for swans, herons, kingfishers, water voles and some of the fattest, most well-fed ducks you’ll ever see.
The route also takes in two aqueducts – the Dundas and the Avoncliffe. If you have the time it’s well worth stopping and getting off the boat for a closer look (we timed it so we stopped for lunch) at these amazing feats of engineering.
The Kennet and Avon canal as a whole is actually a remarkable construction. Built in the early 1800s as part of the trade routes that linked parts of the UK, the K&A fell into disrepair with the advent of the railways.
But it was restored to its former glory in the 1990s when a huge team of volunteers, with the help of a £25 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant, worked to empty the water of mud, rubbish and shopping trolleys, rebuilt locks and made the walls as water-proof as they would ever be.
We made it to Bath in just under three days and enjoyed a day out in the city, which seemed very busy to us after the quiet of the canal.
The Thermae Bath Spa was a special treat. Delivered four years late and £30 million over budget, the luxury resort was worth the wait and the expense, even if we did find it just a bit overcrowded.
We were keen to get back on the boat after a few hours and we even watched some TV for the first time, having moored in a spot that picked up a strong signal.
The electrics on the boat are powered by a leisure battery that is charged by running the engine, meaning that it makes sense to charge phones, laptops etc during the day.
But you needn’t worry – the battery had enough juice to keep going during our overnight stop in Bath – even though the engine wasn’t used for 24 hours. There is a huge water tank on board, supplying the shower, sinks etc, and if you don’t run out there are several water taps along the canal where you can easily fill up.
The boat also feels very safe and secure. Constructed out of steel, there are sturdy locks on all doors and we never felt worried about leaving valuables on board when we were out and about in the day.
We made our way back slightly more slowly than we had come down, having a bit of extra time, and enjoyed discovering yet more brilliant pubs, such as the Old Bear Inn in Staverton, a real hidden gem of a place that is just a short walk from the towpath, the Somerset Arms in Semington, where a friendly barmaid led me through a tasting tour of various speciality ales, and The Three Magpies, a pub just round the corner from Foxhangers that is a very convenient place to spend your last night.
Ramsay travelled with Condor Ferries on the new vessel, Liberation, to Poole.
Foxhangers Canal Holidays have a fleet of narrowboats varying in size from 45 ft, sleeping four people, to 69 ft, which can sleep up to nine passengers.
All boats come with a fridge, DVD player and are pet friendly.
After returning the boat and returning to dry land somewhat reluctantly, we spoke to Russell Fletcher, the managing director of Foxhangers, who explained how they keep their fleet looking so pristine.
Foxhangers’ boats are all repainted each year – and taken out of the water every two years for a good scrub on the underside – and every year Foxhangers add a new boat to the fleet, purchasing a steel shell and then spending 3,000 hours outfitting their new vessel to a high specification.
The company started off with just one boat in 1997 and now has a fleet of 16 boats, with a new one to be added for next season.
‘People are often surprised at the level of comfort on board and that’s why we like to do it ourselves,’ says Russell.
‘It’s like building a complete house and then making it float.
‘Some people say that it’s the fastest way of slowing down. The combination of being in beautiful rural areas but also being able to moor next to a pub or town is great. The Kennet and Avon is the most southern canal and is easy to access because of links to London and the south. It’s a great holiday for families and the largest boats we have feature nine berths. But we also get lots of couples and it’s great for older people who have been on boats all their lives but are starting to find sailing a bit taxing.’
As we boarded the train back to Poole for our return ferry to Jersey, we chatted about the people we had met, including ‘live-ons’ (people who reside on the canal permanently) and those who, like us, were on the water for a temporary break from normal life.
Narrow-boating is good for the soul. No day was the same, because you’re constantly changing your surroundings as you travel along the canal, and negotiating the locks and captaining your own vessel makes for an interesting, challenging experience.
It would be, we agreed, impossible not to relax on such a trip. With the gentle sound of the water, the quiet encounters with wildlife and the friendly waved ‘hello’s from passing strangers as you wind your way along the canal, it’s easy to forget about the hustle and bustle of everyday life and embrace a way of living that we should all experience from time to time.
