This was to be our fourth U.K. canal boat holiday as we’d really caught the bug. Narrow-boating is the perfect way to slow down, unwind and connect with nature whilst chugging along canals at no more than walking speed.
This time around we’d opted to take a seven night cruise from the pretty village of Wrenbury in Cheshire along the Llangollen Canal into Wales and back again. We hired our boat from ABC Boat Hire, who are part of the Drifters group. Our adventure would take us over the famous Pontcysyllte aqueduct known as the stream in the sky and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Sand Lark
This post will introduce readers to our well equipped narrowboat.
Our floating home for the week was aboard Sand Lark, a 66ft long narrowboat sleeping up to six guests. There were just three of us on board for the week so we arranged to have the cabins configured as one double and one twin. For larger groups, the dinette in the lounge can easily be converted overnight into an extra double bed. All bed linen is provided and we found the mattresses to be very comfortable, sending us to sleep soon after our heads touched the pillow.
The modern galley kitchen came with everything necessary for a pleasant stay, in fact it felt like spending a week in a holiday cottage with the benefit of waking up to a different view from the windows each morning. With a built-in oven and grill, hob, under counter fridge, kettle, cafetière, toaster, microwave, pots, pans and utensils, we had the option of dining in or eating out at a canal side pub, wherever ever the mood took us.
The bright and airy living area had a fixed corner seat with two further drop down seats around the good sized table. We enjoyed breakfast each morning there and occasional evening meals when it was a bit chilly to dine on the foredeck. Around the table was our favourite place to gather for our evening board games accompanied by nibbles and a glass of wine.
Although we didn’t use them much, there were two small televisions on board, a radio and best of all, unlimited Wi-Fi. This was the first boat we have hired with unlimited Wi-Fi meaning that one could effectively work on board for part of the cruise if needed.
A table could easily be attached to the foredeck and as the weather was beautiful on all but one day of our boat trip, we utilised this a great deal as it was so lovely to be outdoors breathing in the fresh, country air.
Over my next two posts I will detail the boat trip and everything there is to see and do along the way so do stay tuned to find out more.
Details: Drifters Boat Hire, Wrenbury Mill to Llangollen – duration 7 nights, 24 locks and an average cruising time of 5.5 hours per day.
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We were guest of Drifters Boating Holidays and as always, all views and opinions are entirely my own.
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