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Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal - your comments

Essex Land Lubbers

By Essex Land Lubbers
in Holidays Afloat

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stewey Proficient

stewey

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We are thinking of taking our holiday in August this year on Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, I would appreciate any comments re good moorings, areas to avoid, etc etc.

Although I can't give you any suggestions, the Waterways World magazine I received today (issue March 2009) features a cruising guide to the Mon & Brec Canal. Well worth obtaining.

 

I have wandered alongside the canal by car on numerous occasions and the scenery the canal passes through is quite stunning.

 

Stewey

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Neil TNC Rising Star

Neil TNC

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We are thinking of taking our holiday in August this year on Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, I would appreciate any comments re good moorings, areas to avoid, etc etc.

 

Having done it one fine Autumn (you remember them?) in a hire boat I can say it is a fine little waterway.

At that time, we were not worried about mooring anywhere, other than you have to cloose your spot to get close to the bank.

It is very shallow, but most of the hire boats are designed to fit. So sit back and trundle along.

We (that was the TNC "B" team, kids +MIL) easily did the lot in a week.

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MikeV Proficient

MikeV

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Lovely canal for a leisurely week's cruising. It was the first canal boat holiday we ever had. Unfortunately the area was under foot and mouth restrictions when we did it and so we were not allowed to moor on some stretches, but in normal times there would be no problem almost anywhere.

 

Unless it has recently been dredged, it is very shallow in places, especially towards the southern end. Expect to run aground and have to push off with the pole occasionally. It can also be slow going - but there's no rush. Enjoy the beautiful scenery.

 

You don't mention if you are hiring, but if you are, you might like to note that some of the boats available are specifically built for the Mon & Brec with a wider beam than a standard narrow boat. We hired Y-Fenni Castle from Castle Narrowboats which is only 39 feet long, but 7'9" wide and provided comfortable accommodation for four.

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Ally Influencer

Ally

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I used to live on the side of this canal,......truly beautiful! Not aware of anywhere to avoid, but when heading towards brecon, try and moor up near Groesffordd, and take a walk into the village for a pint/meal at the Three Horseshoes......Ash and Kim will amke you welcome,....lovely pub....tell them heollo from me!!

Course, there are loads of good pubs along the stretch!..Talybone has a very good real ale and serious whisky pub, and The Coach at LLanginydr is good too!

 

I'm jealous!!!!!

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Rob Brierley Gongoozler

Rob Brierley

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Hi Did a weeks holiday in 1998 a very enjoyable time even though the weather was patchy it needs to loose some of its trees they seem to spoil the view at times,All 6 locks easy to use loads of good pubs most serveing real ale , best night was thursday quiz night Bridgend pub at Gilwern exxxxxcelent. go and enjoy

Regards Rob

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stewey Proficient

stewey

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Many thanks for your replies - I think we are ging to book for the first week of August. Look out for us and Rusky the Jack Russel !!

I'm feeling very envious alreadt! :lol:

 

The Usk valley is certainly one of the most beautiful parts of Wales.

 

Stewey

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nickd Engager

nickd

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We did it a few years ago, the scenery is beautiful and as mentioned before it is shallow especially near the banks. There are not many mooring places where you don't need the gangplank (much to the dog's distress).

 

Certainly towards the southern end there are not too many facilities for shopping etc, and those that are, are down a great valley with an horrendous walk back up. Keep clear of Llanellen if you want a pint - it's a dry village. When I asked why (with the thought of the return walk up that bloody great hill ahead of me) I was told that they were 'Good Christians', not a great deal of solace to a parched pagan!

 

The only locks are near the northern end, the canal winds round hills and mountains at the same level for about 30 miles, but it is fantastic scenery. See if you can take DVDs or videos as there is very little TV reception (if that's your thing).

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stripey Contributor

stripey

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Went on this in the autumn of 2004. Very pretty, and not one to rush, but it's right about the trees - you can't always see through as much as you would like to. Perhaps early spring or winter would be best, before everything has grown, but on the other hand autumn colours are really beautiful, and at least August will be warm!

 

Mooring anywhere was fine, and there are some nice pubside ones

 

Didn't find the dry village...

 

We hired from Llanfoist and took an 8'6" boat - amzing the diference another 18 inches makes.

 

They did a lot of dredging when doing the repairs after the breach, so the middle section should be OK. Have walked down to Cwmbran from Llanfoist, and that was good too, so it's worth doing the whole canal if you have a week, but be prepared for long hours at the tiller, as you'll not average more thatn 2 MPH.

 

Great guide book to the canal by JOHN NORRIS is a must-have. It details every bridge and without it you won't know about everything you are looking at. It's better than Pearson, and I'm a fan of him too!

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  • 7 years later...
metal_snapper Explorer

metal_snapper

Posted
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I had a holiday on this canal last summer and it was just amazing, such a beautiful canal and setting.

I went with Becon Park Boats who couldn't do enough for me and were just fantastic.

The boats are fitted out to a incredibly high standard and are extremely well maintained.

I hired a narrow boat for this canal as it's a bit neat for a wide beam, but they are available to hire if prefered.

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  • 2 months later...
Justin Smith Community Regular

Justin SmithDonate to Canal World

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We went on the Brecon canal a few years ago and can vouch for the fact it`s one of the most scenic, if not the most scenic, in the whole country. Or rather it would be if so much of it wasn`t through wooded areas which spoil the views ! It`s still well worth doing.

I would point out it`s very shallow which has two significant effects (apart from the obvious) one should bear in mind :

1 - It sometimes took us quite a while a to find moorings because the boat wouldn`t get in close enough to the banks to moor up. 

2 - It`s so shallow the boat wouldn`t do more than 2mph, in fact, did I read somewhere there`s actually a 2mph speed limit ? This presents a bit of a problem if trying to do the whole canal right down to Five Locks Basin * in one week but leaving time to relax and look around some of the sights on the waterway. Thus I`d recommend 10 days rather than a week. Incidentally the last section down to Five Locks is a bit overgrown and even shallower, but we did it in our hired 48ft narrow boat.

Oh yes, we got a TV picture at all the places we stopped at, despite being told it`d be a waste of time trying. That said we took our own DM Log aerial and didn`t use the Omni which came with the boat. They`re useless unless you`re in a strong signal area.

* And if you`re going to cruise the Brecon surely you want to do it all ! ! Judging by the numbers of boaters who say they`ve "done the system" I expected there`d be quite a high proportion of hirers on the Brecon who actually had their own boats on the main system. But the boatyard owner said not. So, when is doing the system actually doing the system ? ! ?

 

Five Locks Basin : Present southern limit of navigation on the Brecon canal 

Five Locks Basin, southern limit of the Brecon canal 600W L10.jpg

Edited by Justin Smith
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