Off to the Source

This morning we reluctantly had to return our boat to the marina. This was a long journey which took all of one minute from our mooring to where we picked up the pilot. He skilfully manoeuvred the boat up to the pontoon in less than 5 minutes, this would have taken Andrew considerably longer. Andrew hauled our luggage up to the car before we said goodbye to Penny.

We thoroughly enjoyed our week on the boat and would love to do it again. Our experience with Black Prince is very positive; the boat was spotless, well designed and the service felt personal. The Llangollen Canal was a good one for beginners, although a summer trip may not be the best time to go. The Grindley Brook Staircase and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct can have queues of up to 4 hours at peak times. We waited no more than 10 minutes at either.

Having handed back the boat by 09:30 we decided to make use of the final day of our holiday by re-visiting a couple of highlights. We drove the short distance to Trevor and walked along the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, taking a few more photos along the way. We remembered the hustle and bustle of Sunday as we crossed on the boat. That day we were the subject of many other people’s photos!

We then drove to Llangollen, made our way back to the wharf and walked the 1 3/4 miles further up the canal (un-navigable to all but horse drawn boats) to the Horseshoe Falls where we had lunch. This is the source of the canal, where water from the River Dee is drawn off and starts the 46 mile journey towards the Shropshire Union Canal. This felt like a fitting end to our journey, not including our return to Harrogate, one we will always remember.

Thank you readers for joining us on our first canal adventure. We hope you have enjoyed floating along with us.Read more