We hastily packed all the gear: sunhats, drink, lunch, monster torch and horn (for navigating the Ashford tunnel), The Sunday Times (for the crew to read during the more leisurely stretches of the canal) and portable radio (for keeping up with England versus West Indies test match at Lords). And off we go.
Between Pencelli and Talybont-on-Usk (our regular evening pub run), there are 3 drawbridges. Only one of them gets left down in the summer and, fortunately, it’s one that we’ve recently discovered we can shoot (just) if we get both heads (and knees) down to gunwale level – mistakes in height assessment can be painful and the crew needs implicit trust in the helmsman for the signal to “Duck now”!
After Talybont, the next challenge is the 375 yard Ashford tunnel which is very narrow and has no towing path. Apparently, the horses were originally led over the top whilst the boat was legged through. The first photo gives a feel for how dark it is once you are inside.
Winsome’s regular helmswoman discovered early on that keeping a straight and steady course through a pitch-black tunnel was not her forte and to retain domestic harmony, she now hands control to Winsome’s tunnel pilot who has turned the practise into his own specialism. You can see him in action here complete with torch.
The regular helmswoman (now crew) concentrates on sending out intermittent blasts on our old, but very loud, horn. The darkness and narrowness, combined with Winsome’s silent propulsion, concentrates our minds on keeping narrow boats well clear of entering the tunnel until we are through. One time, we tried following a narrow boat through the tunnel but will avoid doing this ever again. Inhaling their engine fumes was unpleasant, it was noisy, we were repeatedly thrown off course by their (considerable) water displacement and it took about twice as long as when we nip through ourselves at only a little less than normal cruising speed. A lesson learned.Back out into the warmth of the sun and on to Llangynidr.
Fortunately, the Mon & Brec canal is never very busy and we only passed two other boats (easy) and had to overtake one (bit harder). We find two main problems in overtaking narrow boats. The first is getting them to notice you coming up astern but without creating unnecessary anxiety – a polite “hello” doesn’t usually get heard. A short toot on our fine horn would work but feels rude. Once into the manoeuvre, we can put on a 5mph burst of speed and get past in no time at all. The problem is that, if the narrow boat crew only notice you as you start to draw alongside, they tend helpfully (they think) to steer into the bank (to create more room for us) but, of course, this swings their (hefty) stern out making our passage a lot more hairy. The most effective approach is simply to cruise cheerfully by shouting “stay as you are, stay as you are”….Just above the first lock at Llangynidr is a lovely peaceful mooring spot and this is where we stopped for lunch. This time we had our own picnic but the very fine “Coach & Horses” pub is only 10 minutes walk down the tow path and that is sometimes our favoured option.
The final photo shows the tunnel pilot (replete with picnic lunch) roping Winsome round ready for the 5 mile trip home.
With a bit of luck, this will include an ice cream stop at Talybont…….
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