Eco-Dining

Our penchant for heading off in Winsome to a nearby pub for an evening beer after work has evolved into a penchant for Winsoming for pub suppers. On a fine June evening (not that we’ve had many), there’s something really satsifying about travelling by water a couple of miles to a country pub, consuming an excellent chilli-con-carne with half chips and half rice swilled down with a bottle of Shiraz and then heading home at an even-more-laid-back-than-usual pedal rate watching the evening light over the Brecon Beacons. And no petrol consumed.



Living in Pencelli, we are fortunate to have excellent pub suppers on offer 2.5 miles away (by water) in both directions.

Last night, we favoured the Three Horseshoes at Groesffordd (we particularly like their chilli!). This means a pedal down to Brynich Aqueduct where we can moor Winsome and trot up the road to the pub.

When there’s shopping to be done, we head on through Brynich Lock for Brecon (another 2 miles on). Unfortunately, although this is the only lock between us and Brecon, it’s not a Winsome-friendly one. The photo shows the fierce outfall at the entrance to the lock which can easily slew the bow and then (whilst you are still recovering) the stern into an inhospitable stone wall.



This is made worse in our case by the fact that the crew has usually been dropped off to go open the lock which means Winsome’s bow is somewhat lighter in the water and not offering its usual grip. The helmswoman is also not in a useful position to fend off the bow when entering the lock. Winsome’s hull is certainly tough enough to sustain any such bang but it’s not a comfortable experience.

After one or two near misses, we’ve taken to dollying around this particular lock rather than going through it. Fortunately, that takes us less than 15 minutes, i.e. much the same time as going through the lock.

Last night though we watched a hefty narrow boat coming through the lock and winced as even a boat as heavy as that was pushed sideways by the outfall and hit both bow and stern against the rough stone wall.

I was therefore amused to discover that Brynich Lock has won British Waterways’ award for “The Best Lock in Wales” on 3 separate occasions – the announcement (for 2005) reads “Brynich Lock was in tip-top condition for the judges' visit. With safety of paramount importance, a non-slip surface was fitted to the footbridge over the lock, additional safety rails were installed and mooring bollards were relocated. Various parts of the lock were repainted using environmentally-friendly, water-based paints, and visitor information around the lock was improved. Neatly-trimmed grass, carefully-tended borders and colourful hanging baskets further enhanced the surroundings.”

I can’t help wishing that the judges had paid slightly more attention to the effect on boats of the lock’s outfall than they did to the “carefully tended borders and colourful hanging baskets”.

Anyway, after a hot chilli and a bottle of Shiraz, we weren’t in a mood to worry and we turned Winsome around...



...and headed off home observed only by some grazing cows.