We don't want the 'Ikea of narrowboats', so we build our own!

We design and build every boat we operate at Beacon Park Boats because we believe our customers enjoy holidaying aboard bespoke hand-crafted vessels which are something out of the ordinary. 

Beacon Park Boats Owner, Alasdair Kirkpatrick, says: “We are so used to shopping online or at a superstore and buying whatever is available immediately. It’s easy, but we end up with the same product as everyone else.  We don’t build the Ikea of narrowboats here, instead we lovingly build unique and beautiful boats of the highest quality.” 

“Each of our boats is designed by us, and every year, when we build another, we aim to improve on what has gone before.  No new boat is a copy of the others, because they are all shapes and sizes, it’s a mixture of the best bits.” 

As he speaks, Alasdair is standing in the vast workshop at Beacon Park Boats, where his team of engineers can work on three 60ft boats at a time.   To his right is his latest project, the impressively sized Falcon, which will be the first eight-berth canal boat on the Mon and Brec Canal. 

“Falcon will be the first boat on the Mon and Brec with four queen-size double beds and two bathrooms.  The front cabin has nine windows, with windscreen wipers and de-misters, so you can lie in bed and admire views all around you.” 

But it’s not just the design which makes Falcon unique.  She is the first of the Beacon Park Boats to have underfloor heating, the first to have all oak frames inside, and the first to use a sustainable substitute for Teak, a wood called Lignia.    

And Alasdair says the challenges presented by turning a steel hull into bespoke, self-catering accommodation gives some head-scratching moments. 

“Falcon has been in this shed for nearly a year.  She arrived as a bare steel hull and was sprayed green and cream.  We then have to work out where everything goes; despite her size she is still a relatively long, thin vessel.  Some of our customers take our ideas away for their own boats or even their kitchens at home,” Alasdair said.    

If you want to book Falcon or any of the other boats, please visit our website at www.beaconparkboats.com or call 01873 858277.  But you had better be quick: “I have always wanted to sell out a boat before she is finished,” Alasdair said, “and she only has one week left in 2021, so we are nearly there.”  Click on the image to play the video...