Narrowboat holidays are all about relaxation - giving you the time and space to decompress and enjoy a special break with loved ones. With this in mind, what better way to unwind than with a leisurely drink or bite to eat in a countryside pub? Whether you’re visiting in the summer and can sit out and soak up the sun and surroundings in a beer garden or you’re visiting in the winter and you can cosy up by the fire, there is a joy to be had in every season.

What’s more is the Monmouth & Breconshire Canal boasts a large number of these stops dotted throughout the route provided by Beacon Park Boats, proving the Mon & Brec really is one of the best canal routes for pubs in the UK.

See below for a rundown of our favourite picks for pub choices we have on the Mon & Brec and their distance from the canal.

Three Horse Shoes - Groesffordd, a 10 minute walk from the canal

This lovely village pub and restaurant serves gastro-pub style dishes as well as classic fish and chips. There is a beer garden with beach huts that can seat 8, these can be booked for al fresco dining with beautiful views.

Horse Shoe Inn - Llangattock, a 10 minute walk from our base

A charming and traditional pub, chef Raymond Hinds serves up Authentic Jamaican Street food as well as homecooked Welsh dishes that everyone needs to try.

The Vine Tree - Llangattock, a 15 minute walk from our base

This 19th century coaching inn offers wonderful food, with both inside and outside dining available.

The Crown - Pantygelli, a 10 minute taxi ride from the canal

A thriving pub and restaurant, visit here for a delicious Sunday lunch and enjoy the quiet surroundings with mountain views nearby.

The Angel Hotel - Abergavenny, a 40 minute walk from the canal

A luxurious 4 star hotel located in the centre of Abergavenny. Providing a warm, friendly environment in a truly residential setting. Book ahead for a memorable dining experience and the award winning afternoon tea service.

Horseshoe Inn - Mamhilad, a 30 minute walk from the canal

A delightful local pub which prides itself on its pub food and ambience. The menu is created from local ingredients by their chefs.

Horse & Jockey - Pontypool, a 20 minute walk from the canal

This lovely restored pub has a fantastic beer garden, surrounded by open and picturesque fields. There is a wide selection of food and drink and they host occasional events!

But that’s not all, there’s a host of other great pubs on the route. These include;

The Wellington - Brecon, a 10 minute walk from the canal

Coach & Horses - Llangynidr, on the canalside

The Red Lion - Llangynidr, a 20 minute walk from the canal

Beaufort Arms - Gilwern, a 5 minute walk from the canal

The Towpath Inn - Gilwern, on the canalside

Tafarn Y Bont - Govilon, a 5 minute walk from the canal

Goose & Cuckoo Inn - Llanover - a 40 minute walk (with a steep hill) from the canal

Goytre Arms - Goytre, a 20 minute walk from the canal

Open Hearth - Pontypool, on the canalside

Also, the good news for those that are only with us on the canal for a day on one of our day boats is that both directions available, either North or South, offer a fabulous pub at the end of each of their routes before you turn back for our base. With both the Coach & Horses at Llangynidr in the North and The Towpath Inn at Gilwern in the South right on the canalside for your enjoyment.

Just a tip from us though - call ahead to make sure you’ve got a table booked, with these pubs a popular destination during the busier periods on the canal!

The best pub spots on the Mon & Brec Canal | Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal pubs

The best pub spots on the Mon & Brec Canal

‘We’ve got a very busy weekend ahead, it’s good to see the sun out, blue sky and we look forward to welcoming our visitors’ - Alasdair Kirkpatrick (Owner)

If you’ve visited us before you’ll know just how beautiful the scenery is here on the canal. 

As we come into Spring life begins to blossom into colour right before our eyes giving us that warm, welcoming feeling - one that lets us know it’s the beginning of a new season for us here at Beacon Park Boats.

The preparation has been completed, our fleet is in the water and we’re all set to have you adventuring across the Brecon Beacons in one of our 20 luxury narrowboats, each with their own unique character and design, all of which you can find here.

Like cooking? Harrier has a particularly well-equipped kitchen area, complimented by a large front deck perfect for al fresco dining. Maybe you’re looking to cosy-up? Buzzard has its own king size bed, surround sound system and seating on the front and back decks. Whatever you’re looking for out of your holiday this year, we have a boat sitting in our dock right now waiting for an adventure across the Brecon Beacons and Monmouthshire.

The Beacon Park Boats team has worked hard over the winter months to bring our fleet back to new - repainting, new floors, maintenance and some extra love they deserve. We want to be able to provide our customers with the absolute best experience we can give, leaving you free simply to enjoy yourselves. 

There are so many simple pleasures to be found along the canal as well as various festivals and events happening in the surrounding area, we’re excited for you to get stuck in.

If you’re local to the area you’ll know the canal itself has had some major work done in recent months - nothing short of a major civil-engineering task - as well as a number of fallen trees, but you’ll be glad to hear the disruption has come to an end and the ‘Mon and Brec’ is back to its former glory. A big thanks to everyone who helped make that happen!

It’s all happening now…

Repairing canals is a major civil-engineering task, as we have witnessed from Beacon Park Boats’ base in Llangattock.  

The Canal and River Trust (CRT) have been building a dam across the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal just North of our basin to dig out and repair a culvert into which water has been leaking.  It’s not an urgent job but part of a planned series of maintenance tasks carried out each winter.

First, the engineers must construct an access across neighbouring fields to get to the canal.  Then they put signs out to warn people that the canal is closed.  Then, boards are inserted under a bridge to seal the canal at one end.  After that, a dam is built across the canal with 200 tonnes of rock and huge plastic sheets.  The water is pumped out, and the fish are removed.  Then, and only then, can work begin on the culvert.

And how much does work like this cost?  “It’s expensive,” one of the engineers tells us. “Put it this way; you could buy a house for the sort of money we are spending here.”  But the money is well spent: “We are repairing the canal for the future, guarding against future problems, and we have a chance to re-clay (line with clay) a section of the canal which may not have been re-clayed for hundreds of years.”

Beacon Park Boats’ owner, Alasdair Kirkpatrick, said: “It’s fascinating to see, and the scale of work required pays tribute to the engineers and labourers who carved the canal out of the sides of the Usk Valley over 200 years ago.  There were no diggers and earthmovers then.  It must have been the most monumental task.”  

If you need to get to us, fear not; the boathouse remains open throughout this work and if you want to come and enjoy the engineering masterpiece which is the Mon and Brec Canal, book a narrowboat holiday with Beacon Park Boats.

Getting the canal ready for the new season

Spring 2022 and the reopening of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal to hire boats may seem a long way off right now, but if last year was anything to go by, we have reasons to be optimistic.

In January 2021, we were in full Covid lockdown; when it lifted the demand for luxury self-contained accommodation and staycations soared.  Many of our guests tried canal boating for the first time, and a lot of them said they would come back.  We expect the trend to holiday at home to continue, as visitors seek out self-catering rather than catered accommodation, in the UK rather than abroad, for a safe and Covid-Secure getaway.

At Beacon Park Boats we are “Good to Go”, which means we take all reasonable steps to ensure your boat is deep-cleaned and fully sanitised before you get on it.  All our boats have everything you could need for a completely self-contained holiday, from hot and cold running water, fully equipped kitchens, comfortable beds with luxury bedding, hot showers and one even has a bath.  Our video here will show you what a canal boat holiday on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal is like.

Throughout the pandemic, Wales has had tighter Coronavirus restrictions than England, meaning we were first to lift last time.  The canal side pubs and restaurants take social distancing and cleaning seriously too.  Watch this video to see how we earned the Good to Go certification last year.

With a choice of 19 luxury boats, we have vessels to suit groups of different sizes and ages and we are pet friendly, too.  This means you can holiday with your entire family if you want to. All our boats are easy to operate, and you will receive full instruction, too.  

If a day trip is more to your liking, you can choose from a range of electric day boats, canoes and a pedal boat, for silent cruising close to nature.

Looking forward to 2022 at Beacon Park Boats

Wishing all our customers, staff, suppliers, and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Beacon Park Boats. 

Merry Christmas

Beacon Park Boats' 20th season is coming to an end, so we've dug out some old newspaper clippings and interviews to remind ourselves how far we have come in the past two decades. It has not been an easy journey, through an epidemic, a canal closure, and a pandemic.  We thank our customers for sticking with us through thick and thin. 

In 2001, Alasdair saw an opportunity in a newspaper to take over a boat hire business named Beacon Park Boats; he quit his stable job to start a new adventure. Shortly afterwards, the foot-and-mouth epidemic closed the Brecon Beacons National Park and the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal to visitors, and Beacon Park Boats lost 50 percent of its customers. Despite this nightmare start, Alasdair was still confident and determined that "this business will succeed".

In 2007, the canal was breached and closed for structural repairs, meaning Beacon Park Boats was once again forced to shut up shop for 18 months. However, despite having 158 customers from across the globe to re-book, Alasdair and the team overcame another hurdle and reopened fully in 2009. 

Six years later, Beacon Park Boats had set their sights on building a new boathouse in Llangattock (they had been operating out of Llanfoist since 2001, which doubled as their home). As the planning application explains; “As the business has expanded, so have the canal boat sizes and it is now impossible for the company to expand at the current site.”

They had started with a fleet of 10 narrowboats, but Alasdair had been designing and building new ones over the years, growing the fleet to 20 luxury barges. Many of the ideas had come from customer feedback, and all are unique in layout and fittings. Wren, for instance, offers a luxury walk-through shower and a specially-designed open-plan layout for two. Owl provides a built-in hot tub and four-poster bed.  Harrier is a barge with a roll-top bath, showcasing the advancement in canal boats over the past decades. 

Despite the businesses ever-growing success, and with Alasdair still recovering from a major stroke in 2018, spring 2020 brought yet another challenge to overcome with a global pandemic and multiple extended lockdowns in the UK. In a BBC Radio Wales programme hosted by Gareth Lewis, Alasdair explained the complexities and hurdles the pandemic was imposing on the business "The lockdowns were devastating, with all of our boats tied up for three months,” Alasdair said. Even when the restrictions eased, overseas customers, who make up between 20-25% of bookings, were still nervous about travelling. But Alasdair remained positive, and thanks to a boost in local customers from within Wales, he hoped to "put this awful year behind us and look forward to a very busy season next year".

And so, we have. We have been taking on customer feedback, striving to improve our boats and create a better holiday experience onboard. This past year, we introduced our new 8-berth boat Falcon, the longest and most ambitious boat built on the canal. In addition, we've started work on our new boat, the Weekender, which we look forward to sharing with you next year.

Twenty seasons later, the goal of creating a thriving business has paid off. We've had a fantastic season welcoming customers new and old after the pandemic, and we look forward to what the next decade will bring – and we're ready for any challenge. Watch our video for more and book for next year!

A blast from the past!

It is the final day of the narrowboat hire season, and the last of our customers returned this morning after a year like few others.

March saw us emerging from lockdown straight into staycations as people rushed to find self-contained luxury accommodation in the beautiful Brecon Beacons.  And the team of engineers, cleaners, housekeepers, and office staff were up to the challenge, turning round up to 20 boats a week as well as day boats every day.

Beacon Park Boats’ owner, Alasdair Kirkpatrick, said: “To say we have been busy would be something of an understatement.  The only people we are missing are our guests from overseas, but we look forward to welcoming them back next year.”

The happiest looking people on the deck were Mark and Sam, the two on-call engineers, who won’t have to stand by for boaters calls at evenings and weekends.  But for the rest of the staff, there is a chance to repair and refurbish the boats ready for Christmas and New Year, when we have ten boats available for an extraordinary Festive Season. And the two eight-seater day boats are available for hire until Christmas, too.

There was an added poignancy this morning because this is Beacon Park Boats’ 20th Season.  In November, we will have a special look-back over two decades of boating with Beacon, which have seen an epidemic in the Brecon Beacons, a Global Pandemic, breaches of the canal, as well as thousands of successful holidays.

Take a look at our video below as we welcomed back the last boat of the season.

But don't worry the next season is right around the corner! While of course we also remain open for houseboat visitors in the winter months.

Season End at Beacon Park Boats

We have had a great season at Beacon Park Boats in 2021.  We launched our longest boat, Falcon, and she proved to be a huge success, cruising the entire length of the canal, including the latest stretch to open to Five Locks in the South.  We have had fantastic customer feedback from all our narrowboats and have loved seeing your happy holiday pictures.  We have also most enjoyed meeting all our fabulous customers, most of which have rebooked already for 2022, a big thank you!

The day boats have been fully booked all summer, and the eight-seaters continue to be available throughout autumn and the winter months.  As the leaves sink, the canal will turn crystal clear, and you can take in the changing colours and vistas across to the distant, sometimes snow-sprinkled mountains.

To end the year with a bang, we have decided to OPEN FOR CHRISTMAS! The canal is fully open allowing you to cruise the canal's entire length at your leisure. It's the first time in 20 years that we have been able to open for the Festive Season.  All boats will be festively decorated, with a bottle of chilling prosecco to get the celebrations underway. 

We have ten boats to choose from, though some are already booked. They all have central heating and hot water; some have log burners and chimneys for Santa to come down (though we hear he is pretty resourceful on boats without real fires).  All our boats are dog friendly and all kitchens are fully equipped to cook your Christmas dinner.

We have boats that can sleep groups of two to eight people; book more than one boat, and you can bring your whole Christmas party to Wales! You can choose from two dates: The Christmas break runs from Monday 20th December until 27th December, and the New Year break runs from Monday 27th December until 3rd January.

As we are law-abiding citizens, we encourage our customers to stay safe and not drink-drive. Moor instead outside your favourite pub, have a drink and a short walk home.

We still have our two-berth boats, Wren, Hobby, and Kingfisher and bigger berth boats, Merlin, Mallard, Condor, and Falcon, available for both dates, the 20th, and 27th December.

Last year, we were all told to stay at home with government restrictions; this year, we have the fantastic opportunity, whilst still staying safe, to cruise the canal at the quietest, and some would say, most peaceful and scenic time of year.

Should the government decide that we have to stay at home again, no worries, we will refund you your money.

We Are Open For Christmas

We care about the environment at Beacon Park Boats: we are surrounded by the beauty of the Brecon Beacons National Park, so why wouldn't we?

Our environmental credentials start at the boathouse, heated by a highly efficient biomass boiler, fed by sustainably-grown timber. 

Our hybrid boat, Coot, has solar panels, a low-energy induction hob, efficient LED lighting and a hybrid diesel/electric engine, so you can cruise in near silence on battery power. The conventional engine only kicks in if you run out of battery power.

All the rest of our boats use tried and tested, highly efficient, low-revving, low-emission diesel engines. They can push the boat through the water at a comfortable 2.5 mph at little more than tick-over, minimising the use of fuel and carbon emissions too. 

Our fleet of day boats all have electric engines and, if you want to go zero emissions, you can hire our cycle boat or canoe instead.

Whenever we refurbish a boat, we look to upgrade to eco-friendly solutions. Our newest boat, Falcon, is a case in point: her woodwork is Lignia, a sustainable alternative to Walnut, she has LED lighting throughout, and her hull is painted in epoxy paint, meaning she does not have to be repainted so often, reducing our consumption of materials. 

If you want to find out more about our hybrid boat, Coot, please watch this video.

Ecological Boat Building at Beacon Park

Schools are going back: book a peaceful parents day out with Beacon Park Day Boats. 

As the long summer holidays come to an end, it could be the moment for parents or grandparents to breathe a sigh of relief, enjoy the fresh air, a pub lunch and the spectacular scenery of the Brecon Beacons National Park aboard one of our dayboats.

The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal is regarded by many as one of the most picturesque waterways in the UK. When exploring nature, few places can offer such an experience of beauty and serenity mixed into one. Our electric dayboats, canoes or cycle boat provide many ways to enjoy it.  And with schools going back, it will be quieter now than during the busy summer holidays.

We offer six-seater electric boats, accommodating four adults, two small children, and a dog.  Or our eight-seater boats accommodate up to six adults, two small children and two small dogs.

Our boats are all easy to drive, and we will provide a comprehensive health and safety briefing beforehand to ensure you have the best possible experience. In addition, we offer life jackets in a range of sizes for children, non-swimmers and even for your dog.

·   The electric dayboats operate with a simple throttle and steering wheel.  Children are welcome to steer if an adult supervises them.

·   The water is very still, meaning you will have a smooth and safe ride on our dayboats.

·   If the weather turns inclement, don't worry! All our electric dayboats have rain covers.

Because they are so quiet, our electric boats are a great way to get close to the wildlife which lives on and around the waterway. 

Head North from our boathouse in Llangattock; you can stop and picnic in the beautiful countryside or stop at the Coach and Horses pub at Llangyndir. Head South, enjoy views over Usk Valley and stop at the Towpath Inn at Gilwern. Both serve a great range of food, real ales or even a well-deserved gin and tonic, all in the space of a few hours.  Be quick, and you could get back in time to greet the kids home from school.

If you are looking for gentle exercise, why not try our canoes or our cycle boat made for two? Both offer an entirely eco-friendly experience as they are human-powered, as well as a healthy way to enjoy the stunning views from the canal. 

Both the canoe and the cycle boat are easy to use, making them a brilliant choice for all ages. The canoe is a traditional open canoe with space for two and room for a child. Our cycle boat sits two people pedalling facing each other. Could it be the perfect date?

Schools are going back ...and relax!

The “Gareth Edwards’ Great Welsh Adventure” TV series returned to Beacon Park Boats this week. The Welsh Rugby Union legend and his wife, Maureen, were back on the waters of the Mon & Brec Canal, filming another installment of their BBC programme, which last aired in Autumn 2019. This time, Beacon Park Boats owner, Alasdair Kirkpatrick welcomed them aboard Buzzard, one of our luxury four-birth boats for a cruise through the Llangynidr locks.

A Welsh Rugby Legend Returns Aboard

Changeover days are the busiest of all at the boathouse. Wander along the canal near Beacon Park Boats early on a Friday, Saturday and or Monday morning, and you will see lines of green and gold boats moored up, ready to come in.  A few hours later, you will see the same boats, spotlessly clean leaving the yard at the start of new adventures on the beautiful Mon and Brec Canal.  It’s all hands-on and below desks for the whole day!

Holidaymakers returning from successful trips on the beautiful Mon and Brec Canal come in at around 9am, full of stories. We must get their boats, sometimes up to 10 of them, ready for new adventurers arriving from 2.30pm. 

There are 10 hard-working cleaners at Beacon Park Boats, led by Amanda.  They are responsible for the inside of the boats, which are wiped and sprayed from top to bottom using alcohol-based and Milton sanitisers to ensure you have a safe and secure holiday.  All the bedding is changed for crisp new sheets, dishes washed, pillows plumped, and flowers arranged.  Any faults reported to us or spotted by the cleaners are then fixed by the engineers, and the outside of the boats are jet washed and the brasses polished.

“Sometimes it looks like a swarm of insects has descended on our boats,” says Alasdair Kirkpatrick, owner of Beacon Park Boats, “many of our cleaners have been working here for years, and the whole process is like a well-oiled machine.  We are fortunate to have the staff we do. If there is a particularly tricky problem to resolve, it can feel a bit touch-and-go whether we will be ready for the new arrivals, but we all pull together, and with very few exceptions, we get there.”

After 2.30 pm, we greet excited new arrivals, who are all met and shown to their boats to watch a handover DVD and be given a safety brief before being shown how to operate their vessel. Then, after a short, guided trip down the canal, they are on their way.

“Changeover days are very satisfying for us at Beacon Park Boats because they are book-ended by happy customers; returning holidaymakers who’ve had a great time, and new adventurers looking to explore the Brecon Beacons on one of our luxury narrowboats.  It’s always great to see returning customers, some of whom have been become great friends, particularly after the challenging year we have had.  It feels like we are starting new adventures with them three times a week.

This season, we are introducing two innovations.  First, each boat will have a card with the name of the cleaner who’s looked after your boat.  Second, each boat will shortly have a notebook where you can note any comments, faults, or suggestions of places to walk or to eat along the canal, so great experiences can be shared with others.

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