We are delighted that our local town, Crickhowell, has been shortlisted for the Great British High Street Awards. Please show your support by posting on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using #MYHIGHSTREET and #GBHSCrickhowell to register a vote.

The high street is looking smarter than ever - ready for the judges who will be in town on Thursday 25th October.

Here are some of the reasons why Crickhowell is on the shortlist:

Crickhowell brings the community together with its Totally Locally campaign, where over 100 shops and businesses run initiatives to boost local spending and connect with the community.

Crickhowell is proud of the fiercely independent nature of the shops on its high street and recently residents, visitors and retailers came together to buy and renovate a local pub to maintain this ethos.

Crickhowell also has the first Zero Waste shop in Wales, which acts as a focal point for coordinating the community’s sustainability efforts.

Businesses in Crickhowell work together to promote each other on social media to benefit the high street as a whole.

If you haven't already visited this gorgeous town, it's a must for your next holiday.

Crickhowell shortlisted for award

From 24 March 2018 you can hire an electric boat from our wharf at Llangattock, and explore this particularly beautiful section of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal for a half day or a full day. 

Our electric boats seat up to six adults, two children and two dogs. Advance booking is recommended, to ensure that you get your preferred day and time. Just call 01873 858227 to check availability and make a booking.

It's the perfect, relaxed day out for all ages. You are welcomed to our wharf by a member of staff and shown to your boat. No experience is needed, as the boats are very easy to steer and you will be able to watch an instructional video before setting off for guidance. And if the weather turns a little chilly, simply pull up the rainproof cover and you're sitting inside.

From our wharf, head north and you can reach Llangynidr with its pubs. Or cruise south towards Gilwern and Govilon with stunning views across the Usk valley towards the Sugar Loaf mountain above Abergavenny. There is plenty of wildlife to spot, from herons waiting to catch their fish supper to red kites soaring overhead, while along the way you'll pass sheep, horses and cows in neighbouring fields.

Why not stop at a canalside pub for refreshment or take a picnic with you? You can moor up almost anywhere along the Mon and Brec canal so you might like to bring a picnic rug. We recommend calling into Crickhowell before you arrive at our wharf so you can buy some items for your picnic from the lovely independent shops in the town.

Electric day boats join the narrowboat fleet at Llangattock

find out more about the mon and brec canal

Llangattock is the village where our narrowboat business is located. The Monmouthshire & Brecon canal skirts the top of the village. The village's name is the English version of Llangatwg which means the 'church of St Catwg'. 

Catwg is a variant of Cadoc who was a 5th/6th century Abbot and the grandson of Brychan, the ruler of what we now call Brecon. Cadoc is credited with the establishment of many churches in Wales, Cornwall, Scotland and Brittany. The village is first recorded with this name in the early 12th century. The 13th/14th century church has had various additions and restoration works, and most of the pre-Victorian fittings appear to have been discarded in the late 19th century. A fine series of wall memorials remain, and the village stocks and whipping post have been preserved in the north aisle.

The Old Rectory Country Hotel was once home of the metaphysical poet and physician Henry Vaughan (1621-1695)
A member of the Vaughan family from nearby Tretower Court, Henry Vaughan was educated by the Rector of Llangattock, Matthew Herbert. Vaughan was bilingual, and there are traces of Welsh influence in his poetry, which also reflects his love of his tranquil Usk valley. In his fondness for solitary communion with nature and his reminiscences of childhood, he anticipates Wordsworth. A circular walk from the canal at Talybont-on-Usk celebrates his poetry.


There are three places to eat in Llangattock, and one has its own golf course!
Just a short walk from the canal is The Old Rectory Hotel which offers lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, and boasts a 9-hole golf course. In the centre of the village is the recently renovated Horseshoe Inn which serves a decent range of interesting beers and pub food, and welcomes dogs. At the edge of the village, just before you reach the river Usk and the bridge leading to Crickhowell, is The Vine Tree. This former coaching inn now offers extensive lunch and dinner menus using locally-sourced produce. Please check opening times of these eateries, and book ahead to be sure of a table.


Nearby is one of Wales' most outstanding botanical sites, Craig y Cilau National Nature Reserve
A busy limestone quarry during the 18th and 19th centuries, Craig y Cilau National Nature Reserve is now a peaceful spot above Llangattock. After the uphill walk from the canal, you'll be rewarded with amazing views of the Usk valley. The 120 metre high limestone cliffs dominate the scenery, and over 250 species of plants abound, particularly in the areas that are inaccessible to the grazing sheep. Remnants of its industrial history are still visible - look out for the stone sleepers of the horse-drawn tramway that took the limestone from the quarry down to the canal.


Llangattock residents care for their community
For a small village, there's a remarkable number of projects on the go. Llangattock Green Valleys is developing sustainable energy projects, and has already set up four micro-hydro schemes. Llangattock Community Woodlands is managing several small woodlands around the village, and they now sell logs for fuel, charcoal and bee keeping products. And a team of enthusiastic locals - Llangattock Litter Pickers - regularly clear the area of rubbish and recycle as much of it as possible.

5 little-known facts about Llangattock

The 2017 boating season may be in full swing but we’re already getting stuck into the hard work needed to build a new boat in time for the start of the 2018 season.

She’s called Mallard, sleeps up to six people, and is modelled closely on Merlin which has been incredibly popular with customers. We decided that we should offer a similar boat for short breaks starting on Mondays and Fridays, as Merlin is available only for week-long holidays (or longer) starting on Saturdays.

Here is the steel shell being craned from the back of the lorry onto the canal. 

Mallard is 60'0" (18.3m) long, 6'10" (2.1m) wide and has up to 6'3" (1.91m) headroom. Designed to offer flexible sleeping arrangements for families and groups of friends, the rear bedroom can have a 4ft double bed or two 2ft single beds. The bed in the middle of the boat cleverly pulls out, creating space at the side and bottom of the bed so tall guests won't feel cramped. Both bedrooms have their own shower room. An additional two guests can sleep in the lounge as the sofa converts to a double bed.

There’s a canopied front deck which can become a conservatory once the side curtains are closed. And when the weather's a little chilly, Mallard is cosy with double glazing and a log-effect gas stove.

Mallard is on her way

Find out more about what's going on locally

From time to time, we invite people to contribute to our blog. On this occasion we'd like to thank Kate Beavan who runs Kate's Country School, along with husband Jim, on their farm in Monmouthshire. The family first came to the nation’s attention after hosting Lambing Live for the BBC in 2010.

Q. How did Kate’s Country School come about?

A. Kate’s Country School is part of our family-run, 300 acre, traditional mixed farm in stunning Monmouthshire. A farmstead has been here since the 12th century and we have many lovely, historic buildings including the classroom, set above the 17th century cider house. When originally thinking of diversification, courses seemed an obvious choice, combining the seasonality of farm life alongside our expertise and qualifications. Although hosting BBC’s first Lambing Live series in 2010 set our launch plans back, it provided a fantastic marketing opportunity with lambing courses now being one of the most popular. We also won a tourism award for promoting the breathtaking landscape, managed by Welsh farmers, to 3 million viewers. It's a beautiful setting: we have resident otters on the river, and Kingfishers nesting in the bank, providing a regular flash of colour.

Getting to grips with the Sheep Husbandry course

A. The courses that fill up the quickest are the lambing and cider-making courses. We have a new course starting in September 2017 called “A taste of the goodlife” and this has also drawn a lot of interest. It is a taster of all our courses covering livestock, wildlife, orchards, spinning wool, making preserves and so on. Team-building is also becoming popular, and was recently added to our portfolio of activities, following many requests.

Soldiers trying their hand at carding and spinning wool

Q. What type of people come on your courses?

A. The majority are smallholders or those thinking about the possibility of starting a smallholding. Others are veterinary students, new entrant farmers or people who simply want to try a new experience. Our cider-making course attracts a complete range of people and, as expected, is a boozy course!

Expect plenty of enjoyment on the Cider-Making course!

Q. What new developments are planned?
A. We are launching a new website later in 2017 and it will include "Really Rural Weddings" - an exciting venture that starts in 2018. We'll be offering quirky rural weddings and parties. Expect welly wanging, skittle, hog roast, live music, wild cocktails and, of course, cider. On a more sober note, we're also adding an advanced sheep husbandry course to our programme, to follow on from our existing courses, as many of our customers are asking for more!

Q. What's the most rewarding aspect of Kate's Country School?
A. It's got to be seeing people develop confidence in a new activity in the space of a day...even more so when students return year after year for further courses. Take complete novices on shearing courses - at the end of the day they confidently shear four sheep, and the results are faces beaming with pride. Our customers leave the courses knowing that we are just a phone call away for on-going advice. Jim and I have some fantastic friendships which are the result of people coming on our courses and enjoying a slice of rural life.

Guest blog: Kate's Country School

Our latest creation, Wren, is based on a curvy theme and includes an oval shower for two and an oval kingsize bed! We set out to create a couple's boat, with contemporary styling. Apart from the toilet, the entire boat is one large, light space that is cleverly split into areas. You can move easily from the kitchen, into the lounge, pass through the shower and relax in the luxurious bed. It's a boating experience like no other! 

Looking through the large oval shower towards the kingsize oval bed...

Dining table fits neatly into place for meals...

We searched extensively to source high-spec curved objects, including the wood-effect gas stove...

...and virtually everything in the kitchen.

Our carpenter, Jeff, worked his magic to create a circular feature for the kitchen floor...

At the front of the boat, a large window opens from the bedroom...

The oval, kingsize bed has crisp white linen, duvet and a Welsh lambswool blanket by Melin Tregwynt...

And to think, she started off as a mere plan on a sheet of paper last year...

Now she's cruising the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal and ready for your holiday visit!

Wren is ahead of the curve

Arts Alive Wales provides inspirational courses and workshops from its base in Crickhowell, which is a short walk from our boathouse. We asked Creative Director, Rebecca Spooner, to outline the charity’s activities, and give us a taste of workshops that are taking place this year.

"Arts Alive Wales is an educational arts charity supported by the Arts Council of Wales. Our light and airy studio is based in Crickhowell where we run art and craft courses throughout the year, including Life Drawing, Ceramics, Textiles, Painting, Basket Making and many more. The courses are relaxed and friendly, led by professional tutors and suitable for complete beginners as well as those with experience.

Arts Alive works across the Black Mountains region delivering high quality, creative projects with a variety of partners including schools, homeless hostels, housing associations and mental health charities.

I’m the Creative Director and oversee the public programme at the studio as well as developing Peak – an exciting initiative which creates contemporary arts projects in the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons. Most recently we’ve been working with artists, writers and musicians to create new art outdoors in unusual places. This landscape is an incredible inspiration to artists."

Does the Mon & Brec canal feature in any projects?

"One of our Peak projects, Limelight, involved a collaboration with the Canal & River Trust and two artists, Rob Smith and Charles Danby based in Newcastle. The project researched and responded to the working landscape of canals, quarries, tramways and kilns that serviced the lime industry of the Black Mountains, which in turn fed the nation’s heavy industries. The artists used digital means to bring reflections on this history to urban audiences by streaming live illuminations at nightfall from Llangattock Limekilns in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park to Cardiff, as part of the Cardiff Contemporary arts festival.

We were also involved in the Canal & River Trust open day at Llangattock and took our Horsebox Studio with an intriguing collection of vintage books, maps, objects and films related to the lime industry and canals in the Black Mountains."

Do you have a favourite spot on the canal?

"One of my favourite spots, just above the canal is the Craig Y Cilau national nature reserve and Llangattock Escarpment. It feels like another world, full of rare plants, old quarry tramroads and caves, with ravens and red kites circling overhead. It’s a very special place and I could spend hours immersed in that landscape."

A big thank you to Rebecca Spooner for encouraging us all to find our creative sides. We are used to painting, though it tends to be on a rather larger scale!

The Arts are Alive in Crickhowell

This year we’re building two new boats, Kingfisher and Wren, bringing our fleet up to 17. Here’s a look behind the scenes at some of the work that went into making Kingfisher.

After the boat is insulated and the first fix electrics are in place, the painted ceiling goes up.

The ceiling paintwork is carefully masked ready for the wood trim to be varnished.

Our supremely talented carpenter, Jeff, takes rough planks of walnut, oak and ash.....

…and turns them into sublime interiors for our narrowboats.

Each boat has a Shire 40 diesel engine (using a Yanmar 4 cylinder block which has been marinised by Barrus, for use in marine applications).

And we use this hoist to carefully place it into the engine bay.

And, of course, we carefully paint the engine bay before we install the engine.

Sarah is responsible for the glossy green and cream exterior paintwork.

We spray each boat in our purpose-built paint booth – shown here with the sides rolled up.

Kingfisher has large, opening, double-glazed windows.

Once the paintwork is properly cured we fit the brass fittings, including the mushroom air vents, and pole and boarding plank supports on the roof.

Finally, she’s ready to have her nameplate attached. Kingfisher is the longest name so her nameplate is the largest in the fleet.

Now, Kingfisher is cruising the canal and we're taking bookings for 2018. Check Kingfisher’s availability.

How we built Kingfisher

Pick up a walking guidebook in our super local bookshop, Bookish in Crickhowell or choose a few walking routes before you arrive. Whether it’s your first time in the mountains, you fancy a short, flat stroll or you’re looking for a challenge (Table Mountain above Crickhowell beckons), you’ll find it here. From our luxury houseboats at Llangattock, you can follow the canal towpath north towards the five locks and a pub for lunch, or south towards the villages of Gilwern and Govilon (also with pubs for lunch). Or follow the river Usk through the Glanusk estate, one of the largest privately-owned estates in Wales. Home of the Legg-Bourke family, it has Royal connections as Tiggy Legge-Bourke was nanny to William and Harry. We provide OS maps for you to use when staying in our houseboats, narrowboats and cottages.

There are plenty of friendly pubs in the Brecon Beacons, including the historic coaching inn The Bear in the delightful town of Crickhowell. It’s been welcoming visitors since 1432, is just 20 minutes’ walk from our houseboats and always has a roaring fire when it’s cold outside.

Ok, it might not snow while you’re here but the mountains are enticing to look at in most weathers. Get an idea of what to expect through the lens of photographers like Nigel Forster, Alyn Wallace, Anthony Pease and Grant Hyatt.

If the weather is just too horrible to venture out, visit some of these rather distinctive attractions:

The Regimental Museum of The Royal Welsh, Brecon

Court Cupboard Craft Gallery, just outside Abergavenny

All of the above ideas for your winter break are located near our houseboats that are moored on the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal at Llangattock from November to March. You can literally set out on a walk from the very door – either along the towpath or up to a summit.

5 reasons to visit the Brecon Beacons in winter

If you’re new to boating, you’ll be reassured to hear that handling our narrowboats is easier than driving a car! You don’t need any boating experience when you book a holiday with Beacon Park Boats.

We get you in the mood for boating well before your holiday begins by sending you a comprehensive information pack. This includes a selection of holiday itineraries which you may wish to follow. For example, there are leisurely routes, more active routes, and even a lock-free route if you don’t fancy going through a lock on this particular holiday. We also include our 40-minute training DVD which shows the important aspects of boat handling and explains how everything works.

Our detailed procedures for ensuring customers are capable and confident on our boats have the stamp of approval of the British Marine Federation. In fact, we are the first canal boat hire company in Wales to gain the British Marine Federation’s Quality Accredited Boatyard status, which recognises all-round excellence, in every aspect of the business - from health & safety and housekeeping, to marketing and online booking.

All our narrowboats have large rear decks so the helmsman (the official name of the person steering the boat) need never be alone. It’s from the rear deck that our boats are steered, using a tiller. You stand holding the tiller in your right hand, leaving your left hand free to operate the engine and the horn. By moving the tiller you are moving the rudder which is located behind the propeller. Push the tiller to the right and the boat moves to the left, and vice versa.

For effortless manoeuvring, bow thrusters are really helpful. They are jets of water which can move the front of the vessel sideways with the simple push of a button located on the rear deck. Usually found only on privately-owned boats, it’s a major selling point for many of our customers, who prefer not to use the traditional barge pole.

Should you misjudge a bend, there is no need to panic on our boats. Just switch on the bow thruster, push either the right or left button and a small jet of water from the front will prevent any unplanned contact with the bank! The bow thrusters are fantastic to help with mooring. Remember the times you’ve been parallel parking your car, and you’ve accidentally hit the kerb. Bow thrusters are like having ‘parking assist’ mode on your narrowboat when you’re mooring. You can nudge the boat gently with a push of a button, avoid hitting the bank and finish in the perfect moored position.

At the start of your holiday, we provide you with a thorough handover on your narrowboat, explaining and demonstrating how everything works. We adjust the content of the handover depending on the boating experience of our customers, as we strive to offer a truly personalised service. Once you’re happy, you take the controls and we accompany you on a short practice cruise. That way we know you’re confident before you set off on your own. Of course, if you need assistance during your holiday we are just a phone call away. In the meantime take a look at our video.

How to steer a narrowboat

Find out more what's happening on the Mon & Brec Canal

BBC Countryfile recently visited the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal in Llangattock, just a stone’s throw from our wharf, to report on various aspects of the work being undertaken by the Canal and River Trust (CRT). The programme, which is due to be broadcast on BBC1 on Sunday 27th November 2016 at 6.20pm, features the work to reline the canal at Llangattock. There are interviews with CRT Ecologist Dr Mark Robinson, Mon & Brec Supervisor Kevin Phillips and MEM Fisheries, who carried out a fish rescue in the canal along with Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton.

A fish rescue is a way of removing fish from a stretch of water so that it can be drained and/or worked on. A specialist fish rescue team passes an electric current through the water which temporarily stuns the fish causing them to float to the surface. They are then scooped up and put into holding tanks before being returned, unharmed, to another stretch of the canal. In the recent fish rescue at Llangattock, the catch included dace, roach, perch, gudgeon, skimmers and eels. Back in November 2014 we had to arrange a fish rescue at Llangattock, in order to drain the canal as part of the project to build our new wharf.

The television cameras may have gone, but CRT staff are at their busiest with planned winter maintenance. Now that the stretch of canal near Llangattock is drained, work has started on installing a new concrete lining to this section of the waterway.

Over £3million is being spent on major maintenance works on the Mon & Brec this winter, including:

- replacing both sets of gates on Lock 66 and replacing the head gates on Lock 67

- rebuilding a culvert and weir at Goytre Wharf

- repairs to the aqueduct at Talybont-on-Usk

- replacement of the control system on bridge 144, the lift bridge at Talybont-on-Usk

These significant improvements to the Mon & Brec infrastructure will be completed in readiness for visitors to start cruising again at the end of March. Plan your 2017 holiday now.

BBC Countryfile features fish rescue on the Mon and Brec canal

According to some seasoned geocachers, the Mon & Brec in South Wales is the best geocache canal in the world. We’re certainly seeing an increase in the number of visitors who try out geocaching while they are here, and some come on specially organised holidays, to hunt for geocaches along the waterway. One such visitor, Tarja from Finland, has kindly supplied the photographs for this blog; she visited these places while geocaching during her cruise on the Mon & Brec canal.

We asked some geocachers who have holidayed on our boats to explain the attraction. Veikko, who hails from Finland, takes regular holidays on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. Colin and Carole live in Wales, and enjoy the outdoor life with their dog, Wally.

Veikko: Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. With over 2 million geocaches worldwide, it’s an activity that is popular with all ages.

Colin & Carole: Once you’ve set up a free geocaching account, you can choose a geocache that you want to find, then you navigate to find its exact location. Geocaches are essentially waterproof containers that come in almost any shape or size. You will see everything from large, clear plastic containers to film canisters or even a fake rock with a secret compartment. Some are easy to find, others are rather more tricky, and all involve walking to a location and hunting for the geocache. Open the geocache, sign the log book and log your find online. Some geocachers also like to swop a knick-knack for one that’s in the box. Swopping items can turn the activity into a treasure hunt which many families love.

How did you become interested in geocaching?

Veikko: After a visit to the doctor a number of years ago, I was advised to start walking every day for health reasons. It was an excellent piece of advice and led me into geocaching.

Colin & Carole: It started on New Year’s Day 2012 when we went walking with some friends. After a lunch stop at a pub, our friends suggested taking a different route back so they could hunt for a geocache. As we walked they explained all, and we ended up finding a tiny container near the Tommy Cooper bronze statue in Caerphilly. We were hooked and went out the very next day to a geocaching event, where we started making friends in the local geocaching community.

Veikko: Every day. I have found at least one cache every day for the past 700 consecutive days. Often I go alone but when I visit the Mon & Brec canal I tend to come with other geocachers, as I have started organising geo-tours to Wales to show my fellow countrymen the beauties of this wonderful country. On our most recent trip we found over 200 geocaches in the Brecon Beacons.

Colin & Carole: Whenever we have time to spare. It’s a really enjoyable way to explore an area. We book our holidays around good geocaching hot spots. As a premium member of geocaching.com caching stats are displayed … including the length of time since our last geocache find. Our longest spell without finding one is just six days and we’ve now found almost 8,000 geocaches!

Where are your favourite places in the world to go geocaching?

Veikko: Without question, it’s the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal. In my opinion this waterway is ‘The Best Geocaching Canal in the World’. I have visited over 100 countries and nothing compares with this.

Colin & Carole: We don’t have a favourite. It’s taken us to every part of the UK. The furthest North is John O’Groats, furthest South Lizard point, furthest West (believe it or not) is also in Scotland. We’ve also found the highest in the UK (Ben Nevis), the highest in Wales (Snowdon) and the highest in England (Scafell Pike). We have been down caves in Bath, and paddled in a dinghy into a disused canal tunnel. We have even found a cache in a sunken shipwreck out in the Bristol Channel, only accessible at very low spring tides. On a 15-mile walk in Dorset we found 100 caches, and in a 100-mile drive through Cornwall we discovered 360 caches.

Tell me about the geocaches near the Mon & Brec canal.

Veikko: The closest cache to Beacon Park Boats’ base in Llangattock is near the towpath just opposite the boathouse. Until recently there were just a small number of random caches placed along the 33 navigable miles of this waterway. I contacted Colin and Carole who agreed to help out; they’ve been working hard to increase the number of caches on the Mon & Brec, and make it an even more appealing destination for geocachers. A very big thank you to them! To date there are about 100 caches along the canal and a further 200 or so within easy walking distance.

Colin & Carole: Interestingly, the oldest cache in Wales is on the Blorenge mountain, above the Mon & Brec near Abergavenny. Placed there on 17th February 2001, geocachers come from miles to hunt for it. There is a series of 30 caches in the Brecon Beacons called SWMC series, where you uncover clues in some of them to find a final cache. In the mountains above Crickhowell is an interesting 12-mile walk filled with geocaches, called High Tea cache. Brecon has a small series of caches in the town, by the river and along the canal. The Brecon Beacons’ spectacular scenery has geocaches on most of the prominent peaks including Pen y Fan, Cribyn and Fan y Big, and some are found close to aircraft crash sites on the mountains. For a splendid geocaching evening walk, try the old railway line from Talybont on Usk up to the Talybont Reservoir.

At Veikko’s suggestion we’ve started to place more caches along the canal. So far we have added 33 caches between Brecon and the Ashford tunnel. By the end of 2016 we’ll have placed new caches as far south as Beacon Park Boats at Llangattock. When we place a cache, we like to make it interesting to find, and obviously have to follow the rules set down by geocaching.com. We’ve also had to get permission from the Canal & River Trust. The caches we have placed along the Mon & Brec are all premium member caches, which means only premium members can see their location details. The reason for doing this, is to ensure that the cache location is not compromised by a novice. As we live about 40 miles from the Mon & Brec canal, it is a long way to travel to maintain these caches – which are our responsibility since we placed them there. It’s a big project which we’re proud to be involved in. When complete, we hope it will be a series that will attract many cachers from the UK and overseas.

How would you encourage others to try this activity for the first time?

Veikko: Take a look at www.geocaching.com and get involved with some local geocachers. They’re a very friendly bunch.

Colin & Carole: Start off simple. Become a member of www.geocaching.com and set out to find a basic cache (with a rating of 1 for Difficulty and Terrain). Perhaps progress to be a premium member (fee payable) and attend a few geocaching events. Join Facebook (South Wales Geocachers) where you’ll find lots of encouragement.

If geocaching’s not for you, look at the other activities along the canal.

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