What is this life if, full of care What is this life if, full of care
26/05/2010
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows...
Well a short break on a narrowboat on the Shropshire Union Canal certainly gave us just that – time to stop and stare – at the beautiful English countryside and to see parts you would never reach by any means of transport other than a boat. If you want to get away from the stresses and strains of everyday life this is just the holiday for you.
Travelling at an average speed of 3 miles an hour you can really appreciate the unique atmosphere of canal life and the experiences of all generations of boat travellers.
Our team from Mature Times travelled with Countrywide Cruisers from Brewood in Staffordshire and, over the four days, travelled up to Adderley Locks and back. We had already been supplied with full instructions and a guidebook to enable us to plan the itinerary of our break before we set off, which was extremely helpful – particularly as two members of our party wanted to make sure they knew where the watering holes were en route!
When we reached the starting point of our break at the wharf we were met by the owners, who gave us full instructions and helpful advice on how to handle and operate the boat.
Countrywide have a whole fleet of narrowboats owned and run by a small family company for over 30 years. Our boat ‘Sir Cador’, named after the mythical Arthurian knight, gave us a comfortable and smooth ride from start to finish of our journey of discovery.
It had berths for six people with surprisingly good facilities - including a powerful shower, all new towels, flush toilet and impressive central heating as well as a fully equipped galley and living area - including a TV and radio, but there was too much else to watch for us to even turn it on! And, to be honest, we preferred the gentle sounds of the water lapping, the birds singing and the purring of the engine as we wended our way.
Once we were on our way our first stop was in Gnosall (pronounced Nozell we were reliably informed by the locals that the ‘g’ was silent and the ‘s’ a ‘z’) which has a splendid church nearby and an excellent butchers shop. Even better, in the evening we had a warm welcome at the Boat Inn and a thoroughly enjoyable meal.
After a hearty breakfast on board we set off again and north of Gnosall we were lucky enough to have such clear weather to see the famous Shropshire landmark The Wrekin, celebrated in A.E. Housman’s 'A Shropshire Lad' and the Salopians still raise their glasses in a toast to: “All friends around the Wrekin”. We wondered at Telford’s feats of engineering and in particular the immensity of Shelmore embankment, which was six years in the making by a vast army of navvies and horses.
There was so much to see and do on our journey along ‘The Shroppie’ and time passed too quickly sighting kingfishers, herons, ducks with their young ducklings and the host of other wildlife on the canal banks. And not to mention the snatched conversations with our fellow boaters, as they passed serenely by with waves and smiles – they too enjoying all on offer from this marvellous experience.
Having spent some four days on the water it is hard to find any fault. The quality of the boat and accommodation was excellent; the pace of life was one that we had forgotten existed and we had the ability to stop whenever we wanted. As an added bonus we had four days of beautiful sunshine that made the whole trip even more enjoyable.
This is a holiday that comes highly recommended – the narrowboat is certainly the way to travel.
Our holiday was with DRIFTERS - a consortium of ‘award winning’ holiday boat companies. Tel 08457 626252 or visit the website linked below.
Mature Times has negotiated a special discount for our readers across the whole of The Drifters boating network just see below.
There has never been a better time to get out on our waterways so we are offering you an incentive to try it out if you mention Castle Wharf Promotions/25
£50 off a part week
£100 off a full week
£250 off two weeks
This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.