Three days sailing the canals near Worcester on a narrow boat with a four-year-old. Is Charlotte Skidmore mad? Read on and find out
We were planning on going away to a mobile caravan for the weekend when Black Prince Holidays offered us a canal boat break. Always up for challenge we headed to Stoke Prior in Worcestershire ready to take the lovely Elsie narrowboat out for the weekend.
When we stepped into our home for the weekend, it struck me how, ummmm, narrow, the narrow boat was. Now don’t laugh or think I’m ridiculous for saying that, as unless you’ve stepped inside a canal boat, you really don’t full appreciate how so much can fit into such a slender space.
And fit little luxuries into their boats is exactly what Black Prince Holidays is good at. From speakers to pump out those tune as you glide along the canals, to wool blankets to keep you warm on a chilly evening, the boats are full equipped in order to make life easy as you enjoy peace and tranquillity at a slow pace, whilst taking in some beautiful waterways.
Our lovely boat, named ‘Elsie’ is kept at Stoke Prior and can sleep up to six people; though I’d say with one bathroom, two adults and two children or three adults is probably ideal. There are larger boats available and Black Prince Holidays has nine bases you can sail from across the United Kingdom.
Now, in an ideal world you would have more than one adult doing everything, but with one person having to watch the four-year-old and me chickening out totally of driving the canal boat, the canal locks took a very long time. This was entirely my fault as one adult should drive and one should do the lock gates. And my husband ended up doing it all. Safe to say he was happy but exhausted after the weekend. My advice would be to have at least two adults onboard, one to do the lock gates and one to drive. It’s honestly not as easy as it looks. I’m actually very good at driving a car!
When we did have chance to stop and take in our surroundings, it was truly beautiful and such a unique way to see the surroundings. We watched cygnets following their parents into the reeds, children fishing from the canal banks and saw everything , at a slow, relaxed pace. My daughter learnt so much over the weekend; about wildlife, numbers by counting the locks and bridges and technical skills doing the lock. But she also learnt to chill out, self entertain with some colouring or some card games.
There is a shortage of shops once you’re on board; especially if you’re only away for a weekend; so you really should fill the cupboards when you board with enough food and drink for three or four days minimum. On that note, there was plenty of cupboard space, a four-ring hob, cooker, grill, kettle and even a hairdryer onboard. Plus a lovely welcome gift of locally made chocolate and marmalade and essentials like shampoo and shower gel – definitely saves some packing space.
In conclusion
This is a truly beautiful way to travel and Black Prince Holidays is a great company to book through. They give you over an hour of expert tuition before you set sail and they think of all the small things you may need on your journey, from hairdryers to umbrellas and blankets to chocolate.
In my opinion you definitely need two adults minimum onboard and more if you have little people to watch.
This is an exciting, eye opening way to holiday and it’s one I’ve had on my bucket list for a while.
Book via black-prince.com
