Boating the HIGHEST CANAL AQUEDUCT in the WORLD! - Ep.3

Jesus! How are things out here? We're beached. Alright. The UK has a network of over 2,000 miles of canals, and we've come to Wales to drive a boat across the highest and longest canal aqueduct in the UK. And there's no railing on this side! But we didn't know this is also the narrowest canal on the network. This is a snug canal. I'm Mike, and I'm traveling with my partner Nicole on four boats on four canals in the UK to experience the joys and challenges of narrowboating. And this week, we're joined by Nicole's university friend Rachel to enjoy the Clangochlin Canal for episode three of Downy Live Travels by Boat! And it starts here, in the small town of Trevore. So we just picked up our boat from Anglo-Welsh Narrowboat Holiday Company. We booked using drifters. Let me introduce you to Fitzroy! So, let's take a look on board. As usual, we board at the back of this almost 60-foot long boat and enter bedroom number one. Behind it is the first bathroom. That's right, there are two of these bathrooms, each with a shower. Then further down the hall is the second bedroom, and behind that is the second bathroom. You get it. Finally, we come into the modern and functional kitchen. Great stove, cooktop, little prep area and pantry here. Then we have the living room with four comfortable chairs and a wood-burning fireplace in the corner. Personally, I really like the details on the curtains. I love it. And of course, our front deck. So, let's start it up and get on our way. You are now clear. Well, not on this side. Bye, guys! So, let's get Fitzroy moving. I love this. The biggest boat we've been on yet come out being washed by everybody. Gongoozlers! This is our biggest boat rental yet, and as I mentioned in the intro, this is the narrowest canal, which should make things interesting. I mean, we're barely out of the marina and already making a three-point turn. Tight corner, right as we come out. All righty. Look at that. This is a big boat. As you can see, the canal is barely wide enough for our boat, let alone if we have to go past anyone. Oh, no. Oh, my gosh. There's a boat coming. Stick to the right. I can't go back. We're going to pull over and let them... Oh, dear. For some reason, they drive on the left, but when you're boating, you stay to the right. I don't think there's some reason. It's because the rest of the world, like the entire ocean and river, everywhere else, it's right. So, this is a waterway, so they treat it like the way they do all waterways. You pass on the right. So, sticking to global mariner laws, we're staying as far right as we can. If this is a sign of things to come, this trip could take a long time. So, we were told this is the narrowest and busiest canal in the network. I didn't really believe them. We've gone about 30 meters, and... Hi! This is snug. That was exactly the width of two boats. Last week, the canal was straight and wide, whereas this week is said to be one of the most challenging canals yet. You got it, Nicole? That's a power stance. You can see how the canal continues to meander along the edge of these mountains, which means the driver, or skipper, is constantly having to pay attention. And if they don't, this happens. We're grounding. We're grounding a little bit. It's a narrow and shallow canal. We've come aground. Rachel is starting to understand that narrowboating might not be what she imagined. I'm not going anywhere. I'm beached. Beached. Road in reverse. It is, like, how would you pass? Like, here. It would be my question. Oh, look! It's so shallow there. So... Strong wind out here. And with a bigger boat, it means it moves a lot more. While Nicole drives, I'm doing research on this section to see if there's any history or landmarks we should know about. I find it funny because Nicole is the one with an actual geography degree, but I tend to be more interested in maps than her. We have warnings coming up. Super narrow parts and blind corners, so they recommend sending someone ahead. I mean, that is... That's pretty perfect, baby. We hold it. Now, while the canal already doesn't feel very wide, it gets down to the width of just one boat every time there's a bridge. This is a snug canal. Perfect. Didn't touch the walls. So this is the Llangollen Canal. At least, that's how I read it. But I learned the Welsh pronounce the double L's as cl, so it's actually pronounced the Clangochlin Canal. Alright, this part seems simple enough. Let's let Rachel drive for her first time while I tell you about the canal. The Clangochlin here is called one of the UK's most stunning stretches of canal, and I can see why. We're cruising on a boat, winding in and out of forest, along the hillside, passing sheep, and valley views for what is supposed to be a two-hour trip to our destination this afternoon. However, something tells me it's going to take us slightly longer than that. But that's okay. Nicole has made snacks. And if we didn't think it could get any narrower, it's about to. We have a foot there, and we have six inches here. I mean, I could step off, off she goes, and that's all we get. If there's another boat coming this way, I don't know what you'd do. So they really weren't kidding when they said this is the narrowest canal, though, were they? Why did you think it would be? Well, I just didn't think it could get much narrower than the Monmouthshire and Breck, which we did. This portion of the canal narrows so much that it becomes impossible for two boats to pass. And because it continuously curves, you can't actually see if there's anyone coming or not. And after we've made it through that section, this blue sign tells us that it gets even narrower again. Channel narrows to one boat width for 500 meters. We advise you to send someone to walk ahead to warn of oncoming boats. No passing places. So we've sent Nicole ahead to check. It is. Now, this portion of the video is sponsored by Caseco. I recently upgraded to the new iPhone 14 Pro Max. When you spend so much money on a phone, you want to make sure it's taken care of. That's where the magic box comes in handy. Okay, let's take a look. The magic stand phone case, the screen protectors, a smart charger, and the charging and sync cable. Now, what's special about the phone case? At first, it seems like a normal case. But right off the bat, you have a 1.5 millimeter raised bezel to protect the screen when it's face down, and a 2.5 millimeter raised bezel to protect the camera lenses. Which, as we know, is important for me. But the reason I really did it is because of the invisible magic stand. See that? That holds in flush with the phone. But pull it out, lay it on the counter, you've got yourself a tripod. Whether you're looking at recipes while cooking something in the kitchen, watching Netflix, or need to take a selfie. If you want to check it out for yourself, I've left a link in the description down below and check out the magic box by Caseco. Caseco, thank you for sponsoring this portion of the video. Let's get back to those canals. There is one. Five men fishing, but it's up where it widens. And they went by, and they offered her a gin and tonic, and she took it. And she's had a gin and tonic with them. Well, we should go join those guys. Nice! Thanks for the tip! She knows how to live, eh? She says it's clear, so let's cross our fingers and get going. I'm up against the wall, and I can't get off it. There's no room on this side. They said, oh, you've got to go to Gangok Glen. It's so pretty. And it is! They didn't say it would be this difficult. Driving a 60-foot long narrowboat with mere inches on each side is difficult enough. But add in the fact that you have to take corners as well, makes it darn near impossible to do without hitting the side. I mean, this is so narrow. I basically don't have to steer. Just put the throttle on, and we'll just bounce off the walls uphill. Sorry. Look, now we have an S-curve. I mean, I don't know how anyone can do this without bumping anything. Like, I feel like I'm driving a school bus down a bowling alley. That would arguably be easier. That would be easier. Is this a mini castle? As we're now seeing more homes, or mini castles, we're clearly approaching the small town of Klangok Glen, which holds more canal history than I expected. In fact, this concession stand is made from the old stables for the horses that used to pull canal boats. What's the plan? What do you need? We're going to reverse it in. We've finally made it to the marina at the end of the canal. I'm going to attempt to park this 60-foot beast. Eee! No! I mean, that's pretty good. So we opted to stay in the marina tonight because all the moorings seem pretty busy. We want to stay here in Klangok Glen, which means we have to pay six pounds to the marina for us to stay here. But it seems fair. Our marina is at the edge of town, and so it's time for our evening walk to see where we've ended up. We've come all this way because this picturesque town is very significant to the canal. Wow, this town is beautiful. And yes, this river below us has a lot to do with it. But before I fill you in on that, let's get some groceries and make dinner on board. How is the kitchen in terms of functionality? I'd say it's functional. The thing that this boat has that the other two boats we've been on don't have is a fireplace. So we got some firewood. But first things first, we have to put up the chimney. You see, it's going to come out here. All right, let's put my camp skills to the test. Now we can light it. Fire extinguisher right here. Okay, let's see if the wood catches. I don't want to jinx it, but I think we're in business. Burning wood. This is exactly why I love narrowboating. Just a cozy evening on the water in Wales. Smells like fresh wood. But in here it smells like roasting vegetables. Mediterranean dinner? We've had enough of the pubs. Couldn't eat any more deep fried food. Dinner on the water by the fire. That's pretty good. Tastes better. The rest of tonight is spent relaxing and catching up with Rachel by the fire, so we'll see you in the morning. This morning, we're going to go for a little walk and see where all this water comes from. There's something integral to the canal up here, which is what we've come to see. That's where we're going. So this marina is the end of the line. The canal does continue, but there's no spot to turn the boats around, so there's a sign there that says no boat traffic beyond this. We're going to see what's up there, because like I said, it's the source of the canal. I hope you can see this weed that's floating in the current this way. This is the only canal with a current. Most canals are completely level and do not have a current. However, the Glengocklin Canal, as you can see, does have a current. The flow is coming from Horseshoe Falls. And to get there is a beautiful walk along the canal. Huh, this sign feels a little out of date. Boats now have motors and aren't pulled by horses anymore, right? Well, in fact, here in Glengocklin, they do still use the old canal-side stables to keep the horses in, because... They do horse-drawn tours up to Horseshoe Falls. Just like the horses would have pulled the barges back in the canals in the 1800s. The boats do not have motors. They're just pulled by horses. In fact, a horse can pull 20 times more weight by canal boat than it could by wagon, because the water floats the weight. And once you get it moving, you just have to kind of continue the momentum. The other benefit of pulling freight by boat is there aren't any hills on the water. Horse-drawn canal boats became the fastest and most efficient way to transport goods. Until the steam train was invented and made the canals slow and eventually obsolete. But here in Glengocklin, you can still experience a horse-drawn boat ride up the canal. Now, back to finding the source of the canal. Ah, I think we're getting close. And here it is. The source of the canal. The River Dee here has a small weir built which helps to divert water into the pump house. Any excess water overflows back into the River Dee. And the pump house manages the amount of water entering the canal. Which is why it flows with a slight current. Used to be done manually with wooden planks. Now it's all digital. But what a beautiful spot. Everything is so green in Wales. Okay, let's go see that aqueduct. Gonna come get me too? Thank you. Onwards to the aqueduct. Rachel is feeling up to the challenge of taking on the narrow stretch on our way back down. Back past the sheep again. Even Nicole and I were narrowboat beginners just two weeks ago. And as difficult as this canal is, Rachel is loving it. Be prepared to go full gas. Hard that way. Hard. Hard, hard, hard, hard. All the way, all the way, all the way, all the way. Reverse. You're gonna hit it. Reverse, reverse. Reverse. Perfect. I mean, I feel like that was as good as it could have gotten. That was great. In less than 24 hours, she's gone from never driving a narrowboat to being the skipper as we start to cross the highest canal aqueduct in the world. Wow. Okay, if you're afraid of heights, just skip ahead. Don't watch this part because we will be 125 feet up in the air. And there's no railing on this side. Like, wow. It's beautiful. This is the Ponsse Silti Aqueduct, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the longest canal aqueduct in the UK. The word Ponsse Silti is Welsh for the bridge that connects, but is often called the river in the sky. We are floating in a boat in water that is being held in by a five-foot deep cast-iron trough suspended 126 feet above the river and held up across 19 arches. Construction was started in 1795 and took 10 years until completion in 1805 and is the highest canal aqueduct in the world. And look at that smile on Rachel's face. I'm doing really well. All of our faces. How cool is this? I can't believe you're able to drive a boat across this unassisted. This is an experience you can't get anywhere else, and I'm so glad it's still here for us to not just look at, but use. So just like anywhere else on the canal, it has the towpath for the horses to pull the barges along, but myth has it that kids used to take this bridge to get to school, and if they were crossing at the same time as a horse, they'd have to jump over the railing and hang there and wait for the horse to go past. Was that scary? I think it was thrilling. That was great. Yeah, it was really great. But now that we've crossed the aqueduct, our experience is not over. Coming around the next corner is the next challenge. One we haven't encountered yet. Thank you. Perfect, Nicole. Here we go. We have ourselves a lift bridge. I haven't done one of these before. There don't seem to be any instructions, but I think it operates just the same as a lock. Cool. What's it feel like? Smooth? It's really smooth. You can see there's a pedestrian bridge behind the lift bridge, where pedestrians can cross at any time. Only cars use the lift bridge, but it's still in our way. It's a little slower than I expected. This could take a while. Okay, you do some. I guess that means you're driving, Ranger. So the rules of these bridges is that they're meant to be kept down for cars and pedestrians, and only when a boat comes through do we operate it, put it up. Once we're through, we put it back down again. There's a massive counterweight at the end to counter the weight of the bridge, so it goes up pretty easily. Don't let it come down on the boat, Nicole. And Rachel either loves driving the boat now, or she's just getting smart enough and saying she does, so we do all the cranking. Would you like a turn on winding? Sure. I was kind of expecting you could just let go and it would come down. You actually have to turn it and use force. How did it go? Great. Cut the needle. I like that we all switched every job that we had. Good job, Rachel. Thank you. We were only planning to go this far today, but with Rachel being so happy at the tiller, I think we're just going to keep going. We're now coming up to the White House Tunnel. It's 174 meters long. Average time at two miles per hour should take about four minutes. If you go further left, I'll take a peek if there's anyone down there. Oh! Just barely. There's another boat coming out. They're just getting into it, but they're just before us. And that's exactly why you always double check before entering a tunnel. Yeah, we both stopped. Better that way than not stopping. Yeah, yeah. I love the tunnels. I love the aqueducts. I love the canals. I love the boats. What about me? I love the drawbridges, and I love the crew. Good. I know we went through a tunnel last week, but I want to show you that if you go through a tunnel with your GoPro filming a time-lapse, it kind of looks like you're traveling at warp speed. Come out of the Chirk Tunnel. We have a little basin for waiting here, but it's pretty much one-way traffic through the tunnel and onto the aqueduct. Hi, guys. Hello. Enjoy your trip. It looks amazing. Thank you. It's no wonder this is one of the busiest canals in the system. Now, there's so much to see, but the most interesting part about the Chirk Aqueduct is that it crosses into another country. Look at that. We've just gone from Wales to England. All right. That was the Chirk Aqueduct. And honestly, the English section of this canal feels very different from the Welsh side. The canal is now wider and straighter, and we've come across our first locks on this canal. You're doing it. It's never long before we're back into the action here on the canal. But of course, that being said, it's also not long until you're back out and cruising and relaxing on these calm waterways. This part of the canal passes less through forest and more through open agricultural areas, which, as a fan of cows and sheep, I love. And their fleece was as white as snow. I don't know if I've ever seen a black sheep before. But there is one final piece of architectural design that I find fascinating, while most boaters won't even notice it. We're going to see if we can do this in one shot. So, in the old days, horses pulled the barges, as I've explained. And in this situation, I will be the horse, and I will attempt to pull this boat. We've already got a little bit of momentum. But what happens when you need to change the tow path from one side of the canal to the other side is they have this subtle, but really unique piece of architecture, this bridge. Normally, you would continue down there, which then you would have to disconnect the rope and reattach it. But this spirals back to the same side it was on. Our rope is still attached. Step over it. And there we go. And now the horse can continue pulling the boat through without having to unhook. Ah, here we go. Pretty cool little piece of engineering. Alright, back to our regularly scheduled programming of me on the boat. So, to end the day, we made dinner, I did dishes, and then... Oh, Jesus. How are things out here? We're beached. Right in the middle, too. Wow, you're not near the edge at all. No. Getting our beaching pole. We haven't had to use this one yet. Ready to give it a little juice, give it a little gas. Oh, it's really soft. It's just going into the sand. Yes, give it the juice! Yeah, I think Rachel's still enjoying this. Nothing a little power can't fix. Finally, Rachel's had her fill for the day, so now it's my turn for the final challenge, and maybe the most important part of the day, finding the perfect parking spot. The ladies have decided to go for an evening walk along the canal, so it's a solo job for me. I could park here with all the boats, but there's a cow's field up ahead. You know where I want to be. I feel like I'm looking for a parking spot outside of the stadium on game day. I've never seen it so full. Oh my gosh, look at this. Hi. Do you guys know of any parking spots? Ladies? Parking anywhere nearby? Got a spot? Friends? Very friendly people here. Great neighbors, great neighbors. Sometimes the toughest decision of the day is deciding where you're going to spend the night. I think we found a spot. We'll just park up here. We'll take the last spot, we'll take it right at the end. What a day, what a day! Canal life is constantly full of challenges and adventures, but it's all at your own pace. Rachel picked it up in no time flat, and it's days like we just had that make these trips so rewarding. That's not going anywhere. Long day. I think we got it. Close to town, with reception, next to a cow field. We'll see you in the morning. As night falls, this is where I start the teaser for next week's episode, as we take the deepest lock in the UK and cruise the Rockdale Canal during the lowest water levels of the season, which has created tension on board between Nicole and I as we try to get to the deepest and longest canal tunnel in the UK. So make sure to subscribe. Go ahead, I'll wait. I mean, you can always unsubscribe if you change your mind, so there's no risk. Go ahead. Subscribe, so you don't miss episode four of Downy Live Travels by Boat.