I Do Canals Blog - Narrowboat Holidays as a Child

Narrowboat Holidays as a Child

As a child my parents would take myself, my brother's and my sister on canal holidays.

They would rent a narrowboat from one of the many canal holiday firms...

We would take a week or two travelling the canals.

I think at the earliest I was only about 7 years old and the last holiday with my family I was probably about 12.

Along with us came a long time family friend Ian. Ian had been a friend of my father since I was about 7 years old and not only came to live with us but helped my mother and father build a 6 bedroom house in Cheshire which was barely more than a mile from the Trent & Mersey Canal near Broken Cross (Northwich).

A Cautionary Tale

Although quite young I do remember a number of the things that occurred whilst on these narrow-boat holidays.

We nearly capsized in a lock because the stern of the boat was over the sill which you must always avoid. At the time my mother was pregnant with my sister so this would have been late summer 1969. My younger brother Andrew was crawling at the time and he and I were both in the galley with my mother when the boat almost went over. I remember we were at quite a steep angle. If it wasn't for the quick actions of my father and Ian reversing the two sluices at either end of the lock, the outcome may have been quite tragic indeed.

Quite a few instances especially on YouTube of canal boats turning over in a lock because of this very reason. The YouTube Video below shows a privately owned narrow-boat that sunk in a matter of 25 seconds. It's not the best photography and there's no sound, but it's a scary prospect indeed. You can see two people escape from the bow end just as the boat goes under. This occurred on the Kennet and Avon Canal in Whitley, Berkshire. Everyone got out safely but it could have been so different. At first this looks as if it was because the narrow-boat's bow was over the sill. This was not the case, it was caused by a faulty seal around the prop-shaft which failed and allowed water in rapidly. consequently, the boat sunk stern first. It was about ten days before the boat could be lifted out by crane. Very sad...

Another incident that I remember vividly, was in 1974. We're on the South Stratford Canal heading towards Stratford-upon-Avon and we were somewhere between locks 38 and 32. My older brother, Jonathan, and I would work the locks. We'd run ahead and fill or empty the locks accordingly ready for our family holiday narrowboat to proceed through. We'd been doing this for a few days and we had become quite good at it.

I was opening the lock gates whilst my brother Jonathan had run ahead to the next lock and had begun turning the sluice handle. It had a defective ratchet keep and when Jonathan inadvertently let go of the handle, it swung viciously back and struck him smartly on the temple. This only came to light when I ran forward to join him ready to help only to find him unconscious, on the ground, with lots of blood pouring from a big gash on his head. I sprinted back, alerted the parents and Ian who sprang into action.

My father and Ian, taking turns, ran across several fields for about a mile alternately carrying Jonathan. I believe they flagged down a car on a narrow country lane, the driver of which drove all three of them to the hospital in Stratford-upon-Avon. My father stayed with Jonathan whilst Ian hitched a lift back to the boat and with the assistance of my mother and I, navigated into the Stratford-upon-Avon basin. I think that now it is the Bancroft basin mooring.

Not all our narrow-boat holidays were as calamitous. We enjoyed many beautiful countryside views on a variety of canals most of which I don't remember the names of as it was some 50 years or so ago.

Canal-side moorings and pubs were plentiful and I seem to remember several museums plus my parents raving on about the fantastic architecture from the industrial Revolution. I don't remember a great deal about the boats themselves but I do remember that the holidays were fantastic. Every day there was somewhere new to explore wherever we moored up. Every now and then Jonathan and I would be towed along behind in the rubber dinghy, which was great fun as kids. The canals were not too busy and there was always plenty to do.

On the earlier holidays we were also joined by our Siamese cat Suzy, who fell in at least twice. In the later holidays our family pets that came aboard were in the shape of two dachshunds named Florence and Katy, who also both fell in, several times.

The dogs were the perfect size to walk around the little narrow ledges on either side of the boats but sometimes, their confidence overtook any consideration for safety.

Back then there was no such thing as life belts for dogs or cats. I don't even remember wearing them myself although that could be down simply to a lack of memory.