Our narrowboat was named ‘Soo 95’ which is a strange sort of name. I had a ride on the luggage trolley to get on.

The weather was a bit gloomy when we set off.

The ‘Canal Companion’ book turned out to be very useful indeed. It listed all the places that we could moor overnight and fill up with water, plus tunnels and locks on the route.

Rupert the Bear has a boat named after him. I wondered if any boats anywhere are called Horace. Do let me know if you see a boat named after me anywhere!

The narrowboat was very narrow, and the double bed filled up the whole bedroom.

The humans cooked bacon sandwiches for breakfast before we set off the next day.

I travelled at the front on a bench just right for bears. I was able to keep a look out for the humans steering the boat at the back. Narrowboats are steered from the back using a tiller.

It felt a bit odd going up as the water level went up in the lock. On the stretch of canal from Ellesmere to Llangollen there are only two locks.

I helped out by jumping out and using the windless to open up the paddles to let the water out of the lock.

Once the water was at the same level each side I assisted in pushing open the gates.

My human got off and walked alongside the boat for a while and took this lovely photo – I was inside the boat at the time.

I am fascinated by aqueducts, which are canals going over rivers. The Chirk aqueduct was next to the viaduct that carries trains over the river Dee.

I also travelled through several tunnels. The narrowboat has a big light on the front that had to be turned on, as well as all the interior lights. It was important to check too that no other boats were coming in the opposite direction.

The human is walking along the edge of the boat, though in the photo it looks a bit like he is pushing it along!

I had a go at steering using the tiller, but it is quite hard work for a small bear keeping the boat going along in a straight line, so it wasn’t long before I let the humans take over again.

The narrowboat had a big tank of water onboard that had to be refilled every other day. Here I am next to a special post with hose attached to the tap.

The other end of the hose goes into a hole in the side on the gunwale. (The ledge around the boat that humans and bears can walk on is called a gunwale).

There were also bridges across the canal that had to be lifted up. The windless tool was used to do this.

After a while we arrived at the very high up Pontcysyllte aqueduct which crosses the River Dee. It was built between 1795 and 1805 and designed by the engineer Thomas Telford.

Pontcysyllte aqueduct is the highest and longest in the UK, and is a World Heritage site. There are railings next the the footpath but on the other side just a small lip on the edge of the canal trough.

Here is a selfie of me with on the boat with the River Dee 38 metres below. I didn’t get too close to the edge.

We chugged on – narrowboats only travel at 4 miles an hour, so don’t get anywhere fast. I said ‘Hello’ to this bear as we went past, and he waved at me!

On reaching the town of Llangollen we moored overnight in the basin.

I cooked hotdogs for everyone for lunch.

Yum yum yum (hot dogs not in rolls as I didn’t have any!)

An elephant and Little Bear were also travelling on the boat. We spent quite a while looking out of the window together.

Little Bear enjoyed a hot cross bun with me. It was a bit big for him so I had to help him finish it. Bears do like buns.

The next day we left Llangollen and went back over the aqueduct again, then moored the boat and got off for a walk. This is the underneath of the Pontcysyllte aqueduct.

I walked over the aqueduct using the footpath. It wasn’t as scary as I thought it might be – the aqueduct isn’t as high as Clifton Suspension Bridge which I have walked across many times.

I stopped to take in the wonderful view of the River Dee below.

Here I am at the bottom of the aqueduct.

After following the river for a while I came across two llamas called Carlos and Pedro.

Before walking back across the aqueduct some refreshments were required.

The next day we set off again back towards Ellesmere where we collected the boat. The map was consulted for suitable places for stopping etc.

Another tunnel…

While we were going through one Lock a human told me he had a ‘Teddy’ too, and went to get him. Teddy turned out to be a very friendly dog!

We chugged on back through another bridge.

I said ‘Hello’ to another dog. There seemed to be many dogs on boats.

Eventually, after another overnight stop we ended up at Whixham Marina, where I had a very tasty slice of carrot cake.

During the journey back to Black Meadow Marina, where we started, I walked along the canal path for a while.

I enjoyed my boat trip, there was lots interesting things to see, though the humans said that narrow boating isn’t as relaxing as it looks as they had to steer the boat, moor it up, get it through locks and tunnels and make sure the water didn’t run out. Mostly I just enjoyed the ride!

Horace the Alresford Bear 26/4/2024