A narrowboat holiday through Wales brought my father and I closer together
A few mishaps were all part of the adventure for Natalie, her children and her ex-navy father
Natalie Paris and her father loved the slow travel element of a narrowboat holiday
The canal narrowed to a thin slip of water, trees fell away and all of a sudden we were floating over the fields like a bird on the breeze. To one side of the boat was a drop of 38 metres – one false step and that was it. It was only when we were overtaken by walkers on the other side that I realised that we were going much too slowly for us to be bumped overboard. Still, crossing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct via the world’s highest navigable canal felt like flying.
Why we re raising our young family aboard an old Dutch barge
With house prices soaring out of reach, Laura and Alex opted instead for a unique home on the water – but it wasn’t easy
30 January 2021 • 6:00am
Family afloat: Laura Edwards and partner Alex in their barge
with their sons Stanley,
Ernest and
Arthur
Credit: Rii Schroer
Laura Edwards and her partner, Alex, were both living on narrowboats when they met. Part of a community of so-called “continuous cruisers”, they opted to move around the canal and river system every couple of weeks rather than stay put at a permanent mooring.