Cool canals Guides & Waterways Directory

Horse-drawn boats

Boating doesn't get more idyllic than this - a rare chance to experience real horse power

Take a horse-drawn boat trip and let your imagination drift effortlessly back in time to a slower pace and quieter ways, as you glide along on the water.

The waterways' silence is broken only by ropes clinking through mooring rings and hooves clopping into unhurried rhythm. Downwind, the smell of horse is deliciously romantic, and the awesomeness of steedy company will fill your senses...

Soak up the scenery and let stress slip away with the soporific motion of the narrowboat - but spare a thought for the 17th & 18th century working life and the hardships of these gentle giants during the canals' heyday. A boat family's survival depended on their horse's performance transporting huge loads of cargo. Look closely at the undersides of bridges and at lock sides, and you'll often see gouged marks from ropes heaving and tugging through them...

Luckily today these beautiful beasts have turned to tourism and plod effortlessly along in need only of occasional cajolery and a few tasty treats to keep them going.

As you gaze out from the boat, you might see walkers, cyclists, families with pushchairs, fishermen, all who may think that the towpaths are their territory, but the truth is that towpaths belong to horses... Whether you want to ride in the narrowboat or walk on the towpath alongside the horse, a horse-pulled narrowboat trip is an experience not to miss.