THE MONMOUTHSHIRE AND BRECON CANAL
You’ll love our canal if you prefer smooth water to rushing rapids. Once an important transport route, it’s a lovely place for lazy strolling and boating. Peaceful and rural, with a flavour of times gone by, it’s often voted Britain’s prettiest canal. It passes through a generous swathe of the Brecon Beacons National Park, with appealing towns and villages to visit on the way.
Fed by the clear waters of the River Usk, the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, or the Mon and Brec as we like to call it, is clean and pleasant, muddy though it may look at times. The 35-mile stretch between Brecon Basin and Pontymoile Basin used to be called the Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal. Almost all of its original course has been restored and is navigable – the only bit missing is a short stretch at the top, beyond Brecon Basin.
At Pontymoile, near Pontypool, just outside our Park, the former Brecknock and Abergavenny Canal connects with the Monmouthshire Canal. It is navigable as far as the Five Locks Basin in Cwmbran. It’s not connected to the remainder of the British canal network, but enthusiasts find plenty to enjoy on this single length of water.
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