Wonderful walking along the Brecon Canal

The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is often voted Britain's prettiest canal. Much of it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park and follows the line of the lovely, wooded Usk Valley. Brecon Canal Basin is a great place to start your journey, with lovely walks along the canal.

Our scenic canal celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2012. This peaceful waterway was built as an industrial corridor for lime, limestone, timber, coal and iron. In its 19th century heyday, it was supported by horse-drawn tramroads that were used to bring raw materials from the hillsides.

Limestone was dug out from the nearest quarries and taken by tramroad or cart to limekilns which were specially built close to the canal banks. Remains of these kilns can still be seen today.

The busiest era for the canal was the early 19th century. By 1810, the canal was carrying 150,000 tons of coal each year, on heavily-laden barges towed by horses

The arrival of the steam railways later in the 19th century caused a steep decline in the fortunes of the canals. In 1880 the canal company was taken over by the Great Western Railway and by the early 20th century, commercial carrying had all but ceased.

Brecon Canal Basin is right in the heart of Brecon. The canal towpath offers walkers a gentle walking experience through some very pretty countryside and a chance to enjoy the waterside wildlife. There also various pubs and eating places along the canal for the weary walker.

There are picnic tables at the side of the lock and additional ones just a few hundred metres away on the other side of the lane. Looking down river from the bridge you can see Brynich Aqueduct crossing the Usk.

If you fancy a trip, Dragonfly Cruises off trips down the canal from the Brecon canal basin and it is really worth going. They operate from March to October and you can see the times on their website.

At Tall John’s House, which is only 5 miles from Brecon, we often host groups of friends or family parties. Dragonfly Cruises also offer private trips for groups which is a super way to spend an afternoon together.