Gareth Edwards’ Great Welsh Adventure

Gareth Edwards, once voted the greatest rugby player of all time, is not quite so coordinated when put in charge of a seventy-foot narrowboat. Now in his 70s, the rugby legend is busier than ever and constantly racing from one thing to the next. Which is why his wife, childhood sweetheart Maureen, has determined he needs to chill out more. She’s hatched a plan to whisk him away to explore the four Welsh canals. As no narrowboat is allowed to go more than three miles an hour, she figures that exploring the Welsh canals is the one way to finally get him to relax. But the plan is not entirely successful as Gareth’s stress levels go through the roof once he is in charge of his narrowboat. Even though everything around them happens slowly, avoiding hitting obstacles along the way proves no easy feat. Maureen, meanwhile, has some previous experience of driving a barge so knows the perils but also struggles when she jumps in the driving seat. After a pub lunch, Gareth and Maureen return to find their boat has drifted off and blocked the entire canal. Somehow, Wales’s much-loved couple still find time to appreciate the breathtaking scenery. The Llangollen canal is one of the most scenic canals in Britain, with stunning landscapes and the 300m long Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The aqueduct was designed by Thomas Telford in 1795 and carries the canal over the River Dee on 19 vast arches. In its day it was radical new technology. Even now it’s not for the faint-hearted, and a good head for heights is needed before setting out to cross the 200-year-old structure. Gareth takes an opportunity to catch up with an old friend who lives near the canal. Dai Davies was goalkeeper for Wales between 1969 and 1987, but he and Gareth go back further than that. While young men, still dreaming of sporting success, they were flatmates. Now Dai has left international sporting success behind him to focus on alternative therapies. Maureen hopes Dai will finally manage to slow Gareth do

Gareth Edwards, once voted the greatest rugby player of all time, is not quite so coordinated when put in charge of a seventy-foot narrowboat. Stress levels are running high from the off when Gareth and his wife, childhood sweetheart Maureen, face their first lock on the Montgomery Canal. Gareth assumes the role of captain, while Maureen takes charge of the heavy lifting. The intrepid canal explorers discover the incredible story of the narrowboat Cressy as they pass the place it was built. Use of the canals for the transporting of goods was dying out in the latter half of the 20th century. But the writer LTC Rolt took Cressy along the overgrown canal system and wrote the bestselling book Narrow Boat. It's credited with inspiring interest in canals for pleasure not industry, kick-starting the canal leisure industry and saving many old waterways from being lost forever. Gareth and Maureen get a lift on a horse-drawn narrowboat, finally experiencing the tranquillity of near silence drifting through a pristine landscape without a roaring engine. At a section of canal that is still impassable, they learn of plans underway to restore the canal back to its former glory. Gareth also manages to hitch a lift on a barge taking schoolchildren deep into the countryside to experience life on the canal. Finally, Gareth is asked to fire the starting gun at a triathlon in which people cycle, run and row the entire length of the canal to raise money to help fund the restoration. The journey along the Montgomery canal with two of Wales' most loved figures delivers plenty of humour and a heart-warming celebration of some of the best landscape the country has to offer.

Rugby legend Gareth Edwards and wife Maureen’s canal adventure continues in style as they are entrusted with a classy craft on which to explore the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. Determined to show that he has mastered the art of narrow-boating, Gareth takes charge of the Bentley of barges. But no amount of determination prevents a few bumps and scrapes along the way. As a reward for their endeavours, the intrepid duo discover a way to make gin with ingredients found in the hedgerows. Gareth is a lifelong fisherman and loves nothing more than a few hours on a riverbank. When the canal passes the Glanusk Estate, Gareth seizes the chance to meet up with Tiggy Pettifer. Once nanny to the royal princes, Tiggy now runs the estate. Gareth admits that if he had to make a choice between scoring a try for Wales or catching the perfect salmon, it would be catching the fish every time. As Gareth and Maureen pull into Brecon, where the canal ends, they couldn’t have a more appropriate welcoming party. A jazz band – a style of music with which the town is synonymous thanks to its annual festival - is waiting to greet them.

Rugby legend Gareth Edwards and his wife, and childhood sweetheart, Maureen reach the final leg of their round-Wales adventure by canal. And the conclusion of their beautiful but bumpy journey through the most spectacular scenery Wales has to offer has a personal connection for them both. This pair of narrowboat novices grew up at opposite ends of the same street in the village of Gwaun-cae-Gurwen, a few miles from Neath. As children, they would play in the areas by the derelict canals but knew very little of them and their history. Today, though the canals are virtually impassable, they have been cleaned up. Gareth and Maureen discover no fewer than three canals on their doorstep: the Swansea Canal and the Neath and Tennant Canals. The canals reveal a story of industry that once dominated the area, canals being constructed to get coal and iron to the docks. But now there is a plan afoot to give them a new lease of life. Teams of dedicated volunteers are working on the old canals, hoping to restore and reopen them. Gareth and Maureen can’t help but be impressed when they take to the water by motorboat and even canoe to get a sense of what the canals will be like when they reopen.