Black Prince is a member of Drifters, a consortium of award-winning holiday boat companies.

For information on boating holidays, telephone 08457 626252

or visit www.drifters.co.uk 

Find great ideas for enjoying the waterways on www.waterscape.com

  Visit the waterways museums on
www.thewaterwaystrust.org.uk
 

FED up of Christmas TV and leftovers? Feel as stuffed as the turkey you had the day before? Kids driving you crazy after growing tired of the new games console you bought them?
     Take a stroll canal-side in Berkhamsted and you might just rediscover your zest for the seasonal festivities.
    A crisp, bright December afternoon is all you need to entice you out of the armchair and onto the towpath of this historic Hertfordshire spot.
    Opened in 1798, the stretch of the Grand Union Canal through Berkhamsted put the town on the map and made it part of the national transport network helping to bring about the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
    It was, and still is, a gateway to 2,000 miles of waterways stretching across the country from London, through the Midlands and beyond.
    More than two centuries of history have seen the area between Ravens Lane and Castle Street—known as Castle Wharf—change, but the area has retained its magic.
    It once provided the basis for the town's business wealth, allowing the expansion of industries concentrating on coal, grain, timber and chemical handling.
    Bizarrely a small factory in 1852 set up by William Cooper of Shropshire gave the bustling port area the dubious honour of being dubbed the birth place of sheep dip—with the sulphur and arsenic mix fast becoming the region's most famous export.
    Sadly narrow boat trade as it was intended ceased along this historic stretch of water in the 1970s, but thanks largely to the efforts of Lindy Foster-Weinreb and the Canal and Riverside Partnership, it is enjoying a renaissance after a regeneration project revitalised the area as a leisure spot.
  With information plaques and colourful, traditionally hand- painted signs it is a tribute to the glory days of Britain's industrial heyday.
   It is a beautiful place to introduce the family to the region's past and to get a feel for what the town was like when it was the transport hub of Hertfordshire.   A reminder of that legacy are the three watering holes which once quenched the  thirst of workmen who used the waterway on which they have stood for more than 100 years.

   Each has its own character and place in the canal's history, but all have one thing in common—they're open for business over Christmas to provide some respite from cooking and Only Fools and Horses repeats.   The Rising Sun, a Victorian canal-side pub built in the 1880s, is largely unspoilt in its original charming setting and the only one left of its type in the area.
 The Riser, as locals affectionately know it, used to be a horse stables and housed the local George Street smithy.
    Described by the bar manager as a 'chimney pot' for local drinkers it is a rustic pub popular with regular clientele,  A friendly welcome is assured but punters should beware it is usually packed over the Christmas period. It is open from noon to 2pm on December 25 and noon to 4pm on Boxing Day.
   A short walk away is the new Boat pub by Berkhamsted Lock, which replaced a building popular with boaters and their horses. Now marketed with a gastro-pub menu it generally attracts a younger crowd than its close neighbours and again is sure to be a favourite. Families are catered for at the pub and with an extensive choice of main courses on Boxing Day (noon–10.30pm), it could be an ideal way to get away from the kitchen sink over the holiday.
   Soak up the tranquil scenery as you stretch your legs for the short walk to the Crystal Palace, which was designed by Sir Joseph Paxton, who also designed the ill-fated Crystal Palace Great Exhibition building in London.
  In the '70s it was owned by 'Charlie and Madge' and it still boasted sawdust-covered floors, regular clog dancing and an accordion player and catered to the industrial narrow boat trade at that time.
   The new management has retained much of its charm andmusical tradition putting on regular live bands, but have also added facilities such as dis-abled access, a pool table and juke box.
  Christmas (noon–2pm) and Boxing Day (noon-Hpm) trade should be brisk thanks to a warm welcome from landlady Cheryl Killingsback, so get in early if you want a seat at the bar.
   Fresh-air, excercise and history, and after the festive blowout everythingyou need for a very merry canal-side Christmas.