Boats mean business

I read somewhere recently that boats bring £34 million worth of business to Wales. I can well believe it having seen the amount of hireboaters going up and down the Llangollen.
But it's in little towns like Ellesmere you can really see how boaters bring money to canalside towns. Walk around the streets (and there aren't many of them) and every other person seems to be a boater. Those who don't have Aussie or American accents have boaters' tans, hats (or beer guts!).
You pass and re-pass a lot of the same boats on a canal trip along the Llangollen and you can spot them moored up in places like Ellesmere - or parked up outside canalside pubs.
I'd like to visit Ellesmere in mid-winter - it must be like Sleepy Hollow with no boaters around.