Cracker is ready to pull in the visitors

A new horse-drawn passenger trip boat which will be operating on a section of canal in Shropshire from this weekend is thought to be the only one of its kind in the Midlands.

The Countess of Maesbury, which will be officially launched tomorrow, has been purpose built to take passengers along a stretch of the Montgomery Canal. It will travel along the 'Monty' thanks to the horse power of Cracker, a Strawberry Roan Cob.

The horse has been in training to pull the boat, although it has had previous experience pulling gypsy caravans.

The venture will be unveiled at Canal Central in Maesbury Marsh, near Oswestry, tomorrow at 10.30am and the boat will travel up and down the restored Shropshire section of the canal.

North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson has been invited along to help with celebrations.

Local businessman Stephen Rees-Jone, the man behind the new tourist attraction, said: "This is a new venture and I am looking forward to it."

"This is the only horse-drawn passenger boat in the Midlands, which makes Cracker a very rare horse."

The Countess of Maesbury is a 12-seater, 35 foot, steel shelled craft based on the lines of a Victorian packet boat. The shell was built by boatbuilder ColeCraft, which is building a fleet of passenger boats for the London Olympics.

Mr Rees-Jones, of Byewater Cruises, has had many years of experience in the passenger and hotel boat businesses, including the operation of horse-drawn craft.

He said: "I used to operate a horse drawn hotel boat in Welshpool but maintenance of the waterway became a problem.

Countess of Maesbury will operate from Canal Central at Maesbury.