BRITAIN’S WATERWAYS
Source: www.speakup.com.br
Source: www.speakup.com.br
The metallic surface of the water ripples as the man navigates the 20-metre-long narrowboat around a Bend in the river. A dog barks excitedly as it chase along the river bank after the boat. When the dog’s owners arrive they chat for a minute or two with the boat owner. And then they walk past along the towpath. This is truly life in the slow lane: the narrow boat has just been overtaken by two people walking a dog!
LIFE ON BOARD
There are more than 6.400 kilometres of inland waterways in Britain, including 3.200 kilometres of historic canals. The narrowboat (not to be confused with a “longboat,” which was the type of ship used by Vikings!) is well named, being 2.1 metres or less in width. Inside, however, there is a surprising amount of space: most boats have a large living and dining area, a fully equipped kitchen, bathroom, and comfortable beds. There’s usually heating and hot water. Best of all, there’s room to stand without banging your head!
There’s something special about cruising along a canal or mooring a boat beside a waterside pub and watching the world go by – slowly!
“Water has its own pace, it has its own heartbeat, and you slow down to that pace and that heartbeat,” says Lindy Foster Winreb, who has enjoyed a 50-year love affair with waterways. She lives in a canal-side house in Berkhamsted near London, where she started he own hire boat company back in 1972. What are her tips for enjoyable boating? “It’s not the arrival that counts, it’s the travelling,” she says, with a smile.
THE RURAL ROUTE
Britain’s canals are corridors through the countryside and back doors into towns and cities. A narrowboat can glide quietly, almost unseen, under bridges full of traffic. Even a sedate four kilometers per hour seems fast by comparison with the rush-hour queues. And along the canals there are usually people out walking, jogging, cycling and fishing.
SINCE ROMAN TIMES
The first British canal is believed to have been built by Romans: the Foss-dyke, which connected the city of Lincoln with the River Trent and is still in use today. But the system of canals for inland navigation only really arrived in Britain with the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century. Roads were then notoriously unreliable and railways didn’t exist. Most trade ran up and down Britain’s canals involved the formation of completely new bridges, tunnels, aqueducts, pumps and locks. More than 200 years later, many of these original structures are still in use, thanks to the dedication and enthusiasm of an army of volunteers. With trains, and then heavy goods lorries, dominating the transport industry, canals fell into disrepair. After the Second World War the nationalized canal system was saved in large part by the enthusiastic campaigning of the Inland Waterways Association.
PEOPLE CARRIER
Very little commercial cargo is carried of Britain’s canals today, but the waterway is busier than ever, with millions of people every year enjoying narrowboat cruises. Lindy Foster Weinreb explains that everything changed in 1968, when “it was recognised that the canals had a new reason for existence – which was that the cargo they could carry wasn’t just goods, it could be people.”
If you Go…
Travel safety with Anglo Welsh Narrow Boats, a member of DRIFTERS, a consortium of awar-winning holiday boat companies with bases throughout the UK; tel :08457 626252; www.drifters.co.uk
No special skill or experience is required to hire a narrowboat. They are simple to control and it’s hard to get lost! Speed is limited t 6kmph an each look takes about 15 minutes to complete. Boats come fully equipped. Hire costs vary depending upon the season. Costs for four people (a six-berth narrowboat) vary from £550 to £1.300 per week. The National Waterway Museum is one national museum at three different waterside locations, each with its own special appeal. Admission costs £3.95 (Gloucester Docks), £4,75 (Stoke Bruerne) or £5,50(Ellesmere Port); www.nwm.org.uk
