20 Questions

摘要

1 What first attracted you to the waterways? Crewing a friend's boat from Slough to Worcester in February 1969. 2 Which is your favourite canal or waterway? I would choose the Caldon Canal in the early summer, 3 Tell us about your boating experience. I learnt to sail at 15 and sailed a four-tonner to France in my 20s. In 1965, on active service in Borneo, I travelled by speedboat on the rivers and was responsible for the maintenance of large numbers of outboard motors and boats. Back in England in 1970, with my wife, four kids and the dog, we had our first week in a narrowboat. We hired boats until 1991 when we bought Moonflower, a 45ft narrowboat, which has now cruised over 5,000 hours. 4 What do the waterways have to offer the country? A linear 'National Park' for walking, cycling, fishing and boating with scenery ranging from London towpaths to remote summits like the Oxford or Caldon. You can see otters on the Thames and water-voles and dragonflies on canals. You can even have a picnic beneath Spaghetti Junction on the M5 in Birmingham and watch rabbits play while motorists curse the traffic 50 feet above.