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Cherie Thiessen - Travel Writer |
| Going in Circles - Marco Polo Magazine |
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| text and photography by Cherie Thiessen | ||
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Canal boating in Great Britain |
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There is no way in the world that Red Duke is going to get through that gap under
the bridge. Oh dear. "Can you see the boat coming toward you?" My husband David, is trying to be casual but not quite succeeding. "There's no room for two boats to pass under that bridge, you know! No kidding!
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into reverse, rev up the engine so the whole boat convulses, and ever so slowly shimmy
to a halt.
The only problem is that the front is starting to skew around to the opposite side of the bank now, effectively barricading the whole canal. A few curious cows start trotting hopefully down to the bank to see if we're offering handouts. "Here you take it." He knew I was going to say that. I retreat into the cabin for coffee and concealment. We had originally thought the standard 7' width of these boats was ridiculously narrow. It's not narrow enough! Canal boating on the Oxford Canal in |
England's south midland country is fun, believe it or not. It's more than fun, it's a personal
development and crisis management course thrown in. This canal is one of England's most historic
and picturesque waterways. Finished in 1790, it was for many years an important commercial
artery as horse drawn barges carried goods from towns like Banbury to Braunston, from Oxford to
Coventry. Now the activity centres around recreational canal boaters, gypsies and tourists who
rent and panic in
canal boats from the many shipyards en route.
The four of us rented our 46' canal boat from Red Line Cruisers at Eynsham on the Thames for two weeks last |
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