Cool canals Guides & Waterways Directory

Nowhere in Britain is quite like the canals.

Britain's Canals

Don't be fooled by the idyllic tranquillity: canals are extreme destinations, with high aqueducts and tumbling lock flights linking urban chic to glorious countryside. Bursting with heritage, these rambling water roads are alive with all the colours of the past and the 'motorways' of the Industrial Revolution have ironically become today's perfect eco-friendly doorstep destination.
 
In Britain, half of us live within five miles of a waterway, often without realizing it! Even in cities, hidden canals wait to invite you into their parallel world where time moves in slow motion and everything is seriously chilled. When you step down from the outside world onto the towpaths it is impossible not to be drawn into the spirit of the waterways. The first thing that hits you is the sweet smell of air and water and leafy dews, then you notice the bright colours of narrowboats and the oddly romantic black and white paint used to protect canal structures.

Antidotes to stress come with the clinking of mooring rings, the hoot of an invisible moorhen, the occasional splosh of a bathing duck and the laidback putt-putt of approaching narrowboats. Virtually untouched by progress, the heritage of buildings, bridges, and locks remains from a time when cargo-laden narrowboats were pulled by horses from the towpath. Despite the invention of the engine the pace has changed hardly at all and, since cars have no place in this eco-friendly destination, the soul of the canals remains intact.