Life in the slow lane

“Slow travel is something of a movement now,” says writer Paul Miles. And living on a narrowboat as “a nomad of the inland waterways” he’s more than familiar than most with the joys of ditching our need for speed.
Since he first stepped aboard his boat and pored over an Inland Waterways map of Great Britain five years ago, Miles had wanted to reach the Lancaster Canal - the northernmost stretch of the navigable network of inland waterways of England and Wales. On his quest to get there he tackles the challenging Millennium Ribble link with its sea gate and eight locks - what he describes as “an introduction to extreme narrowboating.”
In his captivating article, Miles talks about a time when it was possible to travel all over England by river and canal. “Until the 19th century… life was generally lived at 3mph - walking pace and the average speed of a horse-drawn cart.” The arrival of trains and motorways led to the canals’ decline, but Miles finds a beautiful melancholy in abandoned locks “like visiting a ruined abbey,” he says.
With interest in narrowboat holidays booming - and more people making their homes on the water - perhaps there’s hope for our canals again.
You can read about how other writers find respite from our fast-paced world too - from fishing to beachcombing, there’s much to be said for life in the slow lane.