Pottering about on a river or canal is generally thought to be a relaxing holiday – an antidote to the stresses and strains of everyday life.You cruise a few miles, tie up for a leisurely pub lunch, amble back on board for another few miles, followed by afaoon cream tea, supper, several pints of Old Peculiar, and so on, for as long as your waistline will allow. But not for A to B.

Maybe we lead unstressfu! lives generally, or maybe it's just the thrill - for a family that usually gets around by bike - of having AN ENGINE under the floor, albeit a small one. But for the Henshaw family, a humble narrow boat becomes a Formula One machine, stripped for speed and out for the circuit record. Not that we're unsociable waterway users.We don't upset the crockery on static boats or stir up a bank-destroying wash. But if the speed limit is four knots, we'll be doing 3.9, knots and if the rule-of-thumb is eight hours for a flight of Locks, we'll knock them off before elevenses (all supped on the move, naturally).

The secret weapon is a set of Bromptons. On this occasion, cruising for a few days from Brewood near Wolverhampton,we arrive by train at nearby Penkridge - three adults and one six-year-old, plus three Bromptons and the priceless ITchair.Three yards from the station car park, we take a puncture on the chair-equipped bike, but it's fixed after thirty seconds of swearing and a three second squirt of Holts Tyre Weld.With the chair transferred to another bike, the delay is less than five minutes.

Our arrival at the base causes quite a stir, because it seems we're the first people ever to have arrived by bicycle, and they've been established for thirty years.'Ah, you've left the car in the village?' 'No, we've ridden from the station.' Blank looks all round. 'What station?'
It’s a sad commentary on modern British life that arriving on holiday by any means other than a car causes such incredulity.

Of course, those who arrive by car without a folding bike, have swapped a mobile existence for a very restricted one; limiting their adventures to within walking distance of the canal.And with a car, you’re also more or less committed to arriving with a car-load of shopping. As sustrans point out, the cyclist, foraging en route, is much more productive for the local economy than a motorist.  With compact folding bikes, you can go anywhere. We never actually stop to take bicycle rides, of course, but send raiding parties into nearby towns as the boat chugs gently past. Hop off, shop, and hop back on at the next lock.

Leaving Market Drayton, someone- remembers that we've left the Pearson's Canal Companion  (expensive, but invaluable canal maps and guide books) on the table at The Talbot Inn. No problem – send a bike. The Brompton catches up within a mile.
Obstacles are dispatched in the same way  - someone nips ashore with a folding bike and a lock key, then rides ahead to set up the locks, open swing bridges and generally smooth a path.This isn't quite as selfish as it sounds, because a man with a lock key and a bicycle can assist several boats at once. And the frenetic lockside activity is a great antidote to the miles of gentle chugging. Last year, we tackled the Devizes flight this way, and we made  relatively light work of the Audlem’s 15 locks this time, causing jaws to drop once again at countrywide Cruisers.

All that hard work makes for a good appetite and the canals are well served by excellent eateries. Should anyone happen to pass along the ‘Shroppie’, we can heartily recommend the Junction Inn at Norbury Junction and the Shroppie Fly at Audlem, near Lock 13. Excellent food comes with good live music, or so we’re told.  Exhausted by lock duties, Alexander didn’t quite survive until the 9pm kick-off of the rather dangerous-looking  folk rock band when we were there.

We hoped to file a report from The Anchor near High Offley too – one of the few remaining ‘unimproved’ boatman’s pubs, where the landlady is rumoured to serve foaming Wadworth 6X by the jugful. But despite pressing on at 3.9 knots  we were narrowly beaten by closing time – a gentle reminder to go with the canal flow and calm down a bit. There’s always another pub long the way.
Cruising with folding bikes is a uniquely relaxing, yet active holiday. The noise and bustle of the West Midlands is never far away, but on the Shropshire Union, you really wouldn't know it.