CHRIS RADBURN took a look at life in the slow lane.

I would thoroughly recommend this sort of break. It's also the perfect family holiday as many hands make light work of the locks. So sit back, relax, take a good book or two and let the world pass you by. Because it will on a narrow boat and you have no chance of catching it up. But who cares? For once in my life I had no deadline.

Even though I don't know the bow from the stern, a holiday aboard a narrow boat was something I'd always fancied. Fortunately, the Midlands boat company who offered me the chance to check out one of their short breaks assured me that no experience was necessary. The thought of steering a 58ft by 6ft 3in, four-berth, luxury cabin cruiser, unsupervised along the Worcester to Birmingham canal, seemed plain madness to me. They told me the boat was a small one! So I turned up at the yard in Stoke Prior near Bromsgrove. Wife Lisa, and dog, Rosie, in tow. Before setting off we were given a thorough briefing on how the boat operated. Next the mystery of how the locks work was revealed by a member of staff who confidently told us: "It was all common-sense stuff . . ." but he didn't let us set sail until he was sure we knew what we were doing. Within an hour of arriving at Stoke Prior basin we were heading off down the canal in zig-zag fashion towards Worcester. It takes a while to master steering - I thought I'd got the hang of the steering after successfully managing to pass an oncoming boat. Always' pass on the right hand side and at a snail's pace. The snail's pace bit paid dividends with my next encounter. Relaxed and chilled as I took my floating hotel around another bend, I didn't see the oncoming vessel . . . until I'd hit it. And at a top speed of three miles per hour we came to an abrupt halt. All credit to my fellow boatman though - not an ounce of canal rage - just a reluctant smile, no real damage and a very embarrassed Evening Telegraph photographer. Chugging along the canal through the, countryside is a bit like walking but without the effort. You can take in all the sights and sounds, the wild flowers and rolling hills. You are a privileged guest in nature's back garden.

Inside and below deck the narrowboat is a real home from home - fully fitted out with all mod cons including a television, radio and CD-player. Although you are free to moor up overnight almost anywhere, during our short time on the canal we found it most convenient to stopover at the designated wharfs and basins, such as Diglis Basin, on the outskirts of Worcester, where we stopped on the way down. Here we found shops close by, useful for stocking up on the essentials but more importantly, there was a fresh water point, diesel and gas if we needed it. We went sight-seeing and the evenings can be spent on or off the boat, a spot of fishing maybe, or you could choose to eat drink and be merry as we did. There are always plenty of canalside pubs and restaurants to tie-up at along the way.

I would thoroughly recommend this sort of break. It's also the perfect family holiday as many hands make light work of the locks. So sit back, relax, take a good book or two and let the world pass you by. Because it will on a narrow boat and you have no chance of catching it up. But who cares? For once in my life I had no deadline.