 What happens if we crash?" is never a good opening line, But the sight of Pippa, all 70ft of her, resplendent in black and purple livery, conjured images of inevitable disaster. "No worries," the manager said, "narrowboats take some getting used to, so everyone bangs them around a bit. Anyway, she's not wooden - her hull is made of steel." Just as well, I thought, as I Ioaded six children, one dog, 10 bags of shopping and a fellow mother who, like me, a little nervous. For starters, the boat was facing the wrong way up the canal and the idea of a 180-degree turn as our first manoeuvre, full view of an experienced canal-boat fraternity, was cause enough for either tears or Iaughter. Luckily, the engineer who had shown us 'the workings of the boat stayed for a half mile or so and guided us through the first lock.
There are 3,000 miles of navigable waterways in the UK and countless places to begin and end a narrowboat Holiday. Our base, at Stoke Prior in Worcestershire, is the headquarters of Black Prince, a company that specialises in the Midlands area and, more recently, the 118 miles of canal linking Edinburgh and Glasgow. We chose a three-day break, aiming to journey to Worcester, turn the boat at Digliss Docks - where the Worcester & Birmingham Canal meets the River Severn - and then mosey on back. It was a 24-mile round trip but felt on completion as if we'd circumnavigated the globe,
I had a number of reservations about a canal-boat holiday. While the perfect parent in me saw the educational benefits for my children in experiencing Industrial Revolution-style transport, the fair-weather sybarite in me warned of cramped conditions and torrential downpours. But we managed to choose the sort of heart-stoppingly glorious days that make the English countryside seem beautiful beyond compare. By day we lived outside, running barefoot along the towpath, buying ice-creams and cold drinks, or lying spread-eagled in the sunshine on the roof of the boat; by night, as an eerie mist enveloped the canal, a full moon rose to lighten the depths of the rural darkness. And Pippa, too, exceeded all our expectations - six of us shared three walk-through cabins with narrow, comfy beds and pillows and duvets, while two (the rough, tough 11-year-old boys) had sleeping bags and sofa beds. We had two loos, a piping hot shower, a TV, CD player and central heating. Even the kitchen, minute as it was, had a decent-sized cooker and fridge. The roof became our garden and the lock system our workout, where we pumped our biceps and strained our thighs through 44 locks in three days. Miraculously, we survived without a mutiny from the children who, aside from lock work, were marshalled to various operational duties - steering, mooring, dog-walking and washing-up. Good, character-building stuff I liked to assure them as I reclined with my book in the sun.
So would I do a similar holiday again? The answer is a resounding yes, on the basis that journeying at less than 5mph through towns and countryside is a truly relaxing way to travel. Furthermore, the canals, towpaths, locks and bridges, so carefully and lovingly maintained by the British Waterways and the Inland Waterways Association, are in their best condition for 200 years. Now that most canals are no longer used commercially, they exist largely for the benefit of holiday-makers, ramblers and those who have made their homes on the water But there is inevitably the weather issue. Would those fields and hedgerows have looked quite so appealing in driving rain? Probably not. Who would have elected to drive the boat from the al fresco steering point in the stern? Nobody. How would we have entertained children ranging from six to 14 in a seven-foot-wide space? With difficulty. But, if you're blessed with sunshine, you may just find it's more fun than you ever imagined.
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