“There’s no Wi-Fi?!” Looking back now I have no idea how I managed to spend two weeks without Instagram and Twitter. These days it’s an essential and I wouldn’t step foot in an Airbnb without internet, but at 15 and 16 years old I spent my teenage summer holidays on a barge, seeing what the canal-side villages of Peterborough had to offer.
With five crew members, surprisingly the boat didn’t feel cramped. You could escape to the front, as I often did, when you weren’t steering or in the kitchen. At the time I could get over the fact that all I had were books to keep me occupied – in fact I enjoyed it – but it was the spiders, flies and early mornings that clouded my impression of the holiday. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve even complained in the logbooks we kept, at how much I (thought I) disliked it. With hindsight, it wasn’t as bad as I made it seem.
Life moves very slowly on a narrow boat. Nothing is done with haste, and even if you had somewhere to be you wouldn’t have a choice because at a maximum of four miles an hour, you would probably get to your destination faster by walking. This makes it one of those holidays where not much can happen. I spent it drifting along the river listening to the hum of the engine all whilst devouring books, making neighbourly greetings to passer-by boats and admiring the wildlife. It was idyllic. Days were for travelling from our latest mooring to the next place to settle down for the night, occasionally stopping for lunch or to get through a lock, and nights (which often turned into afternoons) were for board games, fires and pub grub.
One summer lunchtime ‘the kids’ (how we were often referred to in the logbook) were sent on a mission for homemade brownies. Having no idea where said brownies were, ‘the adults’ kindly drew us a map after a couple ciders had already been drunk. At this point you can probably guess that this map wasn’t exactly accurate, and we managed to get lost in village in the middle of nowhere. All for some brownies. It’s still debatable as to whether it was all worth it or not.
It’s not an unusual holiday, many people see it as a kind of staycation, but for three teenagers we found it a strange yet intriguing way to spend the summer. We got used to it and came to find the gentle bob of the boat familiar and ground was what felt rocky. The idea of eating out at the pub remains a far more exciting occasion than a fancy restaurant. I can still recall the strength needed to open and close the gates, I can picture the grimy moss revealing itself, enveloping the boat as the water drains out of the lock.
Most families prefer an all-inclusive in the sun compared to a barge down the River Nene and honestly, despite the hordes of spiders and having to argue over who showers which day, I wouldn’t swap it for cocktails in a hotel bar. Okay, maybe one drink.
For more information about the River Nene go here and for more on your own waterways go here. Narrowboating has health benefits, would you believe? Check them out here. Want to see how a lock actually works?
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