Merry & Rod Traveling the English Canals

My name is Rod, and I was born and raised in Southport, England. I moved to the US in 1981, where I met and married Merry. We have been married for 39 years and enjoy traveling in our retirement.

We revisit England often, partly because I still have family there but also because Merry loves to visit England. Many times during our visits, we have hired a canal boat on the English canal system. There are over 2,000 miles of canals that criss-cross the country.

The canals were mostly built in the late 1700’s to transport goods around the country, so the canals pass through all the cities and little towns. The barges were originally pulled by horses. One side of the canal is a dedicated right of way called the towpath that still exists today.

Now, the barges have been converted to living units, like motorhomes or caravans and modern boats have been designed specifically for comfortable living on the canals, either for a holiday or as a permanent residence.