December 2023 issue
![WW Magazine front cover December 2023](/reader/2023-12/images/cover.jpg)
On the cover of the December issue… 60ft narrowboat Aalin, which is the focus of our six-page boat test this month
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A new take on Tradition
Boat Review
With styling cues borrowed from working craft, 60ft narrowboat Aalin is a real headturner. But there’s a lot more to its original design, as Mark Langley discovers…
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Pioneering leisure boaters of 1860
Looking Back
One of the earliest accounts of a holiday on the inland waterways follows a four-man crew over 400 miles, taking in the Severn Estuary, a host of now unnavigable routes and a swimming elephant. Alison Cannon reveals all…
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From Salt to Still Waters
Profile
Roy Fletcher swapped the open seas for the serenity of the canals and established a boat training centre on the Leeds & Liverpool. In conversation with Lynne Crook, he describes his eventful journey
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The Lee and Stort
Cruising Guide
From London’s East End to the affluent Essex and Hertfordshire countryside, these river navigations provide a unique cruising experience. Steve Elliott heads out from Limehouse
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In at the Deep End
Boat-Ownership
After the expense and challenge of fitting out her boat, Emma Culshaw-Bell anticipated relaxed cruising. Her early forays on the Lancaster Canal proved anything but...
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Murder on the Rochdale Canal
Looking Back
In the aftermath of the famous Christina Collins murder case, the reputation of boaters reached an all-time low. In an extract from her new book, Susan C. Law examines the media’s fascination with crime on the cut in the 1840s
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Winter is Coming
Boat-Ownership
With cold weather fast approaching, many boaters are rekindling their love for their onboard heating system. Tony Jones discusses the multitude of options
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On the Fly
Explore the Shropshire Union Canal
Following in the footsteps of Shroppie fly-boatman Jack Roberts, Andrew Denny compares canal cruising today with the express service of times gone by
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The Three Idle Women
Around the Waterways
Bobby Cowling looks at the talented trio soon to be touring canalside venues with their own brand of waterways-inspired folk
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A Floating Green House
Reader's Boat
Continuous-cruiser and roving trader Katie Wales took to the waterways to live off-grid and own her home outright
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The Thames at Oxford - part 2
Explore the Upper Thames
Continuous-cruiser Howard Davies continues his slow, serene cruise along his favourite section of the royal river
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IWA in Crisis
Last Word
WW publisher and former IWA Marketing Committee Chair Peter Johns says the organisation needs to embrace change
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