February 2024 issue
On the cover of the February issue… Tackling the ‘Heartbreak Hill’ set of locks on the northern Trent & Mersey Canal.
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Luxury River Cruiser
Boat Review
Unusually, the new Delphia range of boats are designed specifically for river cruising, while also offering seagoing capabilities. Mark Langley tests a 35ftby- 13ft version on the waterways of Lincolnshire
Long Way Round
Cruising The Midlands Waterways
A short distance as the crow flies, Worcester to Lechlade is a long, heavily locked journey by water. Richard Fairhurst takes the scenic route…
Horse-boating on the Grand Junction
Looking Back
Chris M. Jones explores images of horse-drawn boats at work between Braunston and London
Northern Trent and Mersey Canal
Cruising Guide
It’s not all ‘Heartbreak Hill’. Brindley’s Grand Trunk Canal mixes rural Cheshire with the urban Potteries – and you can even rest your windlass for a while. Steve Elliott explores…
Sticking with Tradition on the K and A
Looking Back
A recent cruise on the Kennet & Avon brought back memories of our long association with this canal, says Graham Hubbard, captain of the Thames Traditional Boat Society
Understanding Boat Surveys
Boat-Ownership
A survey is the only way of assessing the true health of a steel narrowboat. Marine surveyor and chartered engineer Tom Keeling explains the processes and offers advice
Holiday Hire in Europe
Overseas Cruising
Looking for a true get-away-from-it-all boating break this year? WW explores some of Europe’s best hire cruising grounds
Cruising into Retirement
Reader's Boat
Kent couple Liz and Paul Lucraft spent seven months renovating an empty shell so that they could take early retirement. Amelia Hamson shares their story
Living History
Liveaboard Life
Linocut artist Charlotte Ashman describes what it’s like being the latest custodian of a motor-and-butty pair of historic working boats
Characters of the Cut
Liveaboard Lives
Photographer Gill Shaw’s new book, Canal Boat Lives, celebrates the variety of people living aboard boats. We look at some of the featured boaters
Leaving the Lanky
Boat-Ownership
Following a series of misadventures on the Lancaster Canal, it was time for Emma Culshaw-Bell’s next challenge: a trip across the tidal Ribble Link
The Waterways and AI
Last Word
What does artificial intelligence know about inland boating? Rupert Smedley finds out…
