Why 'The Slow Lane'?

It all started decades ago when we would hire a boat for half-term 'escapes' from the pressures of our work.

Then hiring became too expensive, even at half-term, so we searched for an affordable second-hand narrowboat and bought one within our budget and layout requirements in 1994.

Every weekend, and at the start of all the school holidays, we'd pile the dogs into the car and head to the Middle Levels where the boat was moored, in the Cambridgeshire Fens. It's a land of big skies, high dykes,  and miles and miles of empty countryside between hamlets, villages and towns.

Everything slows to the pace of nature. The boat cruises at a sedate 4 miles an hour. Bedtime is shortly after nightfall to conserve battery power. Breakfast is whenever you wake after sunrise the next day.

With no TV or phone to interrupt the quiet waterways, there is time to reflect, to take note of things that would be missed when speeding along the road alongside the 'canal' in a car.

So, yes, The Slow Lane is my prefered mode of travel on the journey along the river of life.