The Grand Union Canal An overview shot of some narrowboats waiting for a lock to fill on the Grand Union Canal. There are over 1700 miles of canals in the UK. You work the locks yourselves, live on the boat, pilot from the rear with a tiller (and in the rain and wind). Top speed is 4 mph. The boat on the right is owned by a British family (you can tell by the sweaters and shorts). I missed the definition of the "lexicon challenge" but "Narrowboat" (single word) is a relatively new word specifically for the boats plying the British canals.
Wild Goose Our home in England - we've just returned from a month in England. My wife and I did the 'Warwickshire Ring' on this narrowboat. Sixty feet long, six feet wide. Since my son and wife had to cancel, it was just the two of us. The double-glazed windows and good heating helped against the sometimes Arctic temperatures. It was hard work but fun.
"X-ing" A view from 1998 of a canal boat crossing the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct on the border between England and Wales. Completed in 1805, it is 1,007 ft (307 m) long, 11 ft (3.4 m) wide and 5.25 ft (1.60 m) deep. It consists of a cast iron trough supported 126 ft (38 m) above the river on iron arched ribs carried on nineteen hollow masonry piers (pillars). The iron trough was mortared with lime, water, and ox blood. Crossing it, the skipper has a view way down and it feels very weird.
