Jasper Winn is the perfect guide - Observer

For one hundred and fifty years, amidst the clamor of garages and the arrival of railways, canals were the high technology driving the industrial revolution. Remarkable feats of engineering, they brought the rural to the city and the urban to the countryside, and changed the lives of everyone. And then, just when their purpose had vanished in modern transport, they were saved from extinction and repurposed as a network of 'slow highways', a peaceful and countryside oasis from our overly busy age. Today, there are more boats on the canals than in Victorian times.

Author and slow traveler Jasper Winn spent a year exploring Britain's waterways by foot, by bicycle, in a kayak, and on narrowboats. Over a thousand miles of 'wet roads and waters', he discovered a world of wildlife corridors, underground adventures, heritage and history, new nautical communities, kayak endurance races, and remote pathways. He shared journeys with some of the last working sailors and met fishermen, hikers, sailors, activists, volunteers, and eccentrics who have made these watery pathways their home. In Britain, most of us live within five miles of a canal, and by reading this book we will see them with an entirely new perspective.

Pages: 384, Year of Publication: 0402, Dimensions: 12.8x12.8cm