The John Griff Column: The winds of change for sustainability?

The Crick Boat Show reaches its 25th anniversary event this coming weekend. Participants and visitors are heading for the event as I write these words and as you read them – some at a very sedate 4 knots per hour. Cruising the inland waterways is now a hugely popular way of seeing the country and its countryside in an altogether different way, even if the canals follow the same general routes of many of the country’s major roads and railway tracks. Originating as they did as a means of transporting millions of tons of goods up and down the backbone of the country, the use of the inland waterways has now seen a very different kind of cargo transiting the hundreds of miles of the canals and rivers which criss-cross the country and from coast to coast. Today’s cargo is of the human kind – either exploring the country at a relaxed pace on holiday or the occasional getaway weekend, or even as a fully adopted alternative way of life. Many now live aboard and do so in a permanent, paid for marina mooring point, or perhaps more actively, mooring for a few days before moving on again and effectively living off-grid.

The show is the destination showcase event for the entire UK inland waterways market – and as you might imagine, everything that could possibly find it’s way onto a narrow or widebeam boat is featured, be that fenders and floating key holders or mobile internet connections, compostable toilets and electric propulsion systems. The last item is a particular growth area for the wider fleet as cruising the network moves to become more sustainable, burning less coke and diesel and embracing solar and wind energy. Towering over the site at 120 metres from the tip of their blades to the base of their towers are the windfarms of Silsworth Lodge. Visible from the Crick marina, each can supply the equivalent electrical needs of thousands of homes when they rotate at their optimal 22 revolutions per minute. On the water, boaters are increasingly moving across to battery power for propulsion and a narrowboat is a prime candidate for banks of batteries under the deck. Topped up by arrays of solar panels mounted topside, boats are fast becoming some of the most appropriate vehicles for power by renewable energy.

When I was 16, I went on holiday with my parents and our neighbours on a 55-foot narrowboat. We cruised the Welsh canals and I was fascinated not only by the countryside which slipped gently past us, but also because I hadn’t become bored by any of it as I had forecast I might. Coffee in one hand and the tiller in the other, I found myself fully occupied between locks and concentrating hard as we bore down on any other boat. It set up an interest which continues to this day and I can frequently be found looking at ‘boat porn’ – vessels of all shapes, sizes and configurations which are available for sale. If you want a top-of-the-line, brand new 70 foot widebeam boat, be prepared to fork out up to £250k. Then reckon on paying for mooring costs, certificates of safety and river and canal licences. There’s regular maintenance to budget for too, including the scraping, cleaning and ‘blacking’ of the boat’s hull to protect its steel from corrosion. It’s not a decision to take lightly – but there’s a secondhand market which makes things more affordable and right now with the economy as it is there are some bargains to be had if a floating apartment with an ever-changing view outside appeals. And what price the alternative in bricks and mortar?

Crick is a wonderful place to window shop, enjoy the music and real ale festivals (it has both) and perhaps dream a little. Some years ago, I hankered after a widebeam boat and, if I’m honest, I still do. Last year I helped out with the public address announcements and will be doing so again this time. In 2024 the heavens opened, and visitors could have been forgiven for thinking that the display boats on land had actually floated there of their own accord from the deluge before being left high and dry by the receding waters. I didn’t really see much of the show and what it had to offer, so this time I intend to have a good nose around the exhibition halls and will be staying overnight, as will many still making their way into the county from all corners of the network. I might only be window shopping, but the 16-year-old in me will be looking out of a different kind of window at what could be - from a caravan pitch alongside the canal towpath.

Anchors aweigh…