Your stories

Craig, Bancroft Basin

My partner is pregnant so we're just trying to get some exercise here by water to help our fitness. I work for BT in an office, so I've been sitting down all day and this is a great way of blowing the cobwebs off.

Chris, Leamington Spa

I can't drive a car any more because I keep fainting. The doctors can't diagnose what it is, so it's not safe for me to drive, but I can still wander around along the canal.

Pat & Ann, Avoncliff Aqueduct

Ann is a good friend. When I lost my husband, Ann was my saviour. I used to go walking with my husband, and we decided we'd go out once a week to walk the canals. We never finished them all. After he died Pat stepped in and I've been walking canals with her ever since.

Terry, Sian, Chloe & Jasmine, Gloucester Docks

We come here all the time, so we know the best benches to sit on. Today we've literally just popped in here for an hour to get a coffee and sit by the water before we head off somewhere else.

Christine, Molly & Sean, Avoncliff Aqueduct

We've hired these bikes for the day from the canal hub at Dundas Aqueduct. It's easy to do, it only takes five minutes to hire a bike and you're ready to set off.

Janice, Gloucester Docks

I've been running my own art gallery on the waterside at Gloucester Docks for about six months. Local people drop in, but the summer season is about to start so things are getting busier with tourists who are looking around the Docks now.

Inger, Cody & Erin at the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port

We're travelling up to Scotland for the school holidays and have stopped off on route to visit the National Waterways Museum. We set off from the south west this morning, so it's quite a long journey and the boat museum at Ellesmere Port seemed a good place to visit on the way to break the journey.

Fran, Near Bradford Lock

I've had my canalside shop for fifteen years. A lot of people who come into the shop say, “I bet you don't get busy tucked down here on the quiet canal, hidden away from the town centre.” and I say, “You'd be surprised.”

Malcolm & Sue in Bathampton

I'm ex-Merchant Navy so I'm drawn to the water. I get a 'pull' all the time! Wherever I am, and whatever I'm doing, I have to ask myself, “Do I want to be at a top of a mountain?” and the answer is, “No I want to be down by the water.”