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2»TRAVEL SATURDAY, M.E.N. MAY 5, 2012 BRITISH BREAKS Raising my glass to a life in the slow lane Looking for an antidote to the frantic pace of modern life? Paul Taylortook a slow boat to nowhere in particular and found a gentler world HEN Amer- ican tourists chance upon the Anchor Inn at High Offley, Staffordshire, they gasp in won- Wderment. Here in this canalside ale house is the very quintes- sence of the old England they seek Mein host Olive Cliff pulls foaming pints of Wadworth 6X in a pub which has been in her husband’s family for over a cen- tury. The time-worn décor runs to wooden benches and tables, some seeming like huge slices out of a tree, simply plonked on legs and left to be seasoned by spilt beer. The menu runs to little more than cheese sandwiches, with or without onion or pickle, and the pub’s loos are in an outbuilding. And as Olive tops up my pint, a friendly labrador puts its paws up on the bar to say hello. I think this could be my favourite pub in the whole world. Whisper it to those Yanks, but such a fine old-fashioned, “un- improved” hostelry looks pretty much like a time capsule even to us Brits. Chancing upon the Anchor Inn on a sunny spring day chug- ging up the Shropshire Union Canal was one of the highlights of a week spent in aimless enjoy- ment of life afloat. Of course, a century ago, when Olive’s husband’s fore- bears were pulling their first pints, the patrons of the Anchor Inn would have been boatmen, living a tough life shifting horse- drawn barges full of goods hither and a much-used second home. And hampton, at one of the two bases and narrowing by turns, going boats and boasting a chandlery thither, keeping the there is a younger crusty fringe of Napton Narrowboats. through deep cuts and then into and a pub, the Junction Inn, spe- arteries of the indus- for whom life on the water is Here we were introduced to open vistas where curious cows cialising in the kind of fare which trial revolution their chosen alternative lifestyle. Sophie, a two-berth narrowboat and sheep watched us go by. fills the belly without emptying pumping. The clue to the frame of mind boasting an extra large bed, After several days, we became the wallet. Today, the pretty of this floating fraternity is often “ideal for couples, honeymoons, blasé about spotting a heron. We Skipper Taylor coped re- Shropshire Union proclaimed in the names of anniversaries”, says the firm. saw dozens of them standing like markably well the unfamiliar Canal is enjoyed by their craft: Kashgone, Life The big comfy bed is only one lanky sentries by the waterside. task of helming a narrowboat, an intriguing mix of O’Reilly, Sir T. Fiable. of Sophie’s impressive features. More exciting were our fleet- I’m happy to report. people. In among all this are the odd There is a full-size bath, show- ing glimpses of kingfishers, flash- I began zig-zagging down the There are the hol- mind-boggling slices of canal life er, flush loo, gas-powered central es of iridescent blue fluttering canal until the logic of the tiller idaying boaters, like of which you can never quite heating, well-appointed kitchen down the waterway. slowly dawned on me. us, putting an uncer- make sense. with a microwave and a TV. Although much of the “Shrop- By the end of it, I was confi- tain hand on the In a thickly-wooded stretch of Our week saw some pretty pie” goes through unspoilt and dently navigating the tightest of tiller, and trying to canal near the Anchor Inn, a foul weather, but Sophie was a rural terrain, there are welcome bridges with not a scrape. wield a windlass at boat is hitched to the bank near very cosy place to be when we village stops such as Brewood, The best thing about a canal the locks as if we to a makeshift awning in the tied up at the end of every day where the Bridge Inn’s massive holiday? It gives you a unique know what we are trees beneath which sits a white and tottered back down the tow- steak, ale and mushroom pie viewpoint on the world, even doing. vintage Daimler. path after another gargantuan provided welcome ballast for when you are going through ter- There are legions It’s a little like finding a dou- helping of pub grub. very little cash, Gnosall, a proud ritory you think you know well. of hale and hearty ble-decker bus on the moon. It took only minutes on the 2010 winner of Staffordshire’s And, when you least expect it, baby boomers for We began our journey at journey north to get into unspoilt best kept large village award, or you may even chance upon the whom a canal boat is Autherley Junction, Wolver- countryside, the canal widening Norbury Junction, packed with best pub in the world. SATURDAY, M.E.N. MAY 5, 2012 TRAVEL«3 UP THE UNION Above and left, narrowboats on the» Shropshire Union Canal. Right, the Anchor Inn at High Offley in Staffordshire FACTFILE Paul Taylor was a guest of Napton Narrowboats (01926 813644 and see napton- marina.co.uk) which has bases at Autherley Junction in Wolverhampton, and Napton Marina at Stockton, Southam, Warwickshire. Napton’s fleet includes boats suitable for parties from two to 12. Weekly hire of an Elite two-berth narrowboat varies from £735 in low season to £1,157 in high season, plus a fuel deposit charge of £100 and a damage waiver charge of £50. Short breaks and 10 to 11-day holidays are also available. Pets can be taken for an additional charge of £35 per week..

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