Email: To the Continent

I just had to reply to the article by Ian Campbell. Another knocker of our beautiful waterways who has gone off to the Continent!

Most of us who use our waterways have to work and can't just pack up and go abroad. Don't forget, the waterways are over 200 years old. They will need a lot of work and money to maintain but as money is tight, they suffer.

You talk to us as if we are idiots and say we 'don't realise' what is going on with our waterways. We do!

I can see you, sat there with a smug look on your face in your category b (4 metre wave, force 7/8 winds) motor cruiser while supping Champagne in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower eating frogs legs and horse steaks!

Give me fish and chips and a pint of real ale while sat on the back of our narrowboat waiting to go down the Manchester 18 on a wet summer's evening. Then drying off me flat cap after taking the whippet out for a walk along the towpath dodging cyclists and dog dirt! All good fun.

We love our waterways with all its beauty and industrial heritage.

One day we may choose to cruise in Europe to discover new places. Not because we are giving up on our inland waterways!

Kevin Howell