Why Canals?

I came across a wonderful little project my daughter had written for school at the age of 12 called "Why did canals become popular". It was a really good piece about the history and geography of it all, the links with the industrial revolution, moving raw materials and fuel to places of industry then the decline when the railways proved more flexible and faster.
But what it didn't address was why we love them today.
So I re-quote a piece by Ben MacIntyre from The Times. It sums it up rather well:

"The survival and revival of the canal is a reflection of its enduring place in British culture: a strange admixture of commerce and pleasure, history and modern development, back-breaking labour and reflective leisure. Canals always mattered more than the money they made.
In an age of dirt and speed, the canal is not only a vital artefact, but a form of therapy. Puttering along a man-made ditch seems a peculiar form of relaxation, but once one has seen Britain passing slowly and serenely at eye level, it is impossible to see it in the same way again."

Ben Macintyre

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Slow and serene - that's the life for me! And Patience is the key ....