Boater: A Life on England's Waterways - Harper North
- Denis Peskov
- Jul 26
- 4 min read
Hi! My name is Denis Peskov, and I’m a book reviewer and publisher, based in Salford. I will be contributing to Northern Books, covering nonfiction titles and interviewing their authors. Here’s my first text on Boater, a book I really liked, and whose author I found extremely fascinating.
For over two decades, Jo Bell—part archaeologist, part poet, and full-time canal wanderer—has made her life on the waterways of England (with the occasional Welsh detour). Along the way, she’s crossed paths with all sorts of fascinating people and discovered a way of life that feels quietly separate from the world just beyond the towpath. In this clever and often funny memoir, she shares stories from this floating community—a parallel country where time moves differently, the landscape is always shifting, and the people are every bit as memorable as the places they moor.
When did you decide to write a proper book about your experiences? Were you keeping a thorough diary before (not just a log of boating events)?
Jo:
The journey described in Boater is a long and emotional one, full of tension and friendship, wildlife and life-threatening disasters. I never kept a diary, but always kept a log book, filled in by the friends and family who make up my crew. The book holds the personal tragedy and triumph of a really extraordinary journey, and in writing it I mined the log book as a resource for memory. Boater is full of funny incidents, thunderstorms, deep histories and terrifying moments. It covers every step on my long trip from Cheshire to Wiltshire, pursuing a relationship in hopes of an exciting new life in a different landscape. I decided to write it after that journey was completed, realising that my personal story had a lot to tell people about life on a boat, and about the different Englands within our everyday England.
Were you inspired by some of your contemporaries (there are several other recent titles on boating life)?
Jo:
No. Boater is a very different take on canal life. I was tired of reading books about life afloat which had so little understanding of the canal, its real history and its present-day culture. Some are written by people who visit the canals for a year or two, report on them as an outsider and return to the bank. Others present a boat as a curiosity, a cheap house with inconveniences. In fact a boat is a passport to a different geography and culture, a different way of seeing one's country, possessions and personal space. I wanted to acknowledge the living and complicated culture of the canals, the history of working boats which is almost unknown to many canal users, and to tell my own story of heartbreak and slow travel. As a former industrial archaeologist, I also wanted to show people why the canals were built in the first place, and to immerse them in the eighteenth-century environment that made them so transformative.
Why did you choose this particular publisher, our Manchester based Harper North?
Jo:
They chose me! They have a fantastic family of northern writers, and they really believe in their authors. Editor Ben McConnell was working for Harper North when he approached me, and we quickly finalised a contract. They've been very supportive.
Is there any palpable difference in boating experience/environment between, say, Lancashire/Yorkshire canals and those farther to the South?
Jo:
County boundaries mean nothing on the canal: we think of 'the Leeds & Liverpool' or 'the Trent & Mersey.' Each one is a discrete organism with its own style of locks, its own bridges and aqueducts, its own kind of lock cottage or signage. Each one has its own culture too. The Kennet & Avon in Wiltshire is hippyish, with lots of run-down but deeply loved boats and a youthful demographic. The Macclesfield Canal is more workaday, with plenty of older liveaboards and a village feel. The London waterways are a whole different ecosystem; but all of our waterways are in crisis at the moment, with a number of breaches and structural failures reminding us how much we need new investment.
Are road cones so prevalent only in Manchester canals or elsewhere too?
Jo:
I've never seen road cones in the canal, but you'll certainly see litter and contamination as you approach any big city. It's amazing how quickly you leave that behind and find yourself in a much more rural environment. Even in the most deprived areas of any city, the canal is a corridor for wildlife and greenery.
Most liked/disliked boat names?
Jo:
They all have a story. The most common name on the system is Kingfisher, but there are a lot of names that tell you something about the people on board. Some are a composite of husband-and-wife names; others are a joke like Cirrhosis of the River or Dunworkin. The boat in my book, Tinker, was named partly for me (Tinkerbell!) and partly as a nod to the travelling workers who have always been part of life on the canals. I hope your readers will love Boater; look out for me on tour!
On the publisher:
Founded in 2020, HarperNorth made its home in Manchester with a mission to bridge the gap between writers and readers. With a focus on uncovering fresh literary talent from across the region, the publisher is dedicated to nurturing powerful voices and delivering compelling stories to audiences everywhere. We plan to interview HNortherners soon. Stay tuned!
If you're in or near Manchester, make sure to go to her book launch event at the Portico Library on the 31st of July!
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