It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it? We all gripe and moan about our 1st world problems, but I often think back to the time when I did some voluntary work in Nepal and what they have to do just to get 1 meal a day.

Boaties, as the boat people then were called, occasionally came to my school for the odd day.I was not aware that they were contented people. Even the children were 'old'. In retrospect through our rose tinted specs it looks like an ideal life, especially in summer.It was a desperately hard life and life span was short. I once lived next door to a retired bargee couple who could not believe our cushy lives-even though we thought our lives were hard.

Interesting. The canals fascinate me. I'm expecting a book about canal workers for review.

I often sit and chat to a few old guys that came off the canals in the early 60s, (I think the winter of '63 finished many off.) The tales they tell are great. Sadly many of these tales are not recorded and once the guys are gone the history will go with them.

An interesting bit of industrial history: http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/contented-canal-folk-moored-Bedworth-Hill/story-28519745-detail/story.html#1