Aboard boats on the inland waterways of England and Wales: Three vignettes from London and Alvechurch, Worcestershire

In three vignettes of boat-dwelling on the canals and rivers of England and Wales, authors from across disciplines find common themes of the emergent precarity of life afloat, desires for freedom that, for many, motivate a life on the water; and the importance of boat-dwelling as offering an escape from, and an alternative to, economic crises and inequities. The example of an ‘Eco-Mooring Zone’ in central London prompts a discussion of anxieties around urban clean air regulation perceived as a threat to a ‘way of life’. A second vignette interrogates the off-grid characteristics of London boating and explores how some citizens respond to disillusionment with mainstream life – and experiment with alternative values and lifestyles centered on dignity, solidarity, freedom, and responsible consumption – through boating. A final vignette takes on the under-explored topic of ‘stable’ mooring spaces. The cul-de-sac nature of marinas with relatively static boats is discussed and applied to the example of two marinas in Alvechurch, Worcestershire. Taken together, these examples advance ongoing academic debates around the social and political relevance of boat dwelling on the inland waterways of England and Wales. The heterogeneity of perspectives and themes in this article reflects the broader diversity of boaters as a political group, allowing for reflections on the contemporary canalscape as a complex, dynamic, contested and occasionally chaotic stage for action, with significant implications for housing and mobility.