Thank you! I was a bit worried that the manuscript illustrations are nothing like what you would normally see on a canal boat, but after seeing the rise of grey, polished, obviously-machine-painted boats on this trip, I was happy to stand up for the tradition of hand-painting your own boat, dammit :)

It's funny that there's a definite gender divide when it comes to who steers (a physically inactive job) and who works the locks (a job that requires heavy physical work.) The women almost always do the locks and the men usually steer. It has to be that psychological hurdle that makes the difference :)