Mrs M has been ill all week and this has meant that our social life has been put on hold. Not that we were actively engaged with West Yorkshire’s social calendar.

It has meant, however, that our regular evening walks along the canal towpath have been curtailed for a while.

I have grown fond of this once-symbol of industrialisation that has now become our escape to the countryside.

I am not too keen on trying to dodge the little blue plastic bags that the local dog owners have left for us, or the steady stream of cyclists who have forgotten how to use a bell. But I do enjoy the exercise and smallest connection with nature.

It seems that our stifling hot summer has not only caused a hosepipe ban west of the Pennines, but is threatening to stop barges from travelling the full distance from Liverpool to Leeds, should they so wish.

I am not altogether sure how long it would take for a narrow boat to travel the 137-mile journey, but it seems to take a lifetime for them to climb the Five Rise Locks at Bingley.

Apparently, it hasn’t rained enough to keep the water level sufficiently high for holidaymakers to continue enjoying being overtaken by even the slowest of towpath walkers.

I am not sure whether travelling slow is part of the attraction, but it does seem odd that not too long ago this mode of transport was part of the world of work.

The people always seem happy enough, but I can’t help wondering if their desperate need to make contact with you as you walk past is a reaction to the complete lack of anything else thrilling.

It seems to be the holiday equivalent to a trip to the garden centre. They can try to pretend it’s an event by offering you a pot of tea and a home-made scone, but we all know that potting compost and slug pellets will never become a major tourist attraction.

So it seems to be with canal boating holidays. You may be fooled for a spilt second that you get to drive – or is it pilot? – a vessel, but your options for steering are severely limited.

There are no hairpin bends or whitewater rapids just around the corner.

You will travel, generally, in a straight line east for the first part of your holiday. Then perform a handbrake turn, in slow motion, to travel west for the second part of your allocated time.

At least on the water they don’t have to try and avoid the dog owners’ blue plastic bags and bell-less cyclists.