The British canal system is unique, according to Stuart Fisher. And he should know, having travelled all of it by kayak. His book, Canals of Britain (Adlard Coles Nautical, £25), is, astonishingly, the first complete guide to be published since The Shell Book of Inland Waterways came out in 1975.

He says we are lucky that our narrow channels have become a haven for wildlife, while other countries’ canals have been enlarged to take modern commercial craft.

Fisher’s book grew out of a series of articles for The Canoeist magazine, and is not always bang up to date. For instance, he talks about the ‘dilapidated’ Unipart works in North Oxford — in fact, long since demolished and replaced by new homes.

Clearly aimed at boating enthusiasts, the guide gives a wonderful sense of what it is like to glide through a quiet stretch of canal, with water lilies, water crowfoot and nesting sedge and reed warblers.

There is also plenty of history, including the information that the bridge pictured above was once a favourite spot for suicides.