The ice creaked against the boat’s hull, slabs of it spinning out of the way. We weren’t in the Arctic on a cruise ship but steering a narrowboat in northern England, almost the farthest north you can reach on the inland waterways. There was snow on the hills. The Leeds & Liverpool Canal, which climbs to 148 metres above sea level as it crosses the Pennines between the east and west coasts, had only recently thawed after a cold snap.
