Carole Wareing, 68, and Colin Wareing, 69, have lived on a 57ft narrowboat named 'Emma Maye' on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Burscough since 2005. They met on a dating site that year, and Carole, who had never been on a boat before, says Colin "doesn't know whether" she "fell in love with him or the boat."
From houses to a floating home
Colin, originally from Banks, had lived on canal boats for 30 years before meeting Carole. After his divorce, he bought a smaller vessel and rented out his house to friends, intending to live aboard temporarily. He told the ECHO: "I could live on the boat while they were temporarily in the house, and then I sort of never went back to living in the house because I liked it so much. Then in 2005 I got a stowaway."
Carole, from Mawdesley, said moving aboard was "just a natural progression." She had lost her husband in 2004 and met Colin on a dating site. The couple eventually sold two of their houses but kept Carole's former home for occasional weekends during the Christmas market season.
Living off-grid and starting The Wool Boat
They are permanently moored in Burscough and live almost completely off-grid, with no electricity hook-up. They rely on solar panels, a generator in winter, the boat's engine for power and hot water, and a solid-fuel range for heating.
In 2008, after stopping work and taking what was meant to be a gap year, they began selling handmade items. The idea for The Wool Boat came after Carole started knitting again, using yarn from a winding house in Bingley. Colin said: "We said, 'No, not really, but maybe we ought to think about it because knitting and crocheting were coming back to a degree'." They bought £100 worth of acrylic yarn, and by the time they travelled back, people were asking: "Where's the wool boat?"
Today, they stock around 2,500 balls of yarn, not all kept aboard. The current boat was specially built in 2011 and is seven feet longer than their previous one to store the yarn.
Freedom, community, and challenges
Carole said the appeal of boat life is "peace and quiet and the freedom." She added: "Even now, if we're feeling a bit fed up, we'll go up to Appley Bridge, right out of the way. The nearest road is about a mile away."
Despite the idyllic setting, the couple are keen to dispel the idea that living aboard is easy or cheap. Carole said: "Living aboard is no cheaper than living in a house. People think it's a cheap lifestyle. It isn't." Colin noted that diesel, coal, and mooring costs add up, and unlike in a house, "we've got to work at it."
They also spoke of the strong community among boaters. Colin described the old network of communication as the "top telegraph," where news travels through a chain of people. Carole said: "There's definitely a community there that will help... It's an unwritten rule."
The couple have had memorable moments, including a scare at a flight of locks in Wigan when their boat floated backward and the engine stopped. Colin said: "We were panicking slightly, but amazingly it started again." They have also travelled to London, mooring in Little Venice near Paddington, and along the Llangollen Canal across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Carole said: "It's absolutely fantastic. We love it."
