England is populated by a network of canals (man made waterways). Now, used mostly for pleasure. The craft (barges, mostly) travel along at very slow speeds and from time to time have to navigate locks to change levels. 

These images are from the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire. Sometimes the canal merges with a river, in Northampton it is the river Nene.

The final image in this sequence is from Birmingham and illustrates why the canals were built - to move commodities from place to place to feed the Industrial Revolution.