A day or two after Phil and I set off on our first narrowboat adventure, we were woken by the sound of tapping on the side of our boat. Leaping out of bed to see what it was, I opened the hatch and found a small gathering of swans waiting expectantly for their breakfast. New to this life on the waterways and very ignorant about wild fowl, I dished out some crusts of bread and, of course, the swans then wouldn’t leave us alone.