Britain’s Canals Are Undergoing a Renaissance

choi

Canals | Crowded Waters; Britain’s canals are undergoing a renaissance. Economist, Dec 20, 2014.
www.economist.com/news/britain/2 ... ance-crowded-waters

Note:
(a) "the Regent’s canal in north London is bustling. Cyclists and joggers zip along the towpath * * * 200-year-old"
(i) Regent’s Canal
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regent's_Canal
(empties into River Thames in east London; opened in 1816 and included a 251-metre (274 yd) long tunnel under Maida Hill east of an area now known as 'Little Venice')

George IV as Prince Regent (1811-1820) due to mental illness of his father (George III) in old age.
(ii) towpath (n): "a path beside a canal or river, used by people or animals towing boats"
www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/towpath

(b) "Hewn out of the land during the Industrial Revolution, they [canals] were once Britain’s main arteries of trade. The rise of railways and roads made them redundant and many were left to moulder * * * 4,800km (3,000 miles) of canals [] remain"

moulder (v; US: molder): "(often followed by away) to crumble or cause to crumble, as through decay"
www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/moulder

(c) "the cost of renting a two-bedroom barge permanently moored in Little Venice, a posh part of west London, is around £900 ($1,400) a month, with few bills. A two-bedroom flat in the same area starts from around £2,000 a month"
(i) For Little Venice, consult (a)(i).
(ii) For housing, accommodation barge for civilians, and barrack barge for sailors (which is big in size).
(A) houseboat
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houseboat

may be constructed out of a barge, too (not just of a boat; I am talking about the shape of vessel's bottom).
(B) The photo at the top of the Economist article is a self-propelled barge for housing.

(d) "In 2012, as the government sought to slash budgets, it offloaded British Waterways, the state corporation which ran two-thirds of the canals, from its books. The Canal and River Trust was set up (a separate state-run organisation for Scotland was also created)."

Canal & River Trust
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_%26_River_Trust
(Type[:] non-governmental organisation; Legal status[:] charitable trust)
(e) "Simon Thurley, the head of English Heritage, a quango that is undergoing its own separation from Whitehall"

quango (n; 1970s (originally US): acronym from QUAsi (or QUasi-Autonomous) NonGovernment(al) Organization): "British chiefly derogatory  a semipublic administrative body outside the civil service but receiving financial support from the government, which makes senior appointments to it"
www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/quango