Keith Cockett, 62, and his wife Iris Keating, 55, knew lorry drivers would struggle to get to their home in Preston on the Hill, near Warrington. But staff at John Lewis, Cheadle, offered to transport the sink and cupboards down the Bridgewater Canal on a 20ft narrow boat borrowed from the couple's neighbours.
Iris, a retired lecturer, said: "This is an environmentally-friendly way to have it delivered because the boat doesn't use as much diesel as lorries."
Vans drivers delivered the kitchen to the towpath and other workers ferried cupboards from the boat.
Kitchen planner Alan King, 39, was skipper for the day and kitchen planner John Mills, 39, acted as lookout.
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Polky (06/08/2008 at 10:41)
I would dispute that... A lorry gets about 10-15 MPG, what does a barge get?.. Unless it's being towed by a horse, that is.
It's a little known fact that when everyone goes on about emissions from human activity (cars, farming, planes, etc.) they neglect to mention that over half of the total global pollution created by man is caused by sea faring vessels.
If you think about it... You can't tax them, because they're mostly in international waters, so why should anyone kick up a fuss about them... And if you tried to tax them, they'd register under another flag.