From carrying coal to transporting tourists, the canals of the North have taken a variety of loads, but a new narrowboat is bringing something unusual to the waterways – a women-only arts centre.

The Idle Women project, aimed at addressing “the urgent need for women’s space” and providing “a radical redress of power, acknowledgement and voice”, has been put together by caretakers Rachel Anderson and Cis O’Boyle.

It centres around the Selina Cooper, a renovated butty with both a living area and an arts space which will travel the canals for the next two years, giving women a chance to “take off armour and just relax and breathe a little”, Anderson says.  More