The Danish have 'hygge' - a well-being concept focused around feeling snug and relaxed indoors when the weather worsens. IWA Lichfield has an altogether antithetical approach to withstanding winter - the Offside Vegetation Cutting Work Party. Out are the chunky-knit jumpers and mugs of cocoa by the fire; in is PPE workwear and a couple of pole saws on the Coventry Canal. If hygge is all about cosy and comfortable conviviality, OV is largely benumbed fingers brandishing loppers over the side of a CRT work-boat for six hours straight, with rain showers and bramble splinters and a mob of power tools thrown in for good measure. But it's also about banter (ear-defenders allowing) and 70-something-year-old Heather's heavenly chocolate-and-cream cake for elevenses. More broadly, it's about bolstering Canal & River Trust's limited resources over its 2,000-mile maintenance remit to ensure that, as the boating season begins again in earnest this month, we can cruise without obstruction. And I'm a surprise convert.
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