Chris Deuchar, who was responsible for steering the boat down the canal, had boated from Derbyshire to attend the funeral with his wife, Jan. The couple had known John for 26 years.
Jan said: "John was still delivering coal over the winter.
"He was one of the few remaining commercial boatmen on the system. It was always his and Madeleine's dream to do that - and they lived the dream.
"John said he wouldn't have changed a thing about his life. He was a man who lived with no regrets.
"He had a huge personality and was one of
the biggest yarn spinners I've ever met.
"He was very knowledgeable and had great technical skills. He could turn
his hand to almost anything."He was very rarely ill, and very rarely had a
day off work, because if there was no coal, there was no income."
He was also planning to fit out another coal boat for when he retired with Madeleine, whom he had met on a blind date when they were in their late teens.
Friend and narrow boat neighbour Richard Williams
was among the mourners. The 68-year-old said: "It's a really nice gesture
for a genuinely nice, hard-working man. He was well-known and very well-liked".
