Last Traffic
Boating with the Purcells
Mike Stone journeyed up the Grand Union Canal in the summer of 1961 on a pair of Willow Wren boats
Working the Waterways
Alternative Revenue Streams
Chris M. Jones looks at some of the ways canal companies made money other than from toll income
Historical Profiles
Chesterfield Canal
John Lower looks at a canal from the Trent that is both wide and narrow beam
Picturing the Past
Traffic through Thames Lock
Chris M. Jones looks at a series of images relating to traffic between the Port of London and the River Wey Navigation
This is our free-access sample article from the Autumn 2026 NarrowBoat
From the Archives
A Pointer to the Past
Andy Tidy uncovers unusual canal-related photos from the 1950s and finds out more
Last Traffic
Blue Line
David Blagrove looks through Terry Putnam’s colourful photographs of boats carrying coal from Atherstone to the “Jam ’ole” at Southall, the last regular long-distance narrowboat traffic on the canals that ceased in 1970
