Picture Post Canals Part 2

Picturing the Past: NarrowBoat, Winter 2021

Christopher M Jones

Chris M. Jones continues his study of canal coverage in 1940s issues of Picture Post magazine

Winter on the Cut In the Autumn 2022 NB, we studied a lengthy article on canals published in a September 1939 issue of the popular photojournalistic magazine Picture Post, which ran from 1937 to 1957. It seems likely that the piece generated some interest among its readership, for Picture Post returned to the topic of canals twice more over the following decade. The first article, published on 6th December 1947, focused specifically on ‘Winter on a Canal’ – perhaps the memory of that year’s arctic conditions were fresh in the editor’s mind. Although covering just two pages, all the images were in colour and depicted four commercial craft engaged in the southbound coal traffic through Hertfordshire on the Grand Union Canal.…