Summer 2016 - Issue 42
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Front Cover: John Dickinson & Co's Lord Howe is seen heading through the early morning mist on the Grand Junction Canal. The boat was one of four patriotically named craft built for the company and was used to carry paper and other products. Little evidence survives of the boat's exact livery so a degree of educated guesswork has been used to create this image.
The Summer 2016 issue includes the following features.
Famous Fleets
John Dickinson & Co
Alan Faulkner looks at the express carrying fleet used by this large and well-known paper manufacturer with paper mills alongside the Grand Union Canal in Hertfordshire.
You can view an excerpt here.
Unearthing History
Narrowboat evolution
Chris M. Jones examines the changing shape of working narrowboats over 150 years by looking at fly-boats, slow-boats, barge features, living cabins and powered narrowboats.
You can view an excerpt here.
Time and Place
End of an era at Brentford
We look at a photograph of Brentford Gauging Dock in 1930 that epitomises the decline in canal carrying in the first half of the 20th century. The image features the boats of the canal-carrying company Emmanuel Smith & Sons, which was formed in 1922.
You can view an excerpt here.
Working the Waterways
Testing the BCN
Christopher R. Jones follows an official examination trip undertaken by his boating ancestor, Edward James King, for the BCN during the summer of 1923 to identify work needed to clear the maintenance backlog that resulted from government control of the canals during The First World War.
You can view an excerpt here.
Picturing the Past
The twilight years of Samuel Barlow
A selection of images supplied by Patrick Rawlinson shows the latter carrying days of the Samuel Barlow Coal Co Ltd on the Grand Union Canal in the 1950s and ’60s.
You can view an excerpt here.
Historical Canal Maps
Managing the Macclesfield
Richard Dean studies an 1891 atlas of the railway-owned Macclesfield Canal.
You can view an excerpt here.
Picturing the Past
Carrying up Caen Hill
Chris M. Jones studies a horse-boating scene on the Kennet & Avon Canal in the late 19th century.
You can view an excerpt here.
Life Afloat
Fly-boating on the Shroppie
Publisher Peter Silvester explains how a remarkable book on horse fly-boating a century ago was brought to publication, and introduces a typical chapter. of Jack Roberts's book "Shropshire Union Fly-Boats"
You can view an excerpt here.
From the Archives
The Times
Joseph Boughey explores some fascinating waterway tidbits revealed in the digital archive of The Times, including 1930s plan to enlarge the Grand Union Canal, conditions on the Wey & Arun Navigation in 1915 and the selling of the Royal Military Canal by auction in 1935.
You can view an excerpt here.
Time and Place
Last days of traffic at Banbury
We study a late 1950s photo that shows the final era of canal carrying to Banbury in Oxfordshire, and featuring Samuel Barlow Coal Company Ltd’s motor-boat, Hyperion, with a load of coal tied up against United Daires Ltd wharf.
You can view an excerpt here.
