Spring 2020 - Issue 57
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Front Cover: The cover image shows Alexander John Harmsworth's narrowboat Basingstoke underway, carrying small coal loaded in London. It highlights the boat’s unusual lines, compared with the more conventional narrowboats on the Basingstoke Canal and elsewhere.
The Spring 2020 issue includes the following features.
Famous Fleets
Alexander John Harmsworth & Sons
Chris M. Jones studies the canal-carrying history of a private carrier and canal-owner in the South East
You can view an excerpt here.
Time and Place
Boating at Barrow
Chris M. Jones looks at traffic on the Leicester Line in the early 1900s.
You can view an excerpt here.
Picturing the Past
Carrying in ’50s London
Another delve into Julian Thompson’s photo archive reveals details of boat and barge traffic in and around the capital in the 1950s
You can view an excerpt here.
Canals That Never Were
Somerset Shortcut
Richard Dean explores the ambitious proposals for a ship canal connecting the English and Bristol channels
You can view an excerpt here.
From the Archives
Angelsey Wharf Controversy
Joseph Boughey uncovers documents giving an insight into the decline of carrying on the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the mid-1960s
You can view an excerpt here.
Canal Curios
IW Badge
Sarah Henshaw considers how women can still wear the waterways with pride
You can view an excerpt here.
Canal Postcards
Barnsley Aqueduct Burst
Trevor Ellis examines how historic postcards capture the scene of a serious breach on the Barnsley Canal in 1911
You can view an excerpt here.
Time and Place
Deadly Cargo at Braunston
Kerry Dainty looks back on a severe cholera outbreak at the canal village in 1834
You can view an excerpt here.
Working the Waterways
We Are Not All Rogues, Sir!
Chris M. Jones explores the origins of boaters in the Canal Age and why they were often unfairly maligned by wider society
You can view an excerpt here.
Time and Place
Traffic at Rumps Lock
Through a sequence of images in the Jack Parkinson collection, we study commercial carrying activity on the Trent & Mersey at Middlewich in 1965
You can view an excerpt here.
Canal Postcards
The Lock House
Trevor Ellis looks at how historic postcards document the changing face of a much photographed part of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal
You can view an excerpt here.
Unearthing History
Telegraph Poles
Ray Thorp examines the history of these once ubiquitous towpath structures
You can view an excerpt here.