Summer 2019 - Issue 54
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Front Cover: From 1853, regular steam towage started on the River Severn and narrowboats (called ‘long-boats’ on the river) and barges travelled between Gloucester, Worcester and Stourport without the need for horse haulage from the towpath. Navigating the fast-flowing waters of the Severn demanded a higher level of skill and experience than on the canals. Many Severn long-boats were fitted with hefty timber-heads each side of the fore-deck to attach strong towing lines, as shown here.
The Summer 2019 issue includes the following features.
Working the Waterways
Boat Building at Braunston 1796 to 1958
Chris M. Jones looks at the long history of wooden boat building at the famous canal village
You can view an excerpt here.
Picturing the Past
Descending Stoke Locks
Another selection of images from the Jack Parkinson Collection reveals the carriage of pottery materials at Stoke-on-Trent
You can view an excerpt here.
Traffic on the River Severn in the 19th century
Chris M. Jones studies the growth of long-boat and wide-boat carrying on the mighty Severn
You can view an excerpt here.
Time and Place
The old Thames Waterfront
Chris M. Jones investigates images of the old Thames riverside when the Pool of London was a thriving port
You can view an excerpt here.
From the Archives
Charles Hadfield’s Jessop and Telford files
Joseph Boughey examines the late waterways historian’s research into great canal engineers
You can view an excerpt here.
Working the Waterways
Rebuilding the Warwick Canals
Alan Thorpe studies a series of images taken in the early 1930s showing the widening and improving of today’s northern Grand Union Canal
You can view an excerpt here.
Canal Curios
First Sod from the MSC
Sarah Henshaw celebrates the men – and machines – who dug the 36-mile ‘ditch’
You can view an excerpt here.
Time and Place
Taking a Break at Tinsley
The Sheffield & Tinsley Canal celebrates its bicentenary this year. Chris M. Jones looks at a scene from its working heyday
You can view an excerpt here.
Historical Canal Maps
Oxford Canal Improvements
Richard Dean describes Charles Vignoles’ 1828 plan to shorten the northern Oxford
You can view an excerpt here.
