Spring 2023 - Issue 69

current issue cover image

The Spring 2023 issue includes the following features. You can purchase this magazine from our online Shop.

You can read the articles in this and all other NarrowBoat issues online by becoming a NarrowBoat subscriber.

Traffic on the South Stratford Canal featured image

Last Traffic

Traffic on the South Stratford Canal

Chris M. Jones examines images showing remaining cargo-carrying boats on the Stratford Canal in the 20th century

View an excerpt.

Steam Dredgers on the Grand Union featured image

Picturing the Past

Steam Dredgers on the Grand Union

Andy Tidy studies images of various kinds of steam-powered dredgers at work

View an excerpt.

A Remarkable Friendship featured image

Life Afloat

A Remarkable Friendship

Alison Cannon explores the relationship between a boating family and a Girl Guide group

View an excerpt.

Shakespeare Country featured image

Canals That Never Were

Shakespeare Country

Richard Dean details early proposals for the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

View an excerpt.

Thrupp Family Gathering featured image

Tracing Family History

Thrupp Family Gathering

Chris M. Jones studies two images that reveal insights into an Oxford canal-boating family

This is our free-access sample article from the Spring 2023 NarrowBoat

View an excerpt.

Journey of Medusa featured image

One Boat's Story

Journey of Medusa

Ivan Cane recalls a narrowboat trip from Harefield to Oxford in summer 1961, which included an encounter with Samuel Barlow’s motor Hardy

View an excerpt.

Seed Traffic to Lincoln featured image

Last Traffic

Seed Traffic to Lincoln

Chris M. Jones explores images from the Jack Parkinson collection showing the delivery of seed to Lincoln in 1966

View an excerpt.

Oxford Portland Cement Co featured image

Historical Profiles

Oxford Portland Cement Co

Chris M. Jones examines the canal-carrying operations of the Kirtlington-based cement manufacturer

View an excerpt.

Courting on the Cut featured image

Working the Waterways

Courting on the Cut

Ex-working boater John Saxon passed away last year. We revisit his account of courtship on the canals, originally published in a 1977 issue of Waterways World

View an excerpt.

Passing Through Worsley featured image

Canal Postcards

Passing Through Worsley

Chris M. Jones looks at postcard images of coal carrying on the Bridgewater Canal

View an excerpt.

Ulverston Canal Postscript featured image

From the Archives

Ulverston Canal Postscript

Joseph Boughey clarifies details on the 20th-century history of this Cumbrian waterway

View an excerpt.

Northwich Docking featured image

Picturing the Past

Northwich Docking

An evocative image from the Jack Parkinson collection shows docking underway at Northwich in the early 1960s

View an excerpt.

Carrying from Runcorn featured image

Picturing the Past

Carrying from Runcorn

Another delve into the Jack Parkinson archive shows working narrowboats at Runcorn in the 1960s

View an excerpt.