Stories about boats and waterways
Posts including videos
Paintings of roses and castles are about as traditional on the canals of Britain as it’s possible to be – but why? Why roses? And castles? And how do you paint them? I went to see a artist and historian Kay Andrews on her boat as as well as Penny Arscott, Manager of Foxton Locks Museum to find out.
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Here is an actual – albeit scale model – railway line and even a canal within the hold of a narrowboat on the canal.
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If you’ve ever felt your canal boat scrape on the bottom of the canal and wish more dredging was done by the Canal & River Trust, here’s an explainer of how dredging is done, why it’s so expensive and why they can’t do more of it.
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For single-handed canal boaters, shimmying up and down lock ladders or trying to get through swing bridges can be a huge nuisance. How much easier it would be if you could steer your boat with remote control! That’s exactly what Gill Gregory can do aboard “Desiderata” so I went to see the system in action.
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Although normally prohibited to powered craft, with permission of the Cam Conservators in winter you can take a narrowboat onto the Cambridge “Backs” where the river Cam flows behind many of the city’s historic colleges.
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I was invited to take part in a trip that very few narrowboats are able to enjoy, along the “Cambridge Backs”. This is Part 1 of 2 of the journey.
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A guide to some of the very many gifts you can buy from narrowboaters, hand-made or designed on their narrowboats on the canals of the UK.
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London’s canals and rivers are becoming ever more crowded with boaters as people flock to the capitals waterways, drawn by the lure of a seemingly idyllic and possibly cheaper lifestyle. But is the dream for real or is reality not quite as rosy? I went down to the big smoke to find out.
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Following on from the last video, about wooden narrowboats, which are quite rare on the canals, here’s another wooden narrowboat which is even rarer – a “fly boat”, the parcels service of the canal network.
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The Wooden Canal Boat Society in Ashton-under-Lyne is a wonderful group of enthusiasts who not only renovate and bring new life to decaying ancient wooden narrowboats but also provide valuable services to the local community. And, curiously, the boats have been restoring the volunteers as well.
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