Rubyretro

Hi -well, first of all, thanks for the replies ! I confess straight up that I have a twofold interest in posing this question : My first interest in asking about the Jam Ole Run was because I'm interested in Jack the Ripper. Don't all groan..I'm interested in History altogether, and the Whitechapel murders of 1888 give an introduction to the much wider social history of the UK, in much the same way that Canal History must also open a door to a different angle on British History in general. One thing that I am interested in, concerning the Ripper murders, is the Kearley and Tonge factory in Mitre Square -the site of the murder of Catherine Eddowes. Also, that there was a Kearley and Tonge factory in Buck's Row, site of the murder of Polly Nichols (that factory might have existed at a later date..I'm not an expert, and I don't know for sure). A 'witness' to the Eddowes murder (and maybe not a witness at all ?) described someone looking like a 'sailor' as the suspect, in a peaked cap with a red neckerchief. I was just wondering what canal workers bringing coal to this factory would wear ? What would the life of a canal worker at this time typically be ? If the Jam Ole didn't exist at this time, how did Kearley and Tonge fuel their factories ? What was the route of the Jam Ole ? and where were men typically engaged for work ? Where did the boats stop ? I do have a secondary reason for joining this site..all the questions I've asked about the Jam Ole are surely equally interesting without JTR in the equation, and about any of the old canal routes...they really attract me.

Hi ! I'm really interested in the Jam 'Ole Run in the late 1880s, taking coal down to Brentford, and to the Kearley and Tonge factories. Where is the best place to get information, and old victorian photographs ?