Jump to content

Mike Taylor RIP


Joseph

Featured Posts

Hello everyone

 

Many will know the excellent works by Mike Taylor, many about the waterways of Yorkshire. He was a leading proponent of oral history, and interviewed all sorts of boat people who are no longer with us. 

 

I had wondered what he was doing now, and some online searching drew clear evidence that, very sadly, he passed away in September. I've not seen any sort of obituary in waterways publications, although there has been mention in the jazz music scene - he played trombone. One of the jazz obituaries refers to him both playing trombone and having a deep interest in waterways, so this must be him.

 

I only met Mike once, briefly, and I wonder if people recall him. I think he must have been in his early 80s - there is reference to him playing music at university in 1957.

 

What do people remember of him?

 

Regards

 

Joseph

  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear this Joseph. I met Mike on a number of occasions when helping with research for the Waterways Museum at Goole, and elsewhere. I wonder what has happened to his collection of photos, as I know he had many of the Yorkshire waterways. He was certainly a major contributor to the recording of the history of those waterways, so a great loss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike came to give a talk to one of the Waterways Workshops Martin & I organised and then he shot off to play his trombone later.

 

He was very knowledgeable on  Yorkshire Waterways

He did  a a book on the Sheffield & south Yorkshire Navigation

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very sad to hear that. Mike was one of our regular Carrying & Freight correspondents at Waterways World - I only spoke to him a handful of times (generally he'd go straight to Chris as the news editor), but he always had updates and timely photos on what was currently happening with carrying on the A&C and the Ouse. A real enthusiast of the old school.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike wrote several books on the waterways and boats in Yorkshire. His output was more in the photographic type of book, and he said to me that he did not have the time/enthusiasm for researching and writing a more detailed waterway history. However, the captions to the photographs he used are of great value to the waterway historian, with few errors.

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many thanks everyone.

 

Mike seems to have kept himself to himself in many ways, which makes an obituary difficult, but I think it is important that one is provided.

 

Interesting comment relayed by Mike (Pluto), and a modest one. Mike T seems to have had a wealth of recordings of boatpeople - i wonder ion he made arrangements for any of this to be preserved?? His collections would make a fitting memorial.

 

Definitely a major loss to us.

 

Joseph  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Evenin all

 

Just to say that I alerted the editor of Waterways World to the bad news about Mike T, and an obituary has now appeared.

 

He was a major figure in the recording of oral history of the (mainly) Yorkshire waterways; I wonder where his recordings are now..... It would be as hame if these were destroyed. Just wondering.

 

Joseph 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.