Where I am in Europe

[Heartland]

In 2005 as Pluto can confirm the RCHS West Midlands Group organised a Waterways History Conference at Birmingham with Pluto and Buckby Locks giving talks and Sonia Rolt attended.

 

This image was on show, but where was it and what was the cargo

 

 

[magnetman]

France and onions?

[Jonny P]

Sugar beet in Belgium or Netherlands?

[Tam & Di]

They're obviously relatively light. Tulip bulbs in the Netherlands?

 

Tam

[magnetman]

They do look a bit like clogs on the feet. 

[Jonny P]

9 minutes ago, Tam & Di said:

They're obviously relatively light. Tulip bulbs in the Netherlands?

 

Tam

 

Good point. Too small for sugar beet anyway.

 

The footwear on the fella in the picture may be a clue. Unless he's got size 18 feet.

[Stilllearning]

19 minutes ago, magnetman said:

They do look a bit like clogs on the feet. 

Clogs are/were found all over the place, not just Holland.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

even with the straw hat, I’m gonna wild, I’ll go for somewhere in Brittany. 
where I don’t know, 

 

what the produce/cargo is 🤷‍♀️
onions?

 

 

[Bee]

Cor that's hard. Doesn't look Dutch, really narrow boat, sprit rig, and no leeboards, looks more like a fishing boat. Narrow gauge tramway or railway with a really wide bodied wagon.. I am going to make a foolish guess at yams or sweet potatoes and somewhere in South Africa!

[magnetman]

1 hour ago, Bee said:

 yams or sweet potatoes and somewhere in South Africa!

I feel the thread title was a clue here

[junior]

Holland/Cocaine?

[Bee]

15 hours ago, magnetman said:

I feel the thread title was a clue here

Damn. I got an 'O' level in geography too!

[Bee]

I wonder if that is Irish? As for the cargo, an early attempt at smokeless peat?????

[magnetman]

It's a very small boat so presumably the product is not heavy but quite bulky. 

 

I think the best guess so far is probably the tulip bulbs. 

[Heartland]

It is about time there was a worthwhile challenge

The date is 1922 and the caption was "a boat load of peat from the marshes".

 

Carrying peat on UK waterways is hard to find, although maybe there was some on the Shropshire Union. This image was said to be in Germany, but deserves to be identified as where, and where the peat was collected from!

 

[Pluto]

There is a vast complex of turf canals between the Ijsselmeer and the Elbe which vary considerably in size and length of use. These are two of the more interesting remains: the fourway lock at Emden, and a wooden lock, the Nijeveensluis just to the north of Meppel. A really good place to stay is Giethoorn, where many of the houses can be accessed by old turf canal.

[Heartland]

The image was said to be taken in the Ruhr region which probably is consistent with Mikes post.

 

There was a narrow gauge railway transhipment in the image reproduced and clearly peat traffic was important to this region.

[Pluto]

Unlikely to be in the Ruhr area as there was plenty of coal there. The main turf area was north of a line from Amsterdam to Hamburg, though there were smaller regions outside of this. I have attached a map for following a 'turf route', though the main area was further north east around Groningen. The photo is of Giethorn, which is one of the more touristic turf canals.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Pluto

[Heartland]

I wonder if there are details as to what use the turf was put to.

[Derek R.]

'Turf' - as in Peat? As fuel. Surely this is common knowledge?

Turves as in green grass, are usually three feet by one foot. Rolled up they are considerably bigger - and heavy.

[Heartland]

Peat or turf could be a fuel, but also had agricultural use, hence the peat works in the UK noted often for their narrow gauge diesels and then there were those in Ireland whose systems have now closed. On the Irish system some of the peat was made into briquettes for sale or burnt in a power station, but now the concern for the carbon neutral has led to the whole network of railways closing down