Just how many canal boats were there?

[Québec]

I was intrigued by a comment by Laurence Hogg on another thread stating that there were far more canal boats on the canal system back in the 'good old days' than the 30k + there are now, and wondered on what he based his claim.

 

I did some dredging of my own, and in the 1880's the generally agreed, and highest figure - based on contemporary census data, data from the Canal Association, etc. - is c. 10,000 boats and between 20-30,000 people. That figure is quoted in both Harry Hanson's 'The Canal Boatmen 1796-1914' and in Wendy Freer's 1991 dissertation 'Canal boat People 1840-1970'.

 

In 1930 the Chief Inspector of Canal Boats estimated c. 6000 boats.

In 1947 the Ministry of War estimated c. 7000.

 

Happy to be corrected.

[alan_fincher]

I can't really see how 19th century census data can give any realistic estimate to total numbers of boats on the inland waterways.

 

From my own experiences of tracking boating families through the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1991 censuses, I would say there is at best a chance that many appear in less than half the censuses they might have been in.

 

Although coverage improved on each 10 yearly census, the reality seems to be that even the later ones only captured people at key locations, so if they were at more remote places, they are unlikely to be recorded.

 

Also huge numbers of the boats in use, not just on the BCN, but elsewhere, would have been day boats, so nobody was living on them when a census was taken.

 

My guess is that if any census identifies (say) 10,000 inland boats, that there would easily have been at least twice that number on the system.

[Dave Clinton]

given that by the 1880s the canals had been superceded by the railways and were probably shrinking into more specialised roles and routes. 10,000 could be extrapolated to a point on a descending curve.

 

The toll books for a specific canal would be a good place to get a feel for this. The nature of the traffic would be changing, much less general goods and much more slow deliveries, stone and coal for example.

 

30,000 in 1840 wouldn't surprise me - whole network in place, an emergence of heavier industries, for instance material to make railways,

 

Who has toll books for this era? Pete Harrison? Pluto?

[Laurence Hogg]

I was intrigued by a comment by Laurence Hogg on another thread stating that there were far more canal boats on the canal system back in the 'good old days' than the 30k + there are now, and wondered on what he based his claim.

 

I did some dredging of my own, and in the 1880's the generally agreed, and highest figure - based on contemporary census data, data from the Canal Association, etc. - is c. 10,000 boats and between 20-30,000 people. That figure is quoted in both Harry Hanson's 'The Canal Boatmen 1796-1914' and in Wendy Freer's 1991 dissertation 'Canal boat People 1840-1970'.

 

In 1930 the Chief Inspector of Canal Boats estimated c. 6000 boats.

In 1947 the Ministry of War estimated c. 7000.

 

Happy to be corrected.

 

You are overlooking all the cabinless and un lived on craft which were around ie on the BCN there were thousands. The same can be said for the open wide boats in the London area and elsewhere where crews lived on the land.

 

My gestimate was based on numbers of boats gauged that we know of or can guess at, no one will ever get an exact figure as the boat gaugings and registrations were a rolling commodity being changed constantly by additions and scrapping / rebuilding.

 

BCN gaugings went up to approx. 23.000

GJCC/GUCC approx. 12700

Oxford approx. 5500

 

Details are scant for the Shroppy and T&M but they must have been large.

 

Its a tricky subject with many pitfalls.

[Alan Saunders]

I doubt, but cannot prove, that there were more boats on England's Waterways, canals and rivers, 100+ years ago.

 

I guess that, in terms of lock-miles travelled and displacement, empty or full, there was more 'activity' in 1915 or even 1945 than today.

 

Alan

[Québec]

I doubt, but cannot prove, that there were more boats on England's Waterways, canals and rivers, 100+ years ago.

 

I guess that, in terms of lock-miles travelled and displacement, empty or full, there was more 'activity' in 1915 or even 1945 than today.

 

Alan

Here's a clue:

Tonnage: Birmingham canals

1838: 3,332,709

1848: 4,696,192

1858: 6,162,981

1868: 6,982,773

1878: 7,713,047

1898: 8,627,074

1905: 7,546,543

1913: 7,090,628

1918: 7,091,735

1919. 5,557,672

[Giant]

Don't forget the North East. This is Hull in 1925.

 

[Pluto]

As I wrote in the earlier thread:

 

Estimating the number of boats at work on inland waterways at any particular time involves a good deal of estimation, given that boats were sometimes replaced and/or taken out of service without full details being recorded. Some canals did gauge boats, but gauging records again may not have been kept up-to-date, whilst other canals worked purely on loading notes for calculating tolls.

Some idea can be obtained from total traffic figures, and average journey lengths were also sometimes estimated, though exactly how long a boat would remain loaded would depend upon the traffic and storage arrangements. Figures for tons carried on a canal do not often indicate whether the boat had travelled over other waterways, so the tonnage may have been counted twice. However, they can give some sort of guide. The BCN carried over 7 million tons in the 1880s, though average journey length was short, around four miles. If each boat carried 20 tons - almost certainly an over estimate - that would give 350,000 boat journeys annually, and if each boat made one journey a week - also almost certainly an over estimate - that would give 7000 boats on the BCN at that time. However, this number would also include some of those travelling on associated waterways, reducing the number if calculating from the tonnage records for all canals nationally. I have figures which state that around 1000 boats were at work on the L&LC towards the end of the 19th century, and with 1,500,000 tons being carried in boats carrying 50 tons, gives 30 trips per year. The average length of journey was about 25 miles, so the number of 1000 boats is possible.

Given the above, there may be more boats on our waterways today than in the heyday of carrying, but I suspect the numbers will be very close. However, in miles travelled, there would be no comparison, with the historic figures far exceeding those for boats today.

[Heartland]

I take it the term canal boat includes all shapes and sizes that worked along the artificial waterways that includes barges, narrow boats and tub boats. Looking at Census details would only pick up craft that are lived upon. Like Laurence has stated there were many craft that were not a home. Then there are the craft such as packets which carried passengers, but were not homes. A related issue is how long was the average life of a boat, be it wood (carvel or clinker built), composite, iron or steel.

 

The time period is also key to this question. The navigations of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland (you must not forget this part of Britain) developed with time. I suppose the greatest extent of the systems was during the 1830's and 1840's when the greatest number of canal craft, it is reasonable to assume existed. It was also probably a time of the busiest trading times across the network. Although each separate waterway had different peak times in traffic, the Aire & Calder, BCN and Sheffield & South Yorkshire all being later.

,

Also can somebody explain what is "half a boat" the Grand Junction Canal company had one for sale at their Stoke Wharf in 1856?

 

Ray Shill

[David Mack]

 

Also can somebody explain what is "half a boat" the Grand Junction Canal company had one for sale at their Stoke Wharf in 1856?

 

Perhaps cutting narrow boats in two for conversion to pleasure use started earlier than we think!

[Heartland]

Another explanation for "half a boat" was that not all narrow boats were full length. Specific uses led to specific design. Then there was also those damaged through accidents whereby a craft might be cut down instead of being repaired.

 

Ray Shill

[Heartland]

Following on with the thread of how many boats, consideration needs to be given to the different types of trade like

 

(1) In the coal trade

(2) in the limestone trade

(3) in the ironstone or iron ore trade

(4) in cotton goods

(5) carrying general merchandise

(6) in the brick and firebrick trade

(7) carrying chemicals, acids, oil and gas tars

(8) carrying potteries goods

(9) carrying timber and slates

(10) carrying corn and flour

(11) carrying other metal ores, copper, calamine, zinc etc.

 

Such traffic was not just confined to the national network, but also some isolated waterways. None could be more isolated, for example, as the underground canal, Nent Force Level, at Alston, where 30ft long boats carried ore to be raised to the surface !

 

Ray Shill

[Pluto]

None could be more isolated, for example, as the underground canal, Nent Force Level, at Alston, where 30ft long boats carried ore to be raised to the surface !

 

Ray Shill

There is always the Gelli Mine level near Aberystwyth, Boulby Alum Works in Cleveland, and Baron Mure's Mine and Stevensons Colliery in Ayrshire, all of which had navigable parts to their underground workings. I have a list of almost 50 navigable sections associated with mines and underground workings, and that is unlikely to be comprehensive.

[John Brightley]

There is always the Gelli Mine level near Aberystwyth, Boulby Alum Works in Cleveland, and Baron Mure's Mine and Stevensons Colliery in Ayrshire, all of which had navigable parts to their underground workings. I have a list of almost 50 navigable sections associated with mines and underground workings, and that is unlikely to be comprehensive.

There is also evidence (in Sir Roger Newdigate's diaries between 1750 and 1800) of boats being used underground in the Griff coal mines on the Arbury estate near Nuneaton.

[Heartland]

It would be of use to list all the underground navigable waterways in Britain and perhaps it is for the RCHS WHG to do so. i suppose the Worsley system near Manchester must rank amongst the most extensive. But what could be the deepest and in that category how would the Ecton Mines rate?

 

As to Arbury that is a complex subject, as the surface canals were also quite extensive. It was a private system that joined the Coventry Canal. Griff Collieries, though part of that estate were later extensively developed north of Arbury complete with own railways and locomotives.

 

Ray Shill

[Della]

I was intrigued by a comment by Laurence Hogg on another thread stating that there were far more canal boats on the canal system back in the 'good old days' than the 30k + there are now, and wondered on what he based his claim.

I did some dredging of my own, and in the 1880's the generally agreed, and highest figure - based on contemporary census data, data from the Canal Association, etc. - is c. 10,000 boats and between 20-30,000 people. That figure is quoted in both Harry Hanson's 'The Canal Boatmen 1796-1914' and in Wendy Freer's 1991 dissertation 'Canal boat People 1840-1970'.

In 1930 the Chief Inspector of Canal Boats estimated c. 6000 boats.

In 1947 the Ministry of War estimated c. 7000.

Happy to be corrected.

I am interested to know where the c.6000 boats come from in 1930 ... The reference please ... I have Owen llewelyns report for 1930 & there are no stats in it ... Info would be much appreciated

Thanks

Della

[Pluto]

I am interested to know where the c.6000 boats come from in 1930 ... The reference please ... I have Owen llewelyns report for 1930 & there are no stats in it ... Info would be much appreciated

Thanks

Della

It would be fairly easy to compile as it would be boats inspected. However, there were numerous boats that weren't inspected as they were not lived upon. Estimating from tonnage carried and using the average journey length to give some idea of time taken per trip is probably going to give the most accurate result.

 

Tonnage and average trip lengths are available from government statistics towards the end of the nineteenth century. The actual heyday for canals, in terms of value of goods and possibly tonnage, would be just prior to the First World War, when successful canals were at their peak. The tonnages carried on the less successful waterways tended to be insignificant compared to the successful ones, which were mainly in the north of England, apart from the Oxford and the GU, particularly around London.

[Heartland]

It is possibly an overstatement to imply the whole Oxford canal belonged of the group of the busy canals, as only part could fall into this category. Traffic on the southern Oxford would have been less, Some canals like the Southern Stratford upon Avon Canal dwindled drastically until extinction during the mid 1930's. Elements of the BCN remained very busy with coal traffic, though it to had its byeways where trade declined considerably. Elsewhere there were pockets of busy traffic, like the Potteries. Then there were the rivers where boats common to canals and rivers worked like Nottingham and Leicester.

 

On a related subject are the routes that gradually closed and the dates of "last" traffic. With this theme there are grey areas also. The Hereford & Gloucester may have been closed and partially converted for railway use, yet the section near Hereford retained water and there was some speculation that boats may have moved after "official" closure. A similar suggestion has been made for the Leominster on the section at Woofeton.

 

Ray Shill

[Pluto]

This graph gives a rough indication of the mileage used for commercial purposes, with its decline and the rise in leisure use. I did the research in 2000 when there were several waterway restoration projects due to open. Freight traffic has declined substantially since then.