The Canals Before the 1990s

[Tam & Di]

As time passes each generation will lament the past in some degree, even those joining the cut today they will look back with nostalgia in thirty years time, and those looking back fifty years or more will indeed have seen changes in so many walks of life.

 

I’d agree. We’ve talked with people having just completed their first canal trip who are every bit as excited as we were nigh on sixty years ago. Ours are the canals of the past and theirs are the canals of the future. What saddens oldies like us is that for those on the canals then it used to be that canals were a way of life, where now they are more of a passing phase. People talk of having done this canal and done that one, like a stamp collection, and then move on to better things. What is the problem with going over the same canal time and again?.

 

We had working boatmen to learn from while the people these newcomers look to probably only themselves discovered canals a few years previously. That does lead to a lack of continuity, but at least the internet can throw up threads like this which offer proof that canals did actually exist and had a “good old days” of people who discovered them the day before yesterday.

 

I know there are some on CWDF who were born on boats, and absorbed their canal knowledge by osmosis, much as the children of the working boat families did; there are also a handful who discovered canals in their youth and made them their lives, and who offer fruits of their knowledge here. It is interesting that on this thread there are at least several comments “my father had such and such a boat”, so perhaps I’m too pessimistic about continuity and canals of the future.

 

This thread seems to have prompted philosophical pondering in what is left of my brain, so please excuse.

 

Tam

[Guest]

We started in 1966 in my dad's Dolphin cruiser. Then a Dawncraft, and I built my first boat in 71/72 out of a Glastron speedboat hull! It didn't like canal speeds very much

 

[pete harrison]

I have been musing, and out of curiosity, how many here remember what the canals were like in the 50s to the latter 80s.

Compared to some I am quite a latecomer to the canals as I did not discover them properly until 1973, at which time I was 11 years old.

 

Having been bought up in Birmingham I did have an awareness of canals prior to 1973, and from the age of about seven our gang regularly played on the towpath of the Tame Valley Canal at Witton (can you imagine being allowed to do that nowadays !).

 

My earliest memory of being down on the towpath was when I witnessed the sinking of the exF.M.C. Ltd. wooden motor QUAIL between Moor Lane Incinerator and Brookvale Road Bridge. I remember it being a full length converted motor boat but I did not know its name or owner until about 10 years ago when with my 'researching hat' on I was put in contact with an elderly former owner of QUAIL who recounted the story - and we were as surprised as one an other that we were both there. I think this was 1969 as my records indicate at that time QUAIL was in the Birmingham area for the I.W.A. National Rally.

 

So at the age of 11 I joined a local canal society, and by 16 I was serving on its Committee. At 17 I became a full time boatman operating a pair of 'camping' boats, retiring as a boatman at 22 when I moved to Bristol. At 25 we bought a pair of large Woolwich's and spent the next couple of years restoring the motor, and on their sale in 1990 I took up 'historic' narrow boat research (initially to document the information residing in my head) - which is still ongoing.

 

So what have the canals done for me ?

 

Well I think working with ex-boaters taught me about perseverance and setting / maintaining standards. This is something that has stayed with me and has taken me successfully through my subsequent career, kept my cars clean and instilled a certain standard and work ethic in my children (who are now adults).

 

So what have I done for canals ?

 

I spent almost every Sunday between 1973 and 1980 on working parties removing rubbish e.t.c. from the canal bed, as well as taking part in restoration work at the Black Country Museum as well as on the southern Stratford Canal and the Droitwich Canal. I introduced hundreds of people to canals when working as a boatman, and I have attempted (in vain) to pass on my knowledge and skills as a boatman to the members of the charities that operate narrow boat pairs. I continue with 'historic' narrow boat research, and again I attempt to pass on this information to those who are interested.

 

Will I return to boating ?

 

Unlikely, unless EFFINGHAM comes back on the market, and has a sensible sale price

Edited June 9, 2016 by pete harrison

[Guest]

Compared to some I am quite a latecomer to the canals as I did not discover them properly until 1973, at which time I was 11 years old.

 

Having been bought up in Birmingham I did have an awareness of canals prior to 1973, and from the age of about seven our gang regularly played on the towpath of the Tame Valley Canal at Witton (can you imagine being allowed to do that nowadays !).

 

My earliest memory of being down on the towpath was when I witnessed the sinking of the exF.M.C. Ltd. wooden motor QUAIL between Moor Lane Incinerator and Brookvale Road Bridge. I remember it being a full length converted motor boat but I did not know its name or owner until about 10 years ago when with my 'researching hat' on I was put in contact with an elderly former owner of QUAIL who recounted the story - and we were as surprised as one an other that we were both there. I think this was 1969 as at that time as my records indicate that QUAIL was in the Birmingham area for the I.W.A. National Rally.

 

So at the age of 11 I joined a local canal society, and by 16 I was serving on its Committee. At 17 I became a full time boatman operating a pair of 'camping' boats, retiring as a boatman at 22 when I moved to Bristol. At 25 we bought a pair of large Woolwich's and spent the next couple of years restoring the motor, and on their sale in 1990 I took up 'historic' narrow boat research - which is still ongoing.

 

So what have the canals done for me ?

 

Well I think working with ex-boaters taught me about perseverance and setting / maintaining standards. This is something that has stayed with me and has taken me successfully through my subsequent career, kept my cars clean and instilled a certain standard and work ethic in my children (who are now adults).

 

So what have I done for canals ?

 

I spent almost every Sunday between 1973 and 1980 on working parties removing rubbish e.t.c. from the canal bed, as well as taking part in restoration work at the Black Country Museum as well as on the southern Stratford Canal and the Droitwich Canal. I introduced hundreds of people to canals when working as a boatman, and I have attempted (in vain) to pass on my knowledge and skills as a boatman to the members of the charities that operate narrow boat pairs. I continue with 'historic' narrow boat research, and again I attempt to pass on this information to those who are interested.

 

Will I return to boating ?

 

Unlikely, unless EFFINGHAM comes back on the market, and has a sensible sale price

Quite a CV !

[Captain Pegg]

As time passes each generation will lament the past in some degree, even those joining the cut today they will look back with nostalgia in thirty years time, and those looking back fifty years or more will indeed have seen changes in so many walks of life. Bobbies on point duty, and walking around singly with just a whistle, truncheon and notebook (and a uniform of course!). Now, where did I leave that Tardis . . .

Quite so Derek. It seems there is a natural human mindset that gives a tendency to view the state in which we first find things as one that has always been and always 'should be' i.e. traditional. Otherwise why does every generation seem to lament the passing of custom and practice they hold dear and view as being correct or better?

 

In reality all things are contemporary of the moment in which they exist and we know what's contemporary is in reality perpetually changing. Which logically leads to the conclusion that there is no such thing as tradition...

 

Oh, and I was acquainted with canals from birth and first travelled on a boat in October 1977. Napton to Coventry basin on Gordon's Pleasure Cruisers hire boat Thrupp Navigator. That was probably in the early days of things moving toward a more standardised form of boat although each hire fleet was still pretty distinctive in style.

 

JP

[NickF]

A few of my old photos of some hopefully familiar places

 

 

 

 

[pete harrison]

A few of my old photos of some hopefully familiar places

First photograph = Fazeley

Second photograph = Wootton Wawen

Third photograph = Bancroft Basin, Stratford upon Avon.

Fourth photograph = ?

 

edit - I have just realised if you click on the image it tells you the location - so No. 4 is Foulridge Tunnel.

Edited June 9, 2016 by pete harrison

[roland elsdon]

Still got

Marriage (sue)

Long shaft

Old knacker of a historic liability

Frequent bad attitude ... don't mention velockies stating the bleating obvious

Cat however has gone to cat heaven

[Laurence Hogg]

I have fond memories of the period prior to the 1990's, I believe that after 1993 cane with "Canals 200" the decline was set in to the horrendous results which are present today.

 

We crewed Hotel boats out of London and enjoyed its relatively empty waterways, you could always get onto a decent mooring in most places, there were proper canalside pubs, Braunston was an education to those who wanted to know, not the fairy tale it is today. You could drop paddle gear in the proper style, push the gates open with the bow, proper style, cut the chains of locks closed before time and get away with it, it was a good period to be in.

 

My first proper boat was an ex Leonard Leigh wooden tug called "Swallow" (formerly "Townsend" a Shroppie fly boat). This we purchased from the owner of the "Anchor" at High Offley. In reality I bought it for the parts, at the time wanting to convert the Thos Clayton butty / horse boat "Monnow" to a motor tug at Keays.

We never licenced it or insured it and just dumped it at Keays, times were easier then, no one really checked up and you just got on with the job.

 

Later we acquired "Neptune", my favorite boat for all time. We had real fun with that, racing up and down the Severn, even trying to get a water skier up behind it! BW was more relaxed then and took these pranks with good heart.

 

 

Come the end of the 1980's our business (Boatmans cabin Co) was expanding and the 1990's offered us a rising market as canals were "in"

During the early 1990's we were shipping around four dozen 6" chimney collars a month into Midland Chandlers, now think about that, most were for new builds, the industry was flourishing.

But BW wasn't really helping that factor they were as they are today divorced in reality from the real picture.

So was the pre 1990 period something to look back? yes it was and if BW had taken notice of what and how things were progressing today might have been better.

What capital city in the world which has canals and waterways doesn't now have a hire fleet? That's a legacy of BW not keeping a proper watch on things!

Come 1993 BW threw a team onto a publicity bandwagon "Canals 200" commissioning books from well known authors which proved very shallow publications and overall spending lots of money on publicity which was not corporate or centrally governed, they were about to strangle the golden goose, and they did.

Picture of Hancock & Lane BCC Chandlery items 1978

 

Edited June 9, 2016 by Laurence Hogg

[FadeToScarlet]

Compared to others, I'm a complete newcomer I suppose. Lived aboard 8 years now, the last three on an historic boat, albeit a cabin boat and with no back cabin- yet.

 

I have managed to make the waterways my home and my employment, skippering a tripboat, and I certainly do the same.stretch again and again and again- but I also take pride in my work, I.e. Good, smart boat handling, straight into locks without touching the sides, keeping exactly to schedule. If it had brasses to polish, I'd do them.

 

In terms of narrowboating, I'm feeling very constrained around here on the river, and want to get back to the cut. I feel there's lots of skills and knowledge that are being lost, and worse still are at risk from Waterways, e.g. attaching handrails onto strapping posts so they can't be used. I'm one of the very few people who is keen to get a butty and learn to work a pair properly and keep those boats and skills alive.

 

The biggest worry I have is in trying to preserve an attitude of efficient working, which I suspect is the biggest thing Dave, Roland, Tam and others have found changed. So many times on this forum, and on Facebook groups, I've heard, "If you're in a hurry, you're using the wrong transport" or "don't rush, it's meant to be relaxing." Time after time I've had people I chat to at locks when boating aghast at how far we're going that day- but those are still short days by boatman's standards, rarely starting before 8am although we normally get in a solid 12 or 13 hours of boating.

 

Lots of things about the canals may have changed- their purpose, the boats on them, the attitudes of people living on them- but I'm one of the younger people with an eye on the past, wanting to preserve and carry forwards skills and techniques so they aren't lost.

[Athy]

 

 

The biggest worry I have is in trying to preserve an attitude of efficient working,.

Absolutely: by all means trundle along at one's own chosen speed, but at locks we owe it to ourselves and to others who are waiting to work through them as quickly as possible, though with a minimum of dashing about.

Mrs. Athy and I are not especially good at this, but it is something which we always strive to do.

[Derek R.]

(snipped) . . . Which logically leads to the conclusion that there is no such thing as tradition...

 

JP

 

Don't tell that to Morris Men - or the tax man!

[David Schweizer]

I have fond memories of the period prior to the 1990's, I believe that after 1993 cane with "Canals 200" the decline was set in to the horrendous results which are present today.

 

We crewed Hotel boats out of London and enjoyed its relatively empty waterways, you could always get onto a decent mooring in most places, there were proper canalside pubs, Braunston was an education to those who wanted to know, not the fairy tale it is today. You could drop paddle gear in the proper style, push the gates open with the bow, proper style, cut the chains of locks closed before time and get away with it, it was a good period to be in.

 

My first proper boat was an ex Leonard Leigh wooden tug called "Swallow" (formerly "Townsend" a Shroppie fly boat). This we purchased from the owner of the "Anchor" at High Offley. In reality I bought it for the parts, at the time wanting to convert the Thos Clayton butty / horse boat "Monnow" to a motor tug at Keays.

We never licenced it or insured it and just dumped it at Keays, times were easier then, no one really checked up and you just got on with the job.

 

Later we acquired "Neptune", my favorite boat for all time. We had real fun with that, racing up and down the Severn, even trying to get a water skier up behind it! BW was more relaxed then and took these pranks with good heart.

 

 

Come the end of the 1980's our business (Boatmans cabin Co) was expanding and the 1990's offered us a rising market as canals were "in"

During the early 1990's we were shipping around four dozen 6" chimney collars a month into Midland Chandlers, now think about that, most were for new builds, the industry was flourishing.

But BW wasn't really helping that factor they were as they are today divorced in reality from the real picture.

So was the pre 1990 period something to look back? yes it was and if BW had taken notice of what and how things were progressing today might have been better.

What capital city in the world which has canals and waterways doesn't now have a hire fleet? That's a legacy of BW not keeping a proper watch on things!

Come 1993 BW threw a team onto a publicity bandwagon "Canals 200" commissioning books from well known authors which proved very shallow publications and overall spending lots of money on publicity which was not corporate or centrally governed, they were about to strangle the golden goose, and they did.

Picture of Hancock & Lane BCC Chandlery items 1978

 

 

I still have a copy of the old Boatman's Cabin catalogue somewhere amongst all my old canals literature, along with old I Spy books on canals etc.

 

Oh, and a copy of Eric de Mare's book referred to by Ray Thorpe.

Edited June 10, 2016 by David Schweizer

[AMModels]

Compared to others, I'm a complete newcomer I suppose. Lived aboard 8 years now, the last three on an historic boat, albeit a cabin boat and with no back cabin- yet.

 

I have managed to make the waterways my home and my employment, skippering a tripboat, and I certainly do the same.stretch again and again and again- but I also take pride in my work, I.e. Good, smart boat handling, straight into locks without touching the sides, keeping exactly to schedule. If it had brasses to polish, I'd do them.

 

In terms of narrowboating, I'm feeling very constrained around here on the river, and want to get back to the cut. I feel there's lots of skills and knowledge that are being lost, and worse still are at risk from Waterways, e.g. attaching handrails onto strapping posts so they can't be used. I'm one of the very few people who is keen to get a butty and learn to work a pair properly and keep those boats and skills alive.

 

The biggest worry I have is in trying to preserve an attitude of efficient working, which I suspect is the biggest thing Dave, Roland, Tam and others have found changed. So many times on this forum, and on Facebook groups, I've heard, "If you're in a hurry, you're using the wrong transport" or "don't rush, it's meant to be relaxing." Time after time I've had people I chat to at locks when boating aghast at how far we're going that day- but those are still short days by boatman's standards, rarely starting before 8am although we normally get in a solid 12 or 13 hours of boating.

 

Lots of things about the canals may have changed- their purpose, the boats on them, the attitudes of people living on them- but I'm one of the younger people with an eye on the past, wanting to preserve and carry forwards skills and techniques so they aren't lost.

 

Virtual greenie, makes me laugh when I read people say theres no rush or whatever, I cant remember a day boating with my grandad when he wasnt up at sparrow fart oclock, hatches open doing everything he could to wake the rest of us up without actually saying anything.

As soon as you were up, usually about 7 after an hour or so of him polishing brasses, boiling a whistling kettle, asking if you wanted a cup of tea he would fire up the engine and we'd be off. Breakfast and lunch was always eaten on the go, between locks if any were in the way, locks were always done at top speed and woe betide anyone who tried to turn a lock against him.

I once saw him go toe to toe with three young lads in their early twenties who tried to turn one of the Audlem flight against him as we were coming up to it, he was in his late 60's by then and he was still stepping across gates and doing the offside paddles as well as steering. He didnt change his way of boating from when he was working except for the bit about 'waiting' for us to wake up and being honest I loved it, as a kid we could fit all the family on Vulcan and with 3 uncles my dad and aunties/mom we could do the 21 in Wolverhampton in record time, back in those days they could lockwheel and set 5-6 locks in front and 1 behind so no one ever waited for the boat, I can only imagine how he would have loved that sort of muscle power when he was properly working.

[dave moore]

A proper Charlie! I remember. In '68 I went to the Liverpool Rally with Tony Phillips on Tay. We did much of the journey with Cassiopiea, your grandad doing much of the steering. I have a slide some where of him coiling the stern line after he'd clutched in early in the morning. We were soon in pursuit!

 

Thanks

 

Dave

[Pluto]

We had working boatmen to learn from while the people these newcomers look to probably only themselves discovered canals a few years previously. That does lead to a lack of continuity, but at least the internet can throw up threads like this which offer proof that canals did actually exist and had a “good old days” of people who discovered them the day before yesterday.

 

Tam

Tam, and others reading this thread, you need to set down your memories so that people in the future can understand the history of canals better. One reason for publishing an extended version of my L&LC history this year was to set down some of the information that was passed on to me by former canal workers. In the future, people researching canals will not have had the benefit we have had of talking to people actively involved, so our perspective on canal history will provide an insight unobtainable by the next generation.

 

Like many here, I am glad that I saw canals when there was still some surviving traffics and many historic structures along the banks. However, I also appreciate that they were unsustainable in that state, and at least the new leisure use ensures that many more people can 'discover' them. It is up to us who remember the past to pass on that memory to future generations so that their new-found interest in canals can be enhanced by an understanding of how canals operated in the past.

[Athy]

I have a regret on that subject. From age 13 I lived within two or three miles of the Ashby Canal. I even remember seeing a couple of little hump-backed bridges as Dad drove past them. There was still coal traffic on the canal then. But...I never knew. I never even knew that those bridges crossed a canal and not a stream or small river. No one I knew ever mentioned the canal, it was obviously not something in which the public had any interest at all in the second half of the 1960s.

I would love to have seen the coal boats which worked to and from Gopsall Wharf. I think they kept going until the early 1970s.

[IanD]

One enduring memory from our first week on the cut in the late 70s was going right through the middle of Shelton steelworks south of Stoke -- you could see the molten steel being poured and rolled and feel the heat on your face. Unfortunately I can't find any photos of an experience sadly denied to boaters nowadays...

Edited June 10, 2016 by IanD

[Laurence Hogg]

Oh what fun we had in the 1970's & 80's.

Heres a selection of moments to remember from those days!!

 

LLL tug Swallow at Norbury, Wolverhampton and Keays dock.

 

URL=http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?app=galleryℑ=8530][/url]"Swallow" had a blocked sea toilet which I tried to fix....... The crew loved hosing me down Norbury

 

Wolverhampton

 

raising a joey at Keays, SAPPHIRE was destined for Shardlow museum but didn't get there.

Repairing bottoms in "Neptune" at Charity dock, note lack of health & safety........

A certain David Blagrove trying Neptune out for speed on the Weaver.

AAhh those were the days ...........................................

Footnote: I am having difficulty posting picture links here in Windows 10.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Laurence Hogg

[Tam & Di]

 

I would love to have seen the coal boats which worked to and from Gopsall Wharf. I think they kept going until the early 1970s.

 

I think we last loaded there about 1974, on behalf of Ashby Canal Transport at that time.

[Tam & Di]

Tam, and others reading this thread, you need to set down your memories so that people in the future can understand the history of canals better.

 

Much of the fine detail "tricks of the trade" only come to mind when they suddenly become relevant. We had trainees on and followed a loaded boat (chargé) up a flight recently. One of the trainees was about to open our top paddles when the chargé had not quite reached the next lock. Had I allowed him to continue all that would happen is the chargé might be put on the bottom as we took his water away or at least have difficulty clearing the cill at his lock - much quicker all round to let him get into his lock before we filled ours. We could never overtake him on the flight, and all that would happen is we'd make him cross by our crass lack of knowledge and we'd both take rather longer than necessary.

 

Tam

Edited June 10, 2016 by Tam & Di

[sal garfi]

Taking into account the more recent posts in this thread, we mustn't forget that there is an additional 'heritage', and that is one of those ordinary people who, in the post-war era, started to explore the canals and put their efforts into making sure that they stayed open and eventually kept in good repair. These are the people who took to the (inland) waters with an enthusiasm to explore their own country as well as have a holiday. Some became interested in the traditions and history of the canals, while others re-populated the cut while the working boats went into decline. They, and the strange mix of craft that they journeyed in are as much a part of the history of the canals, and they are part of the greater story. They showed pluck and were pioneers, and without them many of the country's canals would be unloved ditches today.

Edited June 10, 2016 by sal garfi

[Guest]

Taking into account the more recent posts in this thread, we mustn't forget that there is an additional 'heritage', and that is one of those ordinary people who, in the post-war era, started to explore the canals and put their efforts into making sure that they stayed open and eventually kept in good repair. These are the people who took to the (inland) waters with an enthusiasm to explore their own country as well as have a holiday. Some became interested in the traditions and history of the canals, while others re-populated the cut while the working boats went into decline. They, and the strange mix of craft that they journeyed in are as much a part of the history of the canals, and they are part of the greater story. They showed pluck and were pioneers, and without them many of the country's canals would be unloved ditches today.

Agree 100%. I love to read about the working boat days, especially as my wife is from a working boat family, but agree that these explorers of which you speak, and all the people who have renovated the system, and fought to keep it open are responsible for a lot the new interest in canals that now exists. Well done to all of them.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Guest

[X Alan W]

Re post # 64 ( the getting going early ) one of the first pieces of " advice" when I first started working was that every mile/lock got in before breakfast was worth 2 done after, the number of bleary eyes & uncomprehending looks on faces peering out of the pleasure boats at around 5 30 am used to make me chuckle,I always liked getting underway as it got light , dawn boating in autumn was my most enjoyable boating time.

[mark99]

Not much to add except most weekends in the 70s would see me ensconced around the local canal near Ricky. Not boating but fishing. One day a really bright and weird (to me) sounding loud boat passed with what I thought was a knackered old engine.

 

It could only have been a Bolinder and I started looking closer at the boats as they went through.

 

One if our gang ended up buying a wooden full length boat. Not having any skills or knowledge it spent a lot of time on the canal floor.

Edited June 11, 2016 by mark99