14 February 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk
THE TWILIGHT YEARS OF NARROW BOAT CARRYING
In Braunston in the 1960s, photographer Mike Webb was a familiar sight at what was then the hub of what
remained of canal freight carrying. His skill was in obtaining the confidence of the working boatmen – still a
shy ‘community apart’ – and this allowed him to take photographs with their full cooperation. He also took
pains to document every photograph with the names of boats and crew, and the date. Published in 1983,
his book Braunston Boats only had a small print run – but in discussions about having it republished, Braunston Marina’s Tim
Coghlan became aware that there was still a great collection of Mike’s unpublished photographs. Put together by the Canal Book
Shop working with canal historian Peter Harrison and Mike’s widow Maria, and sponsored by Braunston Marina, this much larger
volume with over 150 pages of evocative pictures is the result. It’s an insight into a way of life that had gone on for 200 years,
and shortly thereafter was suddenly to cease.
The Twilight Years of Narrow Boat Carrying, The Canal Book Shop, canalbookshop.co.uk, £18.
VOYAGING THE WORLD’S CIVIL ENGINEERING WONDERS
Based on a set of lectures given by the author to inform and entertain audiences aboard cruise liners, this
book takes a dozen major worldwide feats of water-related engineering – with a chapter focusing on
each. They are an interesting and varied selection: not all concern canals (there are also chapters on
defence including the D-Day floating ‘Mulberry Harbour’, and on taming the Baltic Sea) but most are
canal-related, including the Suez, Panama and Kiel ship canals but also smaller waterways nearer to home – the Seven
Wonders of Britain’s waterways, the Kennet & Avon reopening, and the ‘impossible dream’ that the author has been
personally involved in – the Wilts & Berks restoration.
Voyaging the World’s Civil Engineering Wonders, John Laverick, The History Press, thehistorypress.co.uk,
£25, 978-07509-8436-
NEWS
REVIEWS
APP OF THE MONTH
A team of volunteers has helped the
Canal & River Trust to improve
habitats for water voles on the
Chesterfield Canal.
Immortalised as Ratty in The Wind
In The Willows, the water vole is the
country’s fastest declining mammal
with the population having fallen by 95
percent since the 1970s due to loss of
habitat and predation by mink.
In an attempt to reverse the trend
the Trust enlisted the help of
volunteers to install water vole friendly
coir rolls along the canal bank at
Clayworth. The canal in this area is
designated as a Site of Special
Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its rare
aquatic plants and rich marginal
vegetation and it’s thought that watervoles also live nearby. The coir rolls
will provide much-needed food and
shelter for the mammals.
The works are part of a wider
project to improve 10 SSSIs across
the Trust’s national canal network.
The ‘Making Special Places for
Nature’ project has been made
possible thanks to a £350,000 award
from players of People’s Postcode
Lottery.
The two-day project saw a team of
volunteers brave the cold to install the
coir rolls along the wall of the canal.
Made from coconut husks, the rolls
will also be planted with a variety of
aquatic plants which over time will
grow and give a natural-looking edge
to the canal.Once established they will provide
food and shelter, allowing the voles to
burrow into the bank and make their
homes away from predators.
The volunteers included members
of the Trust’s Chesterfield Canal
Rangers and Towpath Taskforce as
well as members of the community.Imogen Wilde, ecologist for the
Canal & River Trust, explained:
“Water voles are one of our most
endearing mammals but sadly
they’ve seen a real decline in recent
years and, working with local
people, we want to give them a
helping hand.”Intelligent Maintenance has launched the new
multi-device version of its popular ShipShape app
to replace ShipShape for iPad.
As smartphones have become the device of
choice, an increasing number of customers were
asking for a smartphone version.
New ShipShape works on Apple iPhone and
iPad and on the majority of Android smartphones
and tablets.
SHIPSHAPE INCLUDES:- BOAT DETAILS: Essential boat information
- TRIPS: When, Where, Who, What happened
- WHAT’S ABOARD: What you’ve got, where it is, what it looks like
- COSTS: Details, types, amounts and totals
- THINGS TO DO: See what needs doing and when
- CHECKLISTS: Choose from pre-sets or create your own
- REPORTS: Detailed list for everything to print and email
- MULTI-BOAT: Use it for one boat or many
You might have thought that
finding a Second World War
Russian hand-grenade would be
enough to put anyone off fishing
in the canal with a magnet – but
two young Chester lads were
made of sterner stuff. A few
weeks after the grenade had
been dealt with by bomb squad
officers, they were back at the
same spot on the Shropshire
Union with their trusty Sea-
Searcher magnet, and this time
they pulled out... a gun. So what
are they doing now? Trying for a
bomb, perhaps? Too late,
somebody’s beaten them to it – a
couple of weeks later, just 20
miles away, a woman pulled a live
Second World War mortar bomb
out of the Llangollen, took it
home, reported it – and the whole
street had to be cleared. Boat
safely, folks...Volunteers take on vole role
ShipShape