NarrowBoat

18/11/2025

https://canalandriverlife.substack.com/p/the-end-of-horse-power-in-london

In the capital, horses were still in use to pull boat cargo in the early 1960s, but for a while, their replacements used four wheels instead of legs

06/11/2025

Among the UK’s canal summit pounds, the Leicester Line summit of the Grand Union stands out as one of the most isolated. It winds for 18 remote miles between Crick in Northamptonshire and Foxton in Leicestershire, with scarcely a hamlet in between. The one exception to all this emptiness is the village of Welford, which is reached by its own short branch canal.

In the Autumn issue of NarrowBoart, Andy Tidy explores this short branch of the Leicester Line. Get your copy now - https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb

27/10/2025

At West Bridge, flood prevention work is underway behind the large coffer dam in around 1890. These works were a major undertaking with tramway tracks laid down to remove the subsoil. This view is from West Bridge looking south, with Castle Mill Works, used for dyeing, on the off-side and the spire of St Mary’s Church in the mist behind.

Find more waterside scenes at Leicester in the Autumn issue of NarrowBoat - https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb

Subscribe now and never miss an issue – https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/subscription

22/10/2025

On a dreary overcast day in 1965 Jack Parkinson and his cruiser Grey Dove pass Enfield Rolling Mills at Brimsdown, Enfield on the River Lee Navigation on the pound above Ponders End Locks.

In the Autumn issue of NarrowBoat, Chris M. Jones delves into Jack Parkinson's photo collection to explore traffic on the Lee Navigation. Get your copy here - https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb

18/10/2025

Cadbury’s Knighton works was one of five branch factories located in dairy farming districts, set up to mix fresh milk with chocolate – an essential process in the manufacture of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate. After years of perfecting its production method to create a pure form of cocoa, Cadbury’s introduced Dairy Milk in 1906 at Bournville.

Read our Cadbury's at Knighton feature now - https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb
Subscribe now and never miss an issue – https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/subscription

15/10/2025

The industrialisation of Leicester, and the limitations of the River Soar, led to this man-made island becoming a hotspot for boats carrying goods, but time hasn't always been kind to the area.

https://canalandriverlife.substack.com/p/frog-island

10/10/2025

The tunnel house by the eastern portal of Sapperton Tunnel dates from the time of canal construction and
operated as a pub until 2020. A fire in 1952 gutted the building and the third floor, originally used for lodging, was lost when repair work took place.

Find out more in the Autumn issue of NarrowBoat magazine now - https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb

Subscribe now and never miss an issue – https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/subscription

01/10/2025

The western Daneway entrance to Sapperton Tunnel, probably photographed around 1902, when the tunnel house was a prominent feature – it has since disappeared.

Find more images like this in the Autumn issue of Narrowboat and our story about the influential, but largely forgotten canal engineer, Josiah Clowes.

Get your copy here - https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb

26/09/2025

Step back into the golden age of our canals with the brand-new Autumn issue of NarrowBoat, the magazine devoted to Britain’s inland waterways heritage.

This edition traces the fascinating story of the lost Lichfield Canal — from its 18th-century origins to the ambitious restoration that continues today — while also revealing the rediscovery of a forgotten lock-keeper’s cottage on the Sankey Canal.

We spotlight Josiah Clowes, a pioneering yet overlooked canal engineer whose work shaped some of the system’s most ambitious tunnels, and we follow the milk boats into Shropshire with a study of Cadbury’s Knighton Works, where chocolate production once depended on canal traffic.

From the sad demise of the Shrewsbury & Newport Canal to evocative colour photographs of barge traffic on the Lee Navigation in the 1960s, this issue brings the waterways’ working past vividly to life.

The Autumn issue is a must-read for anyone passionate about canal history.

Get your copy here – https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb

19/09/2025

Perhaps the most illustrated Thames craft of all was the West Country barge. Although extinct by the latter decades of the 19th century, it was the standard Upper Thames mode of transport for commercial cargoes and a common sight in the Pool of London.

And you can find it in the Summer issue of Narrowboat magazine. Get your copy here: https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb

Subscribe now and never miss an issue – https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/subscription

10/09/2025

The now-traditional Easter Gathering at the National Waterways Museum Ellesmere Port this year saw the
former inland port brought to life with many visiting boats, including 35 historic craft, joining the permanent exhibits.

Find out more in the Summer issue of NarrowBoat magazine - https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb

02/09/2025

The London Canal Museum has taken the 600th anniversary of a law passed in 1425 to improve London's River Lee for navigation as a platform for refreshed retelling of how improving rivers for boats led to the network we know today.

On March 10th of this year The Princess Royal opened the exhibition. Find out more in the Summer issue of NarrowBoat magazine here - https://shop.waterwaysworld.com/current-issue/nb