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Canal Boats

Not sure about 200 years, but I remember this argument, and everyone waa agreed that the Longboat was wrong and had never heard of them beng called that
 
Yes, I can quite believe that the boating fraternity prefer that the canal boat should be referred to as a narrow boat, as opposed to a longboat.

But leaving that aside, the term “narrow boat" looks to me to be a relatively modern term when compared to the time span of the history of the canals.
 
The term long boat was, as stated used on the Severn, historians such as Tom Foxon will confirm that, as will Hugh Conway Jones, who is an expert on the Severn.

The term narrow boat was certainly in place when L T C Rolt wrote the book NARROW BOAT had it published in 1944.

Locally, as stated the terms open and cabin boat were regularly used- Fellows Morton & Clayton Boats at New Warwick Wharf, Fazeley Street.
FMC1.jpg

It is possible to find references to narrow boats from time to time in the newspapers going back to the 19th Century, The Manchester Evening News on March 26th, 1879 offered 2 narrowboats for sale.
 
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Bradshaw's Canals & Navigable Rivers (1904, but reprint David & Charles 1969) refers to "a pair of narrow boats worked through a narrow boat l", and in types of vessels later states that ""narrow" boats or "monkey" boats are by far the most numerous class of vessel engaged in inland navigation", He does not think it necessary to include the term in the glossary at the end (though it does include terms such as butty boat). This to me would indicate that for well over a hundred years the term narrow boat has been the accepted term. On looking through the book I cannot find any reference to a longboat, though admittedly did not scan every page
 
thanks mike..all info points to them being known as narrow boats then...although having said that the boats are also long lol...of course as it was named such i along with thousands of others will always call the pub the longboat...very interesting thread

lyn
 
Hampton boats were a product of coal deliveries from the Cannock Chase Coal field, their length, and width, was such that they were too large to pass a BCN lock. They were thus confined to the Cannock Extension, Wyrley & Essington and parts of the BCN north of Tipton. The sites of the Stop Locks at Horseleyfields and Sneyd did allow their passage.

The Monkey boat term has been linked to Thomas Monk, boat builder and packet boat operator of Tipton Green.

Apart from the terms Open and Cabin boats, there were also Frigates and Spoon Dredgers.

Open boats may be made of wood or iron. Cabin boats could be the same, and in later years some motorised cabin boats were composites, with metal hulls and cabins but wood bottoms.

Open Boats may have a basic cabin for protection of the boat crew on the windswept parts of the network. The Rushall Canal was known as the Ganzey, or boatman's sweater, because of the cold there.

One of the last Working boatmen was Caggy Stevens, here he is seen on a boat, with a basin cabin.

CStevens.jpg
 
'Amptons were also known as Wharf Boats. I think different people, with different functions regarding 'the cut', had different terminology for boats and maybe other things.
My grandfather, maternal side, was a No.1 who had tar/gas boats and horses. WW2 fractured my family so I never got to see that side of things. Even so, I always had an interest in canals - spending a lot of time on the Stratford and GU north of Lapworth. I regret not knowing much about that side of my history.
 
A large operator of tar boats was Thomas Clayton. This trade led boats to travel the network collecting the byproducts of gasworks for refining at tar distilleries or chemical works, depending on the nature of the byproduct.

Others included William John Yeomans whose boats worked to places such as Derby, Rugby and Warwick with tar and ammonia water for Oldbury, Chance Brothers with gas water and Robinson Brothers, gas and tar water.

Terminology varied
 
Some of the names, such as the more well known Clayton and Element, were mentioned to me back around 1980 by a recently found family member. Boats, it seemed may have had New Testament names and horses those of the Old Testament. Horses were very well cared for as trade depended upon them.
It is an interesting fact, especially to most people alive today who are so accustomed to motor vehicles, that horses played a very vital part of our forbears lives.
Farming, commerce, transportation and many other needs of life relied almost totally upon those dear animals.
 
Yes, the widening of the Warwick & Birmingham and Warwick & Napton to Birmingham was a Grand Union Canal project that included the building of new barge wide locks at Knowle and at Hatton, although the traffic was generally narrow boat pairs, that is a motor boat and a butty.
 
Heartland said:
Yes, the widening of the Warwick & Birmingham and Warwick & Napton to Birmingham was a Grand Union Canal project that included the building of new barge wide locks at Knowle and at Hatton, although the traffic was generally narrow boat pairs, that is a motor boat and a butty.
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The Hatton flight is a very demanding flight, although not as many locks as Tardebigge, the Delph group or Farmers bridge, the paddles demand a great many more turns on the rack and pinion paddle opener and unlike all the other canals in the area, instead of the rack and pinion rising and falling the Hatton locks only have a metal rod rising and falling, which seems to go on forever? Built for Broad beams, if you are going up or down in a narrow boat, then it is best to travel as a pair, going solo then you only need to open one gate, still open all the paddles, but only open the tow path gate and try to avoid a sunny Sunday afternoon when all the locals come out and you re the entertainment and also the fount of all canal knowledge both historic and technical. The highlight is when someone refers to your Windlass as a spanner or better still crossing from the towpath side to the pub/refreshment room side, freezes on the lock gate and wont go forward or backward, there being no other way to cross the canal than using the narrow ledge on the lock gate. Strangely enough the canal is the one place where elfnsafety have not yet visited, unfenced lock gates with sheer drops, manual opening of the gates weighing in at over 1000kgs and no safety bridges to cross the canal. Real life.

Bob
 
Back in Winter, 1952, the canal had much thin ice and snow was on the towpath, two friends and I truanted (the only time I ever did) and bowhauled a flat pontoon type of boat from Lapworth to near the pub by the Aqueduct. We must have cycled there but being fighting fit, as we youngsters were, we managed to complete the journey by dusk. I arrived home later than usual, unusually grubby looking and naturally famished. I received some quizzical looks but miraculously no questions were asked. :D
 
Radiorails said:
Back in Winter, 1952, the canal had much thin ice and snow was on the towpath, two friends and I truanted (the only time I ever did) and bowhauled a flat pontoon type of boat from Lapworth to near the pub by the Aqueduct. We must have cycled there but being fighting fit, as we youngsters were, we managed to complete the journey by dusk. I arrived home later than usual, unusually grubby looking and naturally famished. I received some quizzical looks but miraculously no questions were asked. :D
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There is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents!
 
Regarding the post for Valencia Wharf, it was an interesting place to visit. Allens yard was placed on what had been the Valencia Arm that extended towards a colliery and brickworks. Most was filled in, but the part by the yard remained in water. Elements had been a previous tenant. Allens built new narrow boats there, although that business has now ceased.

The location was of historic interest as there were a group of basins once located here. It was south of Whimsey Bridge and the original canal used to turn off opposite these basins.

As to Hampton Boats, these were few in number and varied in size. They were used for the carrying of coal...

637164.jpg
 
Pedrocut said:
Watch out volunteer lock keepers Elf, Roger and Judy are there to help.
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These volunteers are superb, they will often open and close the gates and sometimes on a small flight walk the lock system with you helping on all the jobs and at the last gate, is jump on the boat I will close it aĺll up and all done with a smile and a happy to help attitude....salt of the earth, I won't say salt of the canal because........oh gosh he is back sun bronzed and cold HNY to you all
Bob
 
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The first bridge to be built, when Friday and Saturday bridges are considered, was Friday and that was done to enable Friday Street to cross the canal extension of the Newhall Branch to Newhall Ring for Charles Colmore.

Saturday Bridge was either constructed when the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal was made in the Mid 1780's opening to traffic throughout in the year 1790, once the Tame Aqueduct had been completed at Fazeley, or when the route of the turnpike was changed. The modern Saturday Bridge is a reconstruction of the previous one.

I have never been confident about the wages naming, for Saturday, and suspect the reason was because of the previous Friday Bridge existence. Yet the Birmingham Canal did have a maintenance depot north of Saturday Bridge and south of the Aqueduct, where workmen may well have been paid on a Saturday. This aqueduct being on the original canal opened in 1769 and built to cross the Turnpike.
 
Interesting stuff on the naming of the street and those canal bridges. Thank you. :-)

Maurice
 
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