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R A James & The Ulster Canal… ‘If Only….’
Well we all like a good photograph of Narrow Boats and preferably a detailed study of loaded working boats taken in ‘the good old days’. The photo above I think fits the bill admirably and shows...
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Eric de Mare at auction.
Front cover of the Special Canals number of ‘The Architectural Review’ 1949. Eric de Mare was one of a small group of artists, designers & photographers who after the 2nd World war started to...
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SONIA ROLT.
Sonia Rolt one of the last surviving members of the group of wartime young women recruits to the Grand Union Canal Carrying Co’s fleet has passed on at the ripe old age of 95.She will be remembered not...
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Small Boat 1948-1987.
Roger Pilkington is probably best known as the author of the‘Small Boat ‘ series of books although as a Congregationalist Christian by conviction and as a geneticist by training he was a prolific...
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SOUTHERN OXFORD CANAL?
I wonder if any of my readers can help in identifying the location of these early photographs. They come from a collection of views taken I think in the 1880 – 90 period in the Oxfordshire area. They...
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Recent Canal collectables at Auction
Rarer Measham (Bargeware) always achieves a good price amongst the dedicated collectors out there. This 1884 Chamber Pot with the usual inscription ‘ Pick me up and use me well and what I see I will...
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Article 8
Canal and River Books at Auction in 2015.All prices quoted are the 'hammer' price to which should be added 20% buyers premium to get the final purchase price !!The Bob Date Collection - Auctioned July...
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Article 7
Of Buckby Cans and badges.For those tired of old books and for whom canal hardware is more their 'thing' ! A couple of recent items at auction...... Auctioned on eBay recently an old Buckby Can with...
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Article 6
THE VICTORIAN 'YELLOWBACK'.Once found in their millions- the 'yellowback' novel was one of the first attempts at popular cheap literature for the masses and with the advent of railway travel and the...
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THE NAVIGATION CONSTABLE.!!
I thought that I had seen most types of British Canal ephemera at auction but the truncheon was a new one for me. It was the only one of its kind in a large collection of truncheons and tipstaffs...
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‘Life in the Cut’ An update.
Every time that I used Mark Baldwins book ‘Canal Books’ to refer to some item or other I was always tempted by the sight of the book in the middle of the top shelf. Since Baldwin’s book came out in...
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OLGA KEVELOS.
Olga Kevelos was one of the handful of women workers on the Grand Union Canal during the 2nd World War. One of the so called ‘Idle Women’ from the inland waterways badge that they wore, they often...
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Article 2
Mr 'Self Sufficiency'Those of you who were young in the 1970's and perhaps consciously feeling your way towards an alternative lifestyle may remember John Seymour the self sufficiency guru who was as...
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‘Bibliography of British Canals 1623-1950’ by Mark Baldwin and some recent...
Mark Baldwin’s bibliography has been an indispensible guide to many collectors of English waterway literature ever since its publication in 1984. It is I think the most comprehensive survey of English...
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‘….a thoroughly well found outfit…’ 1938.
Correspondence found in an old book.And the reply.
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Eily Gayford’s Badge & other things.(At auction 2016)
September saw the second part of Mark Baldwin’s library auctioned in London. The first part consisting of books was auctioned last year but this years sale consisted mainly of paper ephemeral items,...
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The Cut in Colour (1936).
IS THIS THE FIRST PUBLISHED COLOUR PHOTOGRAPH OF AN ENGLISH CANAL?'THE CANALS OF ENGLAND'by S P B Mais is a 20 page article I came across recently in the October 1936 issue of 'The Geographical...
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Earliest Boat Decoration. A New Find ?
The origins of English narrow boat decoration may never be fully ascertained but Tony Lewery's researches reach back through time to the earliest known descriptions both verbal and pictorial of this...
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The Pyreolophore.
No I hadn’t heard of it either. The worlds first internal combustion engine and the first internal combustion engine used to power a boat.Nicephore and Claude Niepce came from a wealthy landowning...
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A Rare early Voyage.
The early voyagers for pleasure on our waterways seem to have been an invariably shy and retiring bunch of individuals whose descriptions of their travels were more often than not written anonymously....
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Another Wartime Lady.
Artist Bernard Hailstone was commissioned by the War Office Advisory Committee to paint many Wartime military & civilian scenes. He is especially well known for his portraits of individuals...
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Amos Reade revealed.
In a recent post I mentioned the fact that many of the early canal pleasure voyagers published their accounts anonymously.Anonymously authored books or the use of nom de plume’s were of course not a...
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The Canoeist & The Royal Canoe Club.
I wrote about one of the early accounts of canal cruising for pleasure in a previous post (Canal and River) and have subsequently unearthed this copy of the Royal Canoe Club’s journal for 1874 which...
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The First Boat Rally (Market Harborough 1950) &‘Adventure by Canal’ by George...
I had known about George Tansey’s book for many years but had never actually seen a copy until recently. Its rarity can I think be explained by its ephemeral nature, it being a thin copy printed on...
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