Inland Waterways Feature - Published 15th February 2006

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Ratty had it right, when he remarked to Mole (in Wind in the Willows), that nothing could compare with, "simply messing about in boats." It's a sentiment shared by so many but hardly surprising when you remember that nowhere, in Britain, are you very far from the coast or water.

England is acknowledged to be a 'green and pleasant' land but it's also wet! Reliable (fairly!!) rainfall ensures that the rivers, lakes and canals stay relatively full even in summer. If the traveller wants lakes then The Lake District, across Lancashire and Cumbria, and the Lochs of Scotland, must be on the list of places to visit. England itself is criss-crossed by rivers, great and small, rising as narrow streams that tumble down from the the hills before reaching the sea as wide rivers. Think of the Mersey and then of Liverpool, the Thames then London, the Avon together with Stratford, the Severn and Worcester, together with the Rivers Lune, Ribble, Ouse, Tay, Tyne, Tees and Calder; the list seems endless!

In Norfolk, the Broads have been a popular attraction for visitors, wanting a holiday on water, since the middle of the 19th century. And then, of course, there are the canals. A network of man-made waterways created in the years of the Industrial Revolution when there was a pressing need to move heavy goods, coal, iron, stone, limestone etc., to wherever the need was found. Many of those canals fell into dis-use after the advent of the railways. Today, those same canals are again in water, restored by enthusiasts and home to many different types of craft. There are the steel narowboats (many privately owned; many part of hire fleets for holidaymakers), wooden or glass-fibre cruisers and, of course, the many old working boats that have been rescued and lovingly restored.

The Broads, about 150 miles of navigable water, lie in Norfolk and Suffolk, along the rivers Yare, Bure, Ant, Thurne and Waveney. The Broads themselves are wide expanses of water created in the distant past as a result of digging for peat or some other, obscure, activity. The area attracts visitors in increasing numbers every year, offering holidays afloat and opportunities to explore the narrow, reed-fringed waterways that hide the many tiny creatures and birds that make it their home, and to visit the many towns and pretty villages to be found alongside the rivers.

A canal system wasn't a novel concept in the 18th century; the Romans cut several short waterways to provide links between rivers and also to assist drainage in areas around Cambridge and Winchester. From the 12th century onwards the possibilities of facillitating the easier movement of heavy goods, by water, and the increased profits for merchants were being explored. Short canals were cut between rivers and the problems of moving between different levels were worked upon. Much of this activity was confined to an area around the South Midlands and was only really of local importance; the most significant being the decision to make the river Stour navigable between Stourport-on-Severn and Stourbridge in the late 17th century.

Many of the engineering problems involved in cutting longer canals had been met and solved during the construction of the Canal du Midi in France, which was completed in 1681. The first canal of any real significance in England was the 8 mile St. Helens Canal (Sankey Brook) which was opened in 1757. Two years later work began on the Bridgewater Canal which would link the Duke's coal mines at Worsley to Manchester. During the years that followed, numerous canal companies were formed and money raised to dig the canals, 'the cut' or the 'navigation' as they were variously known. By 1850 the navigable waterways of England covered much of middle England and as far north as York. Most important towns were within a few miles of a navigation and the problems of transporting heavy goods over a distance were eased considerably. Coal was needed for the great steam engines of the new industrial age and the canals were packed with the narrowboats and barges transporting it by the ton. However, the advantages of moving freight by rail became increasingly obvious and, as more and more rail track was laid, the canals were used less and less. Railways, and transport of heavy goods by land, became the new dream. Rail transport had the advantage of speed and even greater tonnage being moved behind just one engine. The canals had enjoyed only a very short, 'day in the sun'.

Commercial traffic on the canals continued to decline, but not finally disappear, until well into the 20th century. About half of the canal network was taken out of the hands of private companies and nationalised in 1948; the British Waterways Board became responible for their upkeep. Over the next couple of decades many canals were closed and this was probably the lowest point in their history. But the tide was about to turn!