Boats

On the spur of the moment in 1989, Jim Hutchinson and his wife Sue swapped their new, modern narrow boat forOwl, a dilapidated historic 'josher' built in 1928, and in urgent need of rescue.

This book shows what is involved in project managing a major restoration with all the mistakes, problems and eccentric characters that Jim, Sue and eldest son Tim encountered. They called on experts to do the major steelwork, but fitted out the boat themselves. Jim had to learn how to run and maintain a rare Seffle semi diesel engine, and later a magnificent Kelvin.

The earlier history of Owl has been carefully researched: its carrying days in the 1930s and 1940s; its transfer to British Waterways for maintenance duties; its time as a hire boat and then a camping boat; its sale to a succession of private owners; and finally, its slow decline until bought by the Hutchinsons.

Jim, a classics master, Sue a primary school headteacher,and Tim a children's book illustrator, had no previous experience of restoring an old boat and had to learn as they went along. The result is a much admired and sympathetically revived piece of history. Owl's future is now secure and it has been handed on, after thirty years under the custodianship of the Hutchinsons, to the next generation.

Format : Papaerback

Pages : TBA

by David Williams & Peter Silvester.

This book is a pictorial record of more than half of the existing historic working narrow boats as photographed over the last few years.

Some are in pristine restored condition, a small number are still working, many have been converted for holidays or to live in, others need a little tender loving care.

Soft back. 109 pages. 20.5cms x 28.6cms approx. Colour photos throughout.

by David Williams & Peter Silvester.

This book follows on from the first pictorial record published in 2013, and contains photographs and details of an additional 453 ex-working narrow boats. There are also 35 updates on some of the boats that appeared in the original book.

The two books together feature 917 of the 957 historic working narrow boats that the authors know have survived.

Included in this book is a list of all the boats in both volumes.

Soft back. 130 pages. 21cms x 29.6cms approx. Colour photos.

by Neil Ratcliffe.

This book covers the first hundred years in the history of President, from the initial building as a steamer in 1909, its subsequent conversion to diesel power in 1925, and following restoration in the late 1970s, the return to steam power.

Soft back. 108 pages. 14.7cms x 21cms approx. Illustrated with colour and black & white photos.

by Stan Yorke.

In this book Stan explains the history of the steam engine and the enormous variety of uses to which it was put. There are over 100 photographs plus detailed diagrams by his son Trevor.

There is also a list of places where steam engines, restored to working order by the hard work and enthusiasm of endless devotees, can be seen today.

Soft back. 63 pages. 14.9cms x 21.2cms approx. Colour and black & white photos and diagrams.

by Joan Tucker.

Joan Tucker's first history of the Thames ferries covered the London reaches, from Staines to the sea (not stocked). This second book starts at the source in Gloucestershire and follows the river down past Oxford and Windsor to complete the journey.

All the sites have been visited and are described as they survive.

Soft back. 232 pages. 17cms x 24.5cms approx. Illustrated with black and white photos and maps, with 8 pages of colour photos in the middle.

by Edward Paget-Tomlinson.

An accurate record of the traditional paintwork and colours of the working boats of Britain' rivers and canals. These illustrations originally appeared inside the rear cover of Waterways World in the late 1980s and early 1990s

Illustrated with paintings by one of the leading canal historians, and over 140 black and white photographs of the boats and crews at work.

Soft back. 176 pages. 24.3cms x 17.2cms approx. Published 2016.

by Mike Clarke & Sam Yates.

The painted decoration of the old working boats on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal was one of the most colourful of Britain's folk traditions. This book looks at the variation in style along the canal, as there were differences between the traditions in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Work at Hodson's boatyard is considered in detail and compared to other yards along the canal.

Soft back. 88 pages. 25cms x 17cms approx. Colour and black & white photos and diagrams.

by Andy Wood.

This book is the first to investigate and explain how and why a fleet of two destroyers, a frigate and a submarine under the White Ensign came into being on the canals in the 1970s.

Soft back. 61 pages. 14.7cms x 20.7cms approx. Colour and black & white photos.

by Tom Chaplin.

As the title says, this book provides a short history of a fascinating aspect of our transport industry. It gives some detail of the boats, the builders, the cargoes etc.

Softback. 46 pages. 21.1cms x 14.9cms approx. Black and white photographs.

by Tony Condor.

Although the days when inland waterways were used primarily for trade have passed, there remains afloat today a great variety of boats that once carried cargoes. This book is mainly an introduction to narrowboats, but it also covers wider canal craft.

Illustrated with modern and older photographs of boats and techniques of boating.

Soft back. 56 pages. 15cms x 21cms approx. Illustrated with many colour and black & white photographs. Published 2004.

by Robin Smithett.

This comprehensively illustrated book charts the history of hotel boats from their origins in the 1950s, giving us an insight into a fascinating aspect of life on our inland waterways and the men and women involved, both past and present.

Hard back. 106 pages, 19.5cms x 26.8cms approx.

by Tony Lewery.

In this lavishly illustrated celebration of the traditional paintwork which adorns Britain's narrow boats, Tony Lewery explores the popular artform through the lives of the painters who created it and the boat families who lived with it.

Hard back, 128 pages, 21cms x 28.9cms approx.

by Avril Lansdell.

This book reflects the author's continuing interest in the life of the boaters on the canals and includes her researches into the handicrafts of the boatwomen and their families.

The boat cabins were small but were bright with paint, and the 'roses and castles' decorations of the canal boats are a true English folk art.The boatwomen, like many other working-class women, were competent at needlework, embroidery and crochet and used all of these to embellish their families' clothes and surroundings.

Soft back. 56 pages. 15cms x 21cms approx. Illustrated with many colour and black & white photographs. 2nd edition, revised and updated 2004.

by Mike Taylor.

The once-extensive petrol deliveries by barge are all featured in this detailed volume, along with other petroleum liquids that have been carried to run diesel engines, bunker ships and fuel power stations.

Mike relates the story of the Humber tankers with a wide selection of illustrations interspersed with recollections of men who worked on the waterways.

Soft back. 128 pages. 16.6cms x 23.6cms. Black & white photos.

by Mike Taylor.

This book concentrates on the story of the dry cargo barges that plied the Humber waterways from the early days in the seventeenth century, through their flourishing heyday, to their gradual decline due to the proliferation of roads and railways.

In this detailed history, a wealth of illustrations describe the development of dry cargo carrying on the Humber waterways from the days of unpowered craft through to the self-propelled vessels and push-towed craft of later times.

Soft back. 128 pages. 16.6cms x 23.6cms. Black & white photos.