Useful
links to other waterways related sites - which will each open in a new browser
window. The HNBOC accepts no liability
as to the integrity of the link. Club downloads are now
available here
in Adobe PDF format.
New pages are under construction for:
WATERWAYS SOCIETIES AND OTHER ORGANSIATIONS
Somewhat unusually, due to incompetence at DEFRA, there is an ongoing important
funding issue which is going to have very bad
effect on the waterways for some years to come UNLESS everyone who can, gets
their finger out and complains to their MP.
The
prime waterways site for those with a general interest in English Inland
waterways is
undoubtedly
www.canals.com
This is
an important resource site which claims to have links to all other waterway
sites and so should be a starting point for the beginner and also for those
seeking new information in new areas. A similarly useful site is
waterwaysdirectory.com
An
excellent site run by a member is
www.canalnarrowboats.co.uk
which has much of interest to the 'historic boater' as well as those with
a passing interest in carrying fleets and colour schemes etc.
Another site for those with a general interest in narrow boats is
The Narrow Boat Trust.
This site will be of particular interest to those who do not own a historic
boat -
or even any boat at all - but who would like to get afloat on a traditional
'pair'.
Many
of our members are also residential boaters and are recommended to join
the
Residential Boat Owners Association
.
Many members also use their boats for, or have an interest in, commercial
carrying and might be interested in the
Commercial Boat Operators Association
.
Those
with an interest in wooden boats should be aware of the
Wooden Canal Boat Society
who have done an enormous amount, in the face of
official apathy and financial hardship, to preserve some of the last examples
of some of our most important canal heritage - the boats themselves!
A special case of a historic wooden boat is the flyboat.
The Shropshire Union Flyboat Restoration Society
also have their own web site.
A newer organisation - which also takes waterway heritage back to basics is the
Horseboat Society.
The Ashton
Packet Boat Company trip boat uses what is believed to be the
oldest
working full-length narrowboat:
Maria
. Horseboats are
sadly rare now, but
another trip boat operation
survives in the south, and
another in the south west
.
The Steam Boat Association
is obviously of particular interest who use this form of motive power, and
also to those of us who just enjoy the spectacle! Specific information about
steam narrowboats
may be found here!
Slightly more conventional motive power may be seen at
www.bolinder-engines.info
which has the advantage that the site also has links to all the other various
engine related sites that I have not got around to adding yet! So, even if you
don't have a Bolinder, if you want to know about engines look here first.
On
a smaller scale, and if you want a free British Waterways licence and no
worries about boat safety schemes or insurance, then contact the
British Canoe Union
for the cheapest way to get afloat.
A peripheral - but important - issue is addressed by the
Towpath Action Group
who could perhaps do with more support to make this a national issue.
The Inland Waterways Association
is the predominant (and probably the oldest) national voluntary organisation
involved with the UK inland waterways. Most other organisations are affiliated
to it or work under its auspices.
British Waterways
of course administer most of the British inland waterways.
You can get a lot of useful information from their website - but sadly
the most important information for
existing
boaters (like details
of the technical requirements of the Boat Safety Scheme!) always seems
to be missing... In fact, most of the information which
is
provided, now appears at their
Waterscape
site - which is aimed at general use by the public. In spite of the claim to
"find it all here" the very useful moorings database seems to have been
removed. However, you can view, or
download, a good guide to the
essentials of boat safety at
www.boatsafetyscheme.com
The Boat Museum
at Ellesmere Port
has an extensive collection of historic boats of all types from skiffs to
ships - but primarily inland waterway craft and narrow boats. Another good
museum for seeing narrow boats is the
Black Country Living Museum
in Dudley who have a huge site which includes all aspects of industrual
heritage including a coal mine, railway and working replica Newcomen engine on
almost the same site as the world's first.
On the other hand
The Waterways Trust
is a relatively new, and very active, organisation which is attempting to
cover the gaps left by other waterway organisations. Some might say that it is
the 'charitable wing' of British Waterways. Certainly it has proved very
effective in raising the profile of the waterways generally and raising large
amounts of money for specific projects which had often found themsleves
struggling with bureaucracy and timescales. There is also the National
Register of Historic Vessels which, under the aegis of
"National Historic Ships"
emerged out of a seminar held to discuss the problems facing the preservation
of historic ships and vessels in the UK and the evident neglect of this
important part of our heritage".
On a different theme, some readers may be interested in the larger commercial
craft at
www.humber-barges.co.uk
and if, after all that, you still don't know how to work a lock,
look here.
Lots of 'fun for all the family' - especially when you get it wrong! :-)
The 'Inland Waterways' section of the
Transport Trust's Website
has some excellent archive material, including old film footage. Well worth a
look for the waterways material alone.
If you are not sure what some of the words mean in this, or other waterway
websites, then have a peek at the
MDA Waterways Web Thesaurus
which defines just about every term you are likely to come across!
Please feel free to email the webmaster - link on
menu frame on left of screen - to request new links.
Historic Boat Bibliography
Genealogy
Commercial Services
If you would like an item adding to any of these pages, please contact the
webmaster (link on foot of menu on left)
Don't stop there however, also
write to your MEP and your local councillors. What is it all about? Everything
you need to know is at
www.SaveOurWaterways.org.uk
and the easiest way to
contact your MP, MEP and councillors is via
www.WriteToThem.com.
This is really easy to do!
Please do it now, a way of
life is at stake!
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subject line with the letters 'HNBOC' to assist in separating your message from
spam!