Horseboating Society
Encyclopedia
Canals of the United Kingdom
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
. The Society was founded on January 19, 2001 at the Ellesmere Port Boat Museum
National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port
The Ellesmere Port site of the National Waterways Museum is situated at the northern extremity of the Shropshire Union Canal where it enters the Manchester Ship Canal at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England...
, and it is the only organisation in the UK solely dedicated to horseboating.
Horseboating
- See main article: Horse-drawn boats
Boat horses were the prime movers of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, and they remained at work until the middle of the 20th century. Today, horseboating is a way of recapturing the working lives of this former waterway community, especially the thousands of families and the tradesmen who kept the traffic moving.
The Society's achievements and notable journeys
British Waterways
British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
, joined horseboat Maria at Portland Basin
Portland Basin
The Portland Basin is a roughly topographic and structural depression in the central Puget-Willamette Lowland. The Portland Basin isapproximately long and wide, with its long axis oriented northwest. Studies indicate that as much as of late Miocene and younger sediments have accumulated in the...
, where the Lower Peak Forest Canal
Peak Forest Canal
The Peak Forest Canal, is a narrow locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network.-General description:...
meets the Ashton Canal
Ashton Canal
The Ashton Canal is a canal built in Greater Manchester in North West England.-Route:The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing through Ancoats, Holt Town, Bradford-with-Beswick, Clayton, Openshaw, Droylsden,...
. Maria is Ashton Packet Boat Company's flagship narrowboat
Narrowboat
A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
and Britain's oldest surviving wooden narrowboat, built in 1854 by Jinks Boatyard in Marple
Marple, Greater Manchester
Marple is a small town within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Goyt southeast of Stockport.Historically part of Cheshire, Marple has a population of 23,480 .-Toponymy:...
, and still horsepowered to this day, i.e. permanently without an engine. He took part in a taster session of driving boathorse Queenie along a section of the canal, and he proceeded to take Maria through Hyde Bank Tunnel by legging
Legging (canals)
Legging is a method of moving a boat through a canal tunnel or adit containing water.-Legging in canal tunnels:Early canal tunnels were built without a towpath as this would require a much larger bore, and hence cost more to build. Prior to the introduction of motorised boats, legging was one of...
the boat from the cabin roof. This journey was also notable since Maria used to carry limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
(1854 to ca. 1904) from Bugsworth Basin
Bugsworth Basin
Bugsworth Basin is a canal basin at the terminus of the Peak Forest Canal. It is located at Buxworth in the valley of the Black Brook, close to Whaley Bridge...
to Ashton-under-Lyne, and the Society chose to commemorate this by re-enacting the journey, more than 100 years later.
In 2007, the Society made a journey along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...
to the World Canals Conference
World Canals Conference
The World Canals Conference is an annual conference about canals and other waterways worldwide. The first conference took place in 1988, and the 2008 conference will be the twenty-first...
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. The society was awarded a grant of £42,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
for this journey and other activities in support of the World Canals Conference. This journey was also part of British Waterways' "Coal and Cotton" event, celebrating the Leeds and Liverpool Canal's history of transporting coal from Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
to Liverpool, and taking cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
from Liverpool docks
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
to Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
. Maria duly carried sacks of coal, and samples of cotton supplied by the Merseyside Maritime Museum
Merseyside Maritime Museum
The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is part of National Museums Liverpool and an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage...
.
Huddersfield Narrow Canal
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an inland waterway in northern England. It runs just under from Lock 1E at the rear of the University of Huddersfield campus, near Aspley Basin at Huddersfield to the junction with the Ashton Canal at Whitelands Basin in Ashton-under-Lyne...
. She had been "legged" through the Standedge Tunnel in 2006, the first boat to have been legged through in 60 years at that time. This time, a UK Government minister and a local Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
took turns at legging Maria through the highest, longest, and deepest canal tunnel in the UK.
In the annual Waterways Renaissance Awards 2008, jointly organised by the British Urban Regeneration Association and by The Waterways Trust
The Waterways Trust
The Waterways Trust is an independent national charity. Since 1999 the Trust has worked with its partners to enrich people’s lives through waterways.The Trust's vision is to see the UK waterway network supported, valued and enjoyed by everyone....
, the Horseboating Society achieved the "Commended" award in the "Historic Environment" section.
The Society works closely with British Waterways
British Waterways
British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
, the Boat Museum Society, the British Horse Society
British Horse Society
The British Horse Society is a membership-based equine charity, with a stated vision of "a society which provides a strong voice for horses and people and which spreads awareness through support, training and education"...
, the Inland Waterways Association
Inland Waterways Association
The Inland Waterways Association was formed in 1946 as a registered charity in the United Kingdom to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations....
, the Towpath Action Group
Towpath Action Group
The Towpath Action Group is a waterway society in the United KingdomThe group started in Manchester in 1987, and a year later it published its first report "Trouble on the Towpath" to coincide with the Inland Waterways Association's 1988 National Rally at Castlefield.The group is continuing to...
, the Institute of Historic Building Conservation, and the Shropshire Union Flyboat Restoration Society
Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal is a navigable canal in England; the Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union system and lie partially in Wales....
.
See also
- CanalCanalCanals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
- Waterway restorationWaterway restorationWaterway restoration is the activity of restoring a canal or river, including special features such as warehouse buildings, locks, boat lifts, and boats. In the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, the focus of waterway restoration is on improving navigability, while in Australia the term...
- List of waterway societies in the United Kingdom
External links
- BBC Interview with Chair of Horseboating Society
- British Waterways' leisure website "Waterscape.com", article on horseboating and Horseboating Society
- Inland Waterways Association Press Release about Maria 's journey to the World Canals Conference
- Online version of Towpath Talk magazine, July 2005, article on Horseboating Society
- Canal website with images of horseboating and legging