Pauline Hawkins

A FORMER canal warehouse from pre-Victorian times has sailed into a new life as a popular museum. The Ashton Canal Warehouse was built in the early 1830s at the junction of three canals in Ashton-under-Lyne – the Huddersfield Narrow, the Peak Forest Canal and the Ashton Canal. Wooden floors in the three-storey building are supported…

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Les Heath meets the family who are living the dream after buying an island… ARE there any boaters out there who would love their own private, secluded, free mooring where you don’t even have to lock up when you leave? This was the ambition of continuous cruisers Saul and Debbie Mahoney who two years ago…

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THE festive season on the Puppet Theatre Barge continues with The Little Christmas Tree, which runs until the new year. This new Christmas production combines exquisitely carved wooden marionettes and beautiful shadow puppets to tell the poignant story of the unique friendship between a boy and a little Christmas tree. The tree is a bit…

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Towpath astronomer Brian Jones features one of the easiest to spot constellations in the winter sky. THE magnificent Orion is arguably the most beautiful constellation in the sky. Visible high above the southern horizon during winter evenings, its conspicuous and unmistakable pattern of bright stars is easy to see, even if your boat is moored…

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Phillippa Greenwood visits the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, to discover the story of a No 1 boat that lives on to tell the story of its owners, Joe and Rose Skinner. Pictures: Martine O’Callaghan. This feature is an adapted extract from Phillippa and Martine’s book Britain’s Canals, a National Treasure in 100 Must-See Objects,…

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Janet Richardson takes a speedboat tour. THE woodlands and islands of Lough Key in County Roscommon have played their part in Irish history, inhabited by chieftains, religious orders and 
wealthy landowners. Known in mediaeval times as Moylurg, it was ruled by the McGreevy and MacDermot clans, whose castle stood on The Rock – now known…

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