Features

In this new series of articles, exclusive to the Towpath Talk app, we delve into the 120-year archive of The Railway Magazine for an in-depth look at the relationship between Britain’s railways and canals. From The Railway Magazine – March 2011 It was one of the first lines in Britain, arriving on the scene just…

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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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In this new series of articles, exclusive to the Towpath Talk app, we delve into the 120-year archive of The Railway Magazine for an in-depth look at the relationship between Britain’s railways and canals. Hampshire’s commercially unsuccessful Andover Canal ran 22 miles from Andover to Redbridge, through Stockbridge and Romsey. The canal was completed in…

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Practical proposals to protect against flooding Reviewer: Elizabeth Rogers LAST winter may have been a relatively – and unseasonably – dry one, but memories of those, and of summers too, with excessive amounts of rainfall make sure that we keep in mind the importance of measures to prevent flooding. Jeremy Purseglove first wrote Taming the…

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Modest in price, but not in quality Reviewer: Harry Arnold WE have reviewed one or two large multi-page and expensive general waterway books lately – such as Stuart Fisher’s Canals Of Britain. This, with a very similar title (substitute ‘In’ for ‘Of’) is at the other end of the scale both in size – a…

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Elizabeth Rogers meets Carol Morgan, a waterways operations team leader with the Environment Agency. “EVERY day can be different. Whatever I may have expected to have spent my day doing, it is likely to turn out to be completely different,” says Carol Morgan. “That is what makes working on the river so exciting and why…

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Julie Webb meets the man who masterminded the revival of Braunston Marina. READERS of April and May Towpath Talk may have seen with interest the pieces by Tim Coghlan on Braunston Marina and the discoveries which resulted from dredging the route of the historic narrowboats’ annual parade. The story of Tim’s 30-year development of the…

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