Other canal books

Book - Waterside Pubs Ref: 1885
by Mike Lucas.

Mike has travelled Britain's rivers and canals since the mid 60s, 30 years with the Mikron Theatre Company.

There is a wide variety of pubs featured in this book, some are almost unaltered since the time when boat people walked the towpaths, others are chosen because of their architecture or history.

All are proper pubs, serving real ales and, often, home cooked food as well.

Soft back. 152 pages. 15.7cms x 23.5cms. Illustrated with colour photos and maps.

Price: £14.99

Book - Cool Canals Ref: 2005
by Phillippa Greenwood & Martine O'Callaghan.

Cool Canals is packed with ideas for slow days out, weekends and holidays on Britain's inland waterways. Whether you dream of drifting away in a narrowboat, cycling, walking, going to a quirky waterways festival or just chilling out alfresco at a waterside coffee shop.

Soft back. 254 pages. 14.8cms x 18.9cms approx. Illustrated with plenty of colour photos.

Price: £14.99

Book - Pub Days Out Ref: 2182
by Phillippa Greenwood & Martine O'Callaghan.

Another of the Cool Canal guides, this time 20 canalside pubs, ranging from The Turf on the Exeter Canal to the Tunnel End Inn on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.

For each pub there is a description, how to make a day of it with other local places of interest, opening times, food availability, how to get there by train, bus, car and boat, along with local tourist info.

Soft back. 256 pages. 14.7cms x 18.9cms approx. Colour photos throughout.

Price: £12.99

Book - Britain's Canals (A Handbook) Ref: 1699
by Nick Corble.

There are over 2000 miles of navigable waterway in the UK, and this book tells you how to get the most out of them. Whether your interests lie in the history of the canals, their flora and fauna, how to distinguish different types of boats and their decoration, just an interested tourist, dog walker or even a hopeful boat owner, then this book is full of useful facts, hints and tips.

Soft back. 144 pages. 12.4cms x 22.6cms5" x 9" approx. Contains colour and black & white photos.

Price: £9.99

Book - Ups & Downs of a Lockkeeper Ref: 497
by Jake Kavanagh.

This is a light-hearted look at the job of a lockkeeper, be it a rural little lock on the canals, or an ultra-modern affair out of a huge marina.

Narrowboaters, motorcruisers, yachtsmen, rowers and canoeists all use locks. All will readily relate to Jake's humorous survey, in cartoons and anecdotes, of the scrapes people get into when trying to use locks - and all will be embarrassingly familiar to flustered lock-users of all ages.

Softback. 103 pages. 13cms x 19.2cms approx.

Price: £6.99

Book - L-Plate Boating Ref: 2158
by Geoffrey Lewis & Tom McManus.

These two long-term friends give us a collection of anecdotes and reminiscences with a heavy emphasis on the humour of each situation. Illustrations by Marlene Keeble.

Soft back. 112 pages. 12.8cms x 19.8cms approx.

Price: £6.99

Book - Overboard! & Other Canalling Mishaps Ref: 1702
by John Cook.

This book was written with the 'first time hirer' particularly in mind. That was how most of us got our first taste of ditchcrawling and lockwheeling, and caught the canal bug.

Soft back. 117 pages. 14.9cms x 21cms approx. With illustrations by Tony Forbes.

Price: £4.99

Book - Off The Straight & Narrow Ref: 1189
by Karen Lester.

A collection of over 20 humorous verses by Karen from The Round House, Gailey.

Soft back. 36 pages. 15cms x 21cms approx.

Price: £3.99

Book - Cheshire Shipyards Ref: 654
by Antony J. Barratt.

This book covers shipbuilding on the River Dee (such as Chester, Saltney, Neston and Parkgate), River Mersey (Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Widnes and Warrington), and River Weaver (Northwich, Frodsham and Winsford). There is also a photo feature on Northwich ships, some narrowboats included.

Soft back. 47 pages. 21cms x 29.7cms approx.

Price: £6.50

Book - Coasters of the Avon and Severn Ref: 655
by Bernard McCall.

Coasters of the Avon and Severn is the first book in a proposed series looking in more detail at shipping activity in some areas. It covers a period of about 40 years.

It has a photo of a ship on each page plus a description. Whilst the ships may not be to everyones liking, the locations of the ships can be of interest to fans of this area.

Soft back. 80 pages. 21cms x 14.8cms approx.

Price: £6.50

Book - J & A Gardner & Co Ltd Ref: 656
by Graham Atkinson.

This book is not about the engine manufacturer but about the history of the Scottish family business Gardner & Co (Shipowners and Quarrymasters)

Soft back. 92 pages. 21cms x 29.8cms approx.

Price: £12.00

Book - McTay, A Wirral Shipbuilder Ref: 1994
by Antony J Barratt.

Shipbuilding on the Mersey has spanned many centuries, but it all came to an end in May 2004 when McTay Marine announced that it was withdrawing from shipbuilding. They were in existence for 30 years and pursued a policy of technological innovation building a number of first or largest vessels for British and overseas owners.

Soft back. 48 pages. 21cms x 29.7cms approx.

Price: £10.00

Book - Inland Waterways Log Book Ref: 2212
An introductory section at the start of this book contains pages for boat data, nautical terms, cruising information, ropes & knots, maintenance, a simple map of the inland waterways and basic information on the navigable rivers and canals.

Then over 70 pages for your daily records of cruising, places, boats and wildlife seen etc.

Soft back. 96 pages. 23.5cms x 15.5cms approx.

Price: £9.99

Book - Inland Cruising Log Book Ref: 768
Introductory page, followed by a page each for boat details, owner details, crew details and important address. At the back of the book there is a page for the engine hours log and two pages for boat maintenance details.

In between are the cruising log pages, the left hand page is a blank page for cruise notes and photographs, the right hand page has spaces for waterway, start and end mooring, weather, engine hours, miles and locks, plus another half page for cruise notes.

Soft back. 96 pages. 21cms x 14.8cms approx.

Price: £8.99

Book - Hard Back Log Book Ref: 905
Loose leafed log book with one title page and 50 pages made up of 20 lines of 1 large and 6 small columns with space at the top for voyage from, to and date. The reverse of these pages are blank for photos, drawings or your own notes.

Pages held in place by two brass screws, LOG BOOK written on front in gold coloured lettering. Loop inside for pen or pencil, pencil provided.

Measures 26cms x 16.9cms approx.

Price: £10.20

Hard Back Log Book refill Ref: 906
Refill pack for the above log book (item 905), comprising title page and 50 pages as described above.

Price: £3.50

Book - Glide Ref: 859
from the National Community Boats Association, and supported by Benjamin Zephaniah.

'Glide' has enabled local Black people from Birmingham to connect with their historic and cultural links in a waterways setting. This has involved have-a-go boating experiences, taster training courses and floating history sessions.

Local children have contributed to this book, providing the inspiration and poetry that celebrates the beauty of our canals. The book contains poems, fables and stories about Birmingham's canals.

Soft back. 22 pages. 15cms x 21.1cms approx.

Price: £4.99