Books – Canal Shop

October 30, 2011

Death on the Waterways

by Allan Scott-Davies.

This book delves into the darkest criminal cases to occur or be associated with the canals and inland waterways of Britain, including many high-profile murders and assaults.

Among the cases featured are the notorious Victorian baby farmers who used the waterways to dispose of unfortunate infants, the horrific murder of Christina Collins in 1839, the inspiration for Inspector Morse’s The Wench Is Dead, and the nefarious deeds of Burke and Hare who both worked on the Union Canal.

Soft back. 159 pages. 15.6cms x 23.3cms approx. Illustrated with black & white photos and drawings. Price £12.99p and can be ordered here.

October 23, 2011

Queen of Waters

by Kirsten Elliott.

The Kennet & Avon Canal was the wonder of its age, a broad waterway built across southern England as a trade route between the country’s two biggest ports – London and Bristol. 30 years after it was completed, Brunel’s Great Western Railway opened, robbing it of much of its traffic.

Two hundred years after the first cargoes sailed along it, and twenty years on from its grand reopening, this book pays tribute to the canal that refused to die.

Soft back. 203 pages. 24cms x 20.7cms approx. Colour and black & white photos throughout.

Price £20 and can be ordered here.

October 4, 2011October 6, 2011

The Glamorganshire & Aberdare Canals

by Ivor Jones.
The Glamorganshire Canal ran 25 miles from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff, while the shorter Aberdare Canal ran from Aberdare to Abercynon where it joined the former. Now much buried by the A470 trunk road, these lost canals nonetheless boast a proud history.
They enabled the area to become rich and Cardiff to prosper as they connected Glamorganshire iron works and collieries with towns and ports, as well as allowing the export of materials such as limestone, tinplate and bricks.

Price £14.99p and can be ordered here.

September 27, 2011

The Canal Boat Buyer’s Guide

From the publishers of ‘Canal Boat’ magazine and covering all aspects of buying a boat, with chapters on types of boat, buying new and second hand, the shell and hull, sailaways, planning the layout, engines, electrics, plumbing, shared ownership, moorings, insurance and rules & regulations.

Price £4.95p and can be ordered here.

July 11, 2011

Jess Carter and the Bolinder

: Jess Carter and the Bolinder

by Geoffrey Lewis.

This second canal story for younger readers picks up the tale of young Jess Carter where the first book left off. We go with Jess and Luke south to Uxbridge, where their new boat is being built, and then travel with them as they make their way back towards Birmingham and the Thomas Clayton Ltd yard at Oldbury.

As well as having mechanical difficulties, they also meet a friendly and vaguely mysterious Dutchman, travelling the canals for his Amsterdam newspaper.
Soft back. 135 pages. Price £6.99p and available here.

July 10, 2011

Waterways Journal Vol 13

: Waterways Journal Vol 13

from The Boat Museum Society, Ellesmere Port.

Waterways and food supplies in Manchester and Staffordshire.
George III and canals – English and French canal construction.
Two centuries of boatbuilding – the story of the Taylor family.
Policing on the canals and inland waterways.
Waterways between east and west europe.
Soft back. 72 pages. 21cms x 19.9cms approx. Black & white photos and drawings.

Priced at £6.99p and can be found here.

July 10, 2011

Boatbuilders of Market Harborough

by Bob Hakewill.
Charting the history of boatbuilders and companies that supplied them around the Market Harborough area, including Harborough Marine, North Kilworth Marine, Springer and Fernie Steel Fabrications to name some of them.

Soft back. 56 pages. Spiral bound. Black & white photos and diagrams. Priced at £4.50p and can be found here.

May 15, 2011

Gifthorse by Leo McNeir

Gifthorse

This is the eighth book in the Marnie Walker series.

Two unexpected visitors arrive in Knightly St John, a gifted boy and a secretive stranger with a mysterious past. Despite Marnie’s desire not to become involved in other people’s lives, she is inescapably drawn in by a sequence of events beyond her control.

When tragedy strikes, Marnie is startled to find herself arrested for murder. Even the police have doubts about her involvement in the crime, but all the evidence suggests otherwise, and proving her innocence is virtually impossible.

Soft back. 365 pages. 15.4cms x 23.5cms approx.

Price £8.99p and can be ordered here.

May 15, 2011

Canal 250

: Canal 250

by Anthony Burton.

This book tells the story of 250 years of history on the canals and of the people who made and used them. It describes the great engineers and the industrialists who promoted the canals they built.
It also tells the story of the anonymous navvies who dug the canals, the men and women who ran the boats and the workers who kept the canals running.

Covering the entire history of the canal network, from the glorious early days, through the years of decline, up to the subsequent revival of the canals as leisure routes.

Hard back. 192 pages. 17.9 cms x 25.5cms approx. Illustrated in colour and black & white.

Price £17.99p and can be ordered here.

May 15, 2011

Bridgwater & the River Parrett

: Bridgwater & the River Parrett

by Rod Fitzhugh.

In this book, Rod presents an invaluable record of the heyday of trade on the river when the prosperity of much of Somerset was dependent on access to the sea. From 1200 to 1971 when Bridgwater docks finally closed, the river was a trading route for cargo.

First published in 1993, this revised and updated edition brings the history of the River Parrett up to date and introduces some fascinating photographic records.

Soft back. 160 pages. 16.4cms x 23.5cms approx. Illustrated with black & white photos.

Price £12.99p and can be ordered here.