Omitting the British canals of the Roman era and those of the Middle Ages associated with the construction and support of castles and monasteries, the dawn of the “modern” UK canal system dates to the mid 1700’s. It coincided with the Industrial Revolution, but whether the Industrial Revolution gave birth to the canals, or the canals were the progenitor of the IR is in the realm of what came first, chickens or eggs.

By the end of the 18th Century construction of a remarkable system of connected waterways was well underway. It was the 18th and 19th Century equivalent of the United States Interstate Highway system. At its zenith the canal network of the United Kingdom extended to over 2,000 miles of inland waterways providing the efficient transport of coal, raw materials, and manufactured goods throughout the realm. It was a technological tour-de-force in its day and remains a marvel in the 21st Century with parts of the system declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Steam rail service in the late 19th and early 20th Century became the chief rival of the canal system. Train operators undertook to purchase segments of the canals and then raised canal fees to a level that made them uncompetitive. The death knell for the canals was struck in the Great Winter Freeze of 1962-63 when the entire system closed due to ice. Rail service had won its century long battle for supremacy.

Visionaries and conservationists believed that the Canals might again find relevance… not as networks of commerce but purposed as a recreational windfall. In the 1960’s the Inland Waterways Association was founded to restore the canals. This effort was later passed to the management of British Waterways. Finally, an act of Parliament placed the ownership and management of the canal system into the hands of the newly formed Canal and River Trust, a not-for-profit that has been responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the system since 2012.

During the second half of our 6 weeks in England Christine and I will again be piloting a “Narrowboat”. This time it is the 62-foot-long, 7-foot-wide “Fjord-Empress” out of the quaint village of Middlewich that dates to the time of the Roman Empire. For 21 days the Fjord-Empress will be our personal magic carpet upon the waterways of England. We will be joined by Kansas City friends, Pat and Wendy Mejia, during the first week, and by Charlie and Mary Murphy during the second week.

Narrowboats are… NARROW! Here is a diagram of the Fjord-Empress’s interior:

The interiors of the vessels provide accommodations for sleeping, cooking, bathing, and relaxation. These boats are powered by small inboard diesel engines that are designed to propel the narrowboat at the canal speed limit of 4 mph. Interiors are comfortable if not spacious.

The canals wander across country, connecting villages and cities alike. England is not flat. In order to accommodate the undulating landscape engineers of the 18th and 19th Centuries had to devise systems of locks to climb hills and descend valleys, hundreds of locks. Most are human powered by the narrowboat operators (us!). In some locations there are “flights” of locks, as many as 21 in a 3-mile stretch! There will be no lack of exercise for any of us.

Where the hills were too daunting tunnels were dug, the longest of these being over 3 miles long and pitch dark inside.

In the pre-diesel days of the 1800’s men would hire themselves out as “canal walkers” to propel the vessels through these tunnels using their feet against the tunnel walls and ceiling!

The Anderton Boat Lift, constructed in 1875, still lifts narrowboats 50 feet from one waterway to another. Its 21st Century equivalent, the Falkirk Wheel, looks like a huge Ferris Wheel and lifts boats nearly 80 feet to the connected canal.

Finally, there are the stone aqueducts that carry narrowboats in 200-year-old cast iron troughs 175 feet above the valley floor below.

Canal boating in England is essentially safe, but not entirely free of peril.

We are counting down the days to departure in earnest. We hope you will travel along with us through my posts and pictures.

Peace Everyone. Pete

(Note: Parts of the preceding post were previously published by me in August 2018.)

Written in Alma, Colorado, March 10, 2023.

On the morning of July 7, 2005, Christine and I had passed the turnstiles to board a London Underground Subway at Kings Cross Station, direction to Russell Square. We were still full of the thrill and excitement from having spent the previous afternoon in Trafalgar Square with our Welsh friends, Huw and Nina Thomas, along with tens of thousands of others, celebrating London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Before we could step inside the subway car security personnel intercepted us and rushing aboard ordered all passengers to immediately leave the station and return to the street above. I asked one of the officers what was wrong. “The system is down!” I asked him how often the “system” goes down. With a look of grave concern he replied, “Never!”

We emerged from the station to a scene of dystopian chaos. Sirens were blaring from all directions, traffic was stopped, and pedestrians were rushing about in near panic.

Terrorists had just detonated explosive devices on 3 trains in the subway. The last of the three bombs destroyed the subway train which had just arrived at Russell Square, having departed our station minutes earlier. We barely missed being counted among the 26 dead and scores injured on that train.

A 4th bomb then exploded, this time aboard a bus in front of the hotel where our friends, Huw and Nina, were staying. The blast peeled off the roof of the bus, utterly destroying the rear section and extinguishing the lives of 13 passengers.

Later that year the bus was replaced with one bearing the special designation of “The Spirit of London, remembering 7/7”. In 2020 the bus was retired from service and is now preserved on display in the London Transport Museum.

The carnage from the four devices was such that an accurate count of the dead could only be made with the assistance of forensic analysis. In total, 52 died, including 4 Islamic terrorists. In the United Kingdom the London terrorist bombing is known as “7/7”, much like we refer to the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings as “9-11”.

Today I asked Christine why she still carries her subway ticket from that fateful morning, “It’s my reminder that life is both short and precious.”

Indeed, life is both short and precious. Peace Everyone. Pete

Next: Part 2 of Our Coming Journey