page_title: Narrowboat
section_title: Development — traditional working boats
hierarchical_section_title: Narrowboat / Development — traditional working boats
caption_attribution_description: Historic working narrowboats on the Macclesfield Canal in Cheshire, England. The motor boat at the front "Forget Me Not" is pulling along an unpowered butty "Lilith". This was the traditional working style used on working boats after motor boats became common. The boats are owned by the Wooden Canal Boat Society.
context_page_description: A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways commercial canal traffic gradually diminished and the last regular long-distance traffic disappeared in 1970. However, some commercial traffic continued into the 1980s and beyond.
  To enter a narrow lock, a narrowboat must be under 7 feet wide, so most narrowboats are just 6 feet 10 inches wide. A narrowboat's maximum length is 72 feet. Anything wider or longer will be unable to navigate most of the British canal network. Some locks are shorter than 72 feet, so to access the entire canal network the maximum length is 57 feet
  The first narrow boats played a key part in the economic changes of the British Industrial Revolution. They were wooden boats drawn by a horse walking on the canal towpath led by a crew member. Horses were gradually replaced with steam and then diesel engines. By the end of the 19th century it was common practice to paint roses and castles on narrow boats and their fixtures and fittings.
context_section_description: The first narrow boats played a key part in the economic changes of the British Industrial Revolution.  They were wooden boats drawn by a horse walking on the canal towpath led by a crew member, often a child. Narrow boats were chiefly designed for carrying cargo, though some packet boats carried passengers, luggage, mail and parcels.
  Boatmen's families originally lived ashore, but in the 1830s as canals started to suffer competition from the burgeoning railway system, families (especially those of independent single boat owner/skippers) began to live on board, partly because they could no longer afford rents, partly to provide extra hands to work the boats harder, faster and further, partly to keep families together. As late as 1858, a Household Words article states that "the Grand Junction Canal company did not allow the boatmen's families on board." The crew of the non-stopping ("fly") boat in the article (skipper, two crew and a "youth") is said to be typical.
  The rear portion of the boat became the "boatman's cabin", familiar from picture postcards and museums, famous for its space-saving ingenuity and interior made attractive by a warm stove, a steaming kettle, gleaming brass, fancy lace, painted housewares and decorated plates. Such descriptions rarely consider the actual comfort of a (sometimes large) family, working brutally hard and long days, sleeping in one tiny cabin. However many shore-bound workers endured harder indoor trades in less healthy conditions and in worse accommodation, where the family was separated for long hours rather than being together all day. The lifestyle afloat, by definition itinerant, made it impossible for children to attend school. Most boat people were effectively illiterate and ostracised by those living "on the bank", who considered themselves superior.
  As steam and diesel progressively replaced the tow-horse in the early years of the 20th century, it became possible to move even more cargo with fewer hands by towing a second, un-powered boat, referred to as a "butty", "buttyboat" or "butty boat". Although there was no longer a horse to maintain, the butty had to be steered while being towed. So that the butty boatman could lengthen or shorten towline as needed, the towline wasn't tied-off on the bow, instead travelled over the buttyboat through permanent running blocks on stands or retractable middle masts and managed in the stern.  On a wide canal, such as the Grand Union Canal, the pair could be roped side-to-side ("breasted up") and handled as a unit through working locks.
  Cargo-carrying by narrow boat diminished from 1945 and the last regular long-distance traffic disappeared in 1970. However, some traffic continued into the 1980s and beyond. Two million tonnes of aggregate were carried on the Grand Union (River Soar) between 1976 and 1996, latterly using wide beam barges. Aggregate continues to be carried between Denham and West Drayton on the (wide) Grand Union Canal and on the tidal estuary of Bow Creek (which is the eventual outflow of the Lee & Stort Navigation).
  A few people are doing their best in the 21st century to keep the tradition of canal-borne cargo-carrying alive, mostly by "one-off" deliveries rather than regular runs, or by selling goods such as coal to other boaters. Enthusiasts remain dedicated to restoring the remaining old narrow boats, often as members of the Historic Narrow Boat Owners Club. There are many replicas, such as Hadar, ornately painted with traditional designs, usually of roses and castles. Boats not horse-drawn may have a refurbished, slow-revving, vintage diesel engine. There are some steam-driven narrow boats such as the ex-Fellows Morton and Clayton steamer President.
caption: Historic working narrow boats on the Macclesfield Canal in Cheshire, England. The leading boat, Forget Me Not, is hauling the un-powered butty Lilith. This became a familiar operating pattern once motors began to replace horses.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A400", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2005:09:12 15:39:32", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2548", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6471", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "19/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:09:12 15:39:32", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:09:12 15:39:32", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "277/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "123/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "123/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "211/16", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "1600", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1200", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1860", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "64000/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1200000/131", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}