Living the history of the waterways

The canals are a legacy of the industrial revolution, but in the modern era, how can we immerse ourselves in the social history of the inland waterways and recreate the lives of working boaters?

Whether it’s getting involved with a group devoted to heritage boats, reading first-hand accounts of carrying commercial cargoes, or practising a traditional craft like ropework or signwriting, the life of our working boating ancestors is all around us on the waterways – not least in the act of cruising at a steady 3mph from place to place.

So, here we look at ways we can travel back in time and experience something of the long-established culture of our inland waterways.

Nick Wolfe's Aldgate being loaded with steel piling.

Become a working boater

While large-scale narrowboat carrying came to an end in the 1960s, making it impossible to accurately recreate the life of a working boater today, you can come pretty close to it, as several boaters have demonstrated.

If this immersive approach to canal history suits you, there’s nothing stopping you buying a heritage narrowboat, moving aboard (having scaled back your possessions to the absolute minimum) and travelling the waterways on a continuo…