The use of canals for industrial transport took off in Britain in the 18^th century, and the village where I live had one built right through the middle of it in 1795. We’re just a small part of more than 2,000 miles (3,220km) of inland waterways across Britain.

That’s our pub and a couple of narrow-boats below:

Our stretch is called the Montgomery Canal, and was originally used to transport limestone from the nearby quarries, all pulled by horses along the towpath.

The photo below is from 1934, just across the fields from our house, though most of the industrial use had gone by then, and this one looks more like a passenger boat, but still drawn by the horses on the left:

A major expansion in our part of the country came from the pottery makers, like Wedgewood (which had some vegetarians in the family). Loading all their fancy ceramics onto carts hauled on rough 18^th century roads was ending up with too many breakages, so the smooth canal was the ideal solution and they invested heavily in expanding them.

By the mid-19^th century the railways were taking over, with the canals left for things which were less urgent, and gradually declining. Motor vehicles took even more traffic away, and canals were almost redundant by the mid-20^th century and increasingly became wildlife habitats.

Then the leisure industry started to take an interest in the idea of slow holidays through unspoilt countryside, which was when the restorations began.

Bringing the canals back to life has been a very long slow process. Volunteers started working on sections of ours as far back as 1969, but it only re-opened through the village in 2003. Within a few years some of our friends down the road had built ‘Canal Central’ – a shop, café and Post Office next to the canal. Below is a rather wintery photo, it gets quite busy in the summer:

Restoration is continuing on the next stretch, though still a long way to go. Below is a small group from the army of volunteers that are on a one-month ‘work camp’ for the whole of August – and they’re doing a great job:

The canals are now mostly used for leisure boating, but since the leisure industry opened them up again, some businesses are beginning to see the potential. It can be a cost effective, and very environmentally friendly, way of moving things, especially bulk raw materials. So we are beginning to see some working boats again – but without the horses of course these days.

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