Central England: Exploring the Slow Canals
Two centuries ago England's canals were designed as the highways of the Industrial Revolution. Now these turning and twisting waterways are a haven of tranquility. For those with time to spend they form a superb way to explore the hidden corners of Britain's landscape.
Grand Union Canal at Braunston.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.268 The Grand Union Canal runs from London to Birmingham and has been the central highway of England's inland water transport system for 200 years. Now it is mainly used for recreational boating. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.031 Fairytale castles in imaginative landscapes form an important ingredient in the decorative canal boat style of painting called “Roses and Castles”. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.MIDDLEENGLAND 22040] Buckby watering cans painted in the traditional canal art style called “Roses and Castles”, which has its origins in the decorations of 18th century cottages. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.MIDDLEENGLAND 22049] The Caldon Canal is frequented by traditional narrow boats, like here at Froghall. Some boaters like to dress up in Victorian age fashion, as does this woman in 19th century boatwomen’s clothes. She is putting up the chimney of the onboard kitchen before cooking. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.051] The Caldon Canal is frequented by traditional narrow boats, like here at Froghall. Some boaters like to dress up in Victorian age fashion, as do these woman in 19th century boatwomen’s clothes. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.058 Serving on a narrow boat which navigates the Caldon Canal, two girls at Froghall Wharf wear the traditional bonnet of the boatwomen. Made originally like a Midlands farmworkers’ sunbonnet it could shield the eyes when working in the sun or rain. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.063 A son is holding open the lock gate while his father is entering the lock chamber at Hazlehurst Junction (near leek) on the Caldon Canal. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.MIDDLEENGLAND 22076] Two locks in the Caldon Canal at Hazlehurst Junction south of Leek. Not only for narrowboats the canal offers a beautiful route, for walkers as well. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.417 The bottle kilns of Gladstone Pottery (now a museum) at Stoke-on-Trent received part of their raw materials, such as ground flint, by way of the Caldon Canal. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.152 The Peak Forest Canal was constructed around 1800 to transport lime from the quarries in the Peak District. Here it is seen clinging to the slope of a valley near Marple. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.MIDDLEENGLAND 22112] Cyclist enjoying a beautiful country house hidden in a wooded bend of the Cromford Canal at the hamlet of Robin Hood near Whatstandwell. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.163 The High Bridge spans the Shropshire Union Canal north of Gnosall. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.171 Students in 19th century dress play a game of cards in an old wooden icebreaker, once used to keep open the canals in winter and now on display on the bank of the Shropshire Canal in Blists Hill Museum at Ironbridge. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.261 Colourful display of traditional narrow boats at Braunston Marina. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.034 The proud owner of an old narrow boat on the Caldon Canal, at Cheddleton. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.MIDDLEENGLAND 22046] At Cheddleton, south of Leek, a cottage on the bank of the Caldon Canal is covered in flowers. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.MIDDLEENGLAND 22050] The Caldon Canal is frequented by traditional narrow boats, like here at Froghall. Some boaters like to dress up in Victorian age fashion, as do these woman in 19th century boatwomen’s clothes. The lady at right is removing the chimney of the onboard kitchen after dinner. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.055 Girls at Froghall Wharf, wearing the traditional clothes of the canals. They are very similar to the basic clothes of 19th cent. working people, but the boatpeople continued to wear them into the 20th century. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.060 Serving on a narrow boat which navigates the Caldon Canal, a woman at Froghall Wharf wears the traditional bonnet of the boatwomen. Made originally like a Midlands farmworkers’ sunbonnet it could shield the eyes when working in the sun or rain. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.MIDDLEENGLAND 22071] A row of three locks in the Caldon Canal at Hazlehurst Junction south of Leek. Not only for narrowboats the canal offers a beautiful route, for walkers as well. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
Walking along the Caldon Canal.
[BRITAIN.MIDDLEENGLAND 22082] Not only for narrowboats the canal offers a beautiful route, for walkers as well. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.149 Cruising between the flowery banks of the Peak Forest Canal at Disley. The Peak Forest Canal was constructed around 1800 to transport lime from the quarries in the Peak District. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.156 In Marple, at the junction of the Peak Forest Canal and the Macclesfield Canal, two women are having fun with a magnet on a string, trying to fish "treasures" from the water. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.160 A sturdy cast-iron milepost on the bank of the Shropshire Union Canal north of Gnosall helps boaters find their way. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
[BRITAIN.ENGMIDDLE 22.168 Berries, radish, cucumbers and flowers are offered at this unmanned canal shop on the bank of the Shropshire Union Canal near Audlem. Please put your money in the “honesty box”. Photo Mick Palarczyk.
