This guide to the Middle Level waterways that lie between the River Great Ouse and River Nene, including the main link route via March and several other alternatives, gives all the information needed for anyone planning to navigate the area. Shaped by human ingenuity and home to a rich variety of nature, the serene and stunning landscapes of the Fenland waterways are more remote than most of the rest of the country’s network of navigable inland waters. In this lies their beauty and much of their attraction. However, they also have sufficient access to facilities. Readers will find a wealth of information about moorings, facilities and services, as well as features of interest to canoeists, paddleboarders, walkers and other users of the waterways. It includes detailed mapping for each section of the rivers as well as overview plans. Imray’s popular inland waterways guides are being revised with experienced boat-owners and navigators from the Inland Waterways Association. With a completely new design and maps that have been rescaled and reoriented to make them more user-friendly, this new Fenland Waterways guide has been written by Chris Howes, Deputy National Chairman, Eastern Region Chairman and Peterborough Branch Chairman of the IWA. Chris is a knowledgeable enthusiast for the area and his navigation notes are enriched with narrative and photographs, highlighting numerous points of interest.

The first study of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman canals and waterways, this book is based on new evidence surrounding the nature of water transport in the period. England is naturally well-endowed with a network of navigable rivers, especially the easterly systems draining into the Thames, Wash and Humber. The central middle ages saw innovative and extensive development of this network, including the digging of canals bypassing difficult stretches of rivers, or linking rivers to important production centres. The eleventh and twelfth centuries seem to have been the high point for this dynamic approach to water-transport: after 1200, the improvement of roads and bridges increasingly diverted resources away from the canals, many of which stagnated with the reassertion of natural drainage patterns. The new perspective presented in this study has an important bearing on the economy, landscape, settlement patterns and inter-regional contacts of medieval England. Essays from economic historians, geographers, geomorphologists, archaeologists, and place-name scholars unearth this neglected but important aspect of medieval engineering and economic growth.

Starting at the head of navigation at Kempston, upstream of Bedford, this guide takes you downstream along the full length of the navigable River Great Ouse and then up its accessible river tributaries. This seventh edition has been revised with new photos, updated technical and local information, and covers 60 miles of navigable waterways, including the tidal section to Kings Lynn and gems such as the Cambridge Backs World Heritage site. This guide has been written and updated by Chris Howes, Deputy National Chairman, Eastern Region Chairman and past Peterborough Branch Chairman of the Inland Waterways Association. Chris has spent much of his life living on or near the River Great Ouse and is a knowledgeable enthusiast for the area. His navigation notes are the result of his most recent on-the-water research, enriched with supplementary narrative and photographs highlighting numerous points of interest. With user-friendly design and layout, information on moorings, facilities and services is enhanced with quick reference tables alongside the plans. For anyone planning to explore these waterways, this is your invaluable, don’t-leave-home-without-it guide.

A bestseller in hardback, this beautiful celebration of Britain's rich waterways heritage is now available in paperback and ebook. Through the superb photography of Derek Pratt, this lovely and quirky book looks at 50 transitional years when Britain's inland waterways changed from being a thriving commercial transport system to the much-loved pleasure cruising network it is today. Each double page spread juxtaposes superb atmospheric black and white photos of the locations as they were 50 years ago with vibrant colour photos showing how they look today, with many new photographs and updated captions for this edition. From quintessentially English rivers to London's busy canal network, this wonderful book highlights the architectural legacy and natural beauty that attracts thousands of visitors to go boating or walking along the towpaths.

Britain's rivers deserve to be better known. Teeming with wildlife, steeped in history, sporting bridges, docks and stunning architecture, not to mention supporting riverside pubs, waterways museums and a variety of places of interest, they are the country's essential arteries, connecting inland Britain with the sea. From such world-renowned rivers as the Trent and Severn to little known tributaries like the Wharf, Wissey and Lark, British River Navigations celebrates England's inland rivers which have been improved for navigation, initially for commercial use, but now mostly carrying leisure craft. A fantastic celebration in its own right, alongside the author's previous Canals of Britain and Rivers of Britain this new book completes a trilogy on the different routes that can be used by large and small craft through the inland as well as tidal rivers of Britain. As with his other two books, it takes a wide ranging and detailed look at the built and natural environments surrounding these waterway gems. It explores the history, folklore, wildlife, literature and nearby towns and villages, all illustrated with beautiful maps and colour photographs. So much more than just a guidebook, it contains fascinating detail about our often surprising waterways right across the country. For anyone enjoying England's rivers for recreation or transportation, this captivating guide gives a fascinating insight into the lifeblood of our countryside.

In the early years of the Industrial Revolution, canals formed the arteries of Britain. Most waterways were local concerns, carrying cargoes over short distances and fitted into regional groups with their own boat types linked to the major river estuaries. This new history of Britain's canals starts with the first Roman waterways, moving on to their golden age in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and ends with the present day, describing the rise and fall of canal building and use in the UK. It tells the story of the narrow boats and barges borne by the canals, and the boatmen who navigated them as well as the wider tale of waterway development through the progress of civil engineering. Replete with beautiful photographs, this a complete guide to some of the most accessible and beautiful pieces of Britain's heritage.

Lincolnshire is a largely rural county, which was reflected in the early history of the railway lines. The main lines mostly passed through on their way to somewhere else and the local traffic was handled by a large number of branch lines. Author Alan Stennett explores the history of the railways in Lincolnshire, starting with the very early days when it was expected that Lincoln would be on a main line to the north, only to lose out to what we now know as the East Coast Main Line. Using archive maps, original photographs and other sources, he traces the development of railways in the county, and their role in serving the great fishing port of Grimsby, 'bracing' East Coast resorts such as Cleethorpes and Skegness, the iron and steel industries of Scunthorpe and the agricultural heartland of the Fens. The network saw many early closures before being savaged by the Beeching cuts, but the story continues to the present day, where new developments offer renewed hope for what is left of the system. This guide to the history and development of the railways in Lincolnshire will be of great interest to local history and railway enthusiasts. Illustrated with 210 colour and b&w original photographs.

For centuries, living afloat on Britain's waterways has been a rich part of the fabric of our social history, from the fisherfolk of ancient Britain to the bohemian houseboat dwellers of the 1950s and beyond. Whether they have chosen to leave the land behind and take to the water or been driven there by necessity, the history of the houseboat is a unique and fascinating seam of British history. In Water Gypsies, Julian Dutton – who was born and grew up on a houseboat – traces the evolution of boat-dwelling, from an industrial phenomenon in the heyday of the canals to the rise of life afloat as an alternative lifestyle in postwar Britain. Drawing on personal accounts and with a beautiful collection of illustrations, Water Gypsies is both a vivid narrative of a unique way of life and a valuable addition to social history.

With support from the Inland Waterways Association, Friends of the River Nene and others, and drawing on his longstanding connection with the river, Roger Green has thoroughly revised and updated this popular guide. A new design includes thorough navigation notes alongside more detailed maps of the canal and river, showing the main features of the navigation. Helpful tables indicate mileages and likely timings between locks to help with passage planning and also provide further information on all the moorings, facilities and services, many of which have been much improved in recent years. Other features of interest such as canoe launch access and portage points are also shown. Details of facilities, walking and cycling routes and local history add useful information. Photographs help to highlight points of interest along the way and confirm this guide to be the essential companion for anyone planning to navigate the river, whether by boat, canoe, bicycle or on foot.

This book in memory of F. Donald Logan explores different aspects of Christian culture and society in England from the twelfth to the sixteenth century. Although this period has traditionally been interpreted in terms of decline and decay, this excessively gloomy picture has slowly given way over the last eighty years or so to a more positive view of Christian civilization during these centuries. The twenty-two studies brought together here seek to build on this ongoing reassessment of Later Catholic England, especially in those areas in which Professor Logan himself had done so much to deepen our understanding of Christian English society. Contributors are: Travis Baker, Caroline Barron, Nicholas Bennett, Barbara Bombi, Paul Brand, Janet Burton, James G. Clark, Karen Corsano, Virginia Davis, Charles Donahue Jr, Anne J. Duggan, Joan Greatrex, Diana Greenway, Michael Haren, R.H. Helmholz, Philippa Hoskin, Henry Ansgar Kelly, Frederik Pedersen, Seymour Phillips, Michael J.P. Robson, Jens Röhrkasten, Jane Sayers, R.N. Swanson, Daniel Williman, and Patrick Zutshi.