Canals and Waterways (Shire Library)

Many of Britain's navigable waterways now carry more traffic than they did in the supposed heyday of canals, though the traffic today is pleasure boats rather than commercial craft. This book traces the history of these artificial waterways, from Roman days through to the decline of commercial traffic in the 1950s. It covers the building of canals, the structures that make them work, their maintenance and the boats that travelled on them. The cargoes carried are given prominence, as are the 'people of the cut'. The last chapter shows the canals in decline, giving some of the reasons for the closure of many waterways, and describing why pleasure boating has now taken over.

Michael E Ware became interested in canals in 1963 when he was invited to join a friend on a canal holiday on the Llangollen Canal, with the specific idea of making an amateur film about the trip. From then on he was hooked on the canals and waterways of England and Wales. With a background of professional photography and working in a museum, it iwas almost natural that this enthusiasm should result in him collecting historic canal photographs, building up one of the largest private collections in Britain, which has now been passed on to the Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port. He was curator and later Director of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, but has now retired and he still retains a very strong interest in canals.