Walkers' of Ricky: A History of W.H.Walker and Brothers Ltd.of Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire

In English canal parlance Ricky means the boatbuilding business of W H Walker & Brothers Limited of Frogmoor Wharf, Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire. Founded in 1905, the dock started modestly enough but within a few years was pioneering the building of motor narrow boats. Within ten years or so orders for new boats became numerous, and the height of activity was reached in the 1930s, when trade was so slack elsewhere, with the massive orders for new boats from the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company.
All this and more is described by Anthony John Walker, one of the last Walkers at the wharf. He tells of the company’s many enterprises, which extended to the promotion of a cinema and the creation of a market, beside involvement in the retail coal trade, gravel extraction, timber importance, fence erection, roof tiling and the assembly of roof trusses. He tells also of the earlier Walkers who had been canal engineers.
From extensive company records Tony Walker has compiled a family and company history of breadth and depth. The two are close knit, resulting in a paternal business that worked well, although it was not of a kind that is welcomed by today’s balance-sheet mentality."