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There is no better description of a landscape and life that is now a distant memory. --Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society, March 2010
Product Description
First published in 1944, and now reissued with a new section of black and white plates, this book has become a classic on its subject, and may be said to have started a revival of interest in the English waterways. It was on a spring day in 1939 that L.T.C Rolt first stepped aboard Cressy. This engaging book tells the story of how he and his wife adapted and fitted out the boat as a home and recreates the journey of some 400 miles that they made along the network of waterways in the Midlands. It recalls the boatmen and their craft, and celebrates the then seemingly timeless nature of the English countryside through which they passed. As Sir Compton Mackenzie wrote, 'it is an elegy of classic restraint unmarred by any trace of sentiment' for a way of life and a rural landscape which have now all but disappeared. 'His Pen,' he continued, 'is as sure as the brush of a Cotman. Narrow Boat will go on the shelf with White and Cobbett and Hudson.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Considered by many to be a "classic" its prose does not perhaps justify the title. The author and the tale he tells in this book however do!
The tales he tells are of course dated, but if you have a soul and have cruised the same waterways as he does aboard "Cressy" you cannot help but find yourself aboard with him!
Anyone who enjoys the canals today owes a debt of gratitude to Rolt, whatever may have transpired in latter years when the IWA became a hive of politics. Without him (and yes, more like him who have perhaps gone unsung) our canals would not be here today.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Rolt is an excellent writer, with a good eye for what he sees and good descriptive text, but with massive cultural blinkers.
His description of his travels on board his converted narrow boat Cressy back in the 1940s was to be one of the sparks leading to the foundation of the Inland Waterways Association and the restoration of the British canal network.
In the regard of writing about his journey, and his description of the life of the few remaining owners of horse-drawn boats when he encountered them, he gives many useful details (I'd never known that concertinas were popular instruments among boatsmen).
However, his blinkers come from his conviction that everything of the past is good and everything of the machine age is bad. He says quite seriously that he believes the canals to be the safest form of transport ever devised, but does not spot the contradiction when he encounters a boatman whose daughter had recently drowned in a lock (in fact, drownings and other accidents were pretty common).
He comments on the life span of over a hundred of some old countrymen in the parish records he views and attributes it to their simple life, but fails to spot the high infant mortality in those same records.
He loves his books, but believes that the illiterate boatman loses nothing by his lack of knowledge.
It's a good book if you want to read about the pre-restoration Inland Waterways, complete with the last surviving canal pubs (in the era of real ale served in a jug), but you may find it a touch annoying if you feel that you wouldn't actually want to have lived in Olde England even if it looks very charming in retrospect.
His description of his travels on board his converted narrow boat Cressy back in the 1940s was to be one of the sparks leading to the foundation of the Inland Waterways Association and the restoration of the British canal network.
In the regard of writing about his journey, and his description of the life of the few remaining owners of horse-drawn boats when he encountered them, he gives many useful details (I'd never known that concertinas were popular instruments among boatsmen).
However, his blinkers come from his conviction that everything of the past is good and everything of the machine age is bad. He says quite seriously that he believes the canals to be the safest form of transport ever devised, but does not spot the contradiction when he encounters a boatman whose daughter had recently drowned in a lock (in fact, drownings and other accidents were pretty common).
He comments on the life span of over a hundred of some old countrymen in the parish records he views and attributes it to their simple life, but fails to spot the high infant mortality in those same records.
He loves his books, but believes that the illiterate boatman loses nothing by his lack of knowledge.
It's a good book if you want to read about the pre-restoration Inland Waterways, complete with the last surviving canal pubs (in the era of real ale served in a jug), but you may find it a touch annoying if you feel that you wouldn't actually want to have lived in Olde England even if it looks very charming in retrospect.
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It really is a classic. If you are looking for a history of British canals, this is not the book for you. But as an elegy for a world we have lost (the book was written in the summer and autumn of 1939) it cannot be beaten. It should be read in the same spirit as 'Lark Rise to Candleford'. On publication, after the war, it was greeted with huge enthusiasm, as people remembered what tey had been fighting for. As a consequence of it's publication, the Inland Waterways Association was formed, which has managed to transform British canals. If you enjoy the canals, as boater, walker or historian, this is the book that more than any other stopped them from being filled in the sixties. And it is at least arguable that Rolt's writings were highly influential on the early days of the self sufficiency movement, and so, ultimately, Green politics. And it is beautifully written.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A fading moment in time captured
I bought this book for several reasons - because it is written by one of the best-known and respected authors on the industrial revolution, because I love canals and because this... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sanda
narrow boat
I found this book a compusive read by an author who was in love with his narrow boat ,a true from the heart book
Published 3 months ago by Mr. Donald F. Ekless
Narrow Boat
This was a very good and informative read, I would recommend this book to anyone who has a keen interest in Narrow Boats.
Published 5 months ago by Mrs. L. M. Andrew
Narrow Boat
This is regarded as the definitive work that led to the saving of the canal network in Britain by inspiring Robert Aikmann, among others - and not least Tom Rolt himself - to set... Read more
Published 10 months ago by T
An Incredible Book
This is a truly incredible book - incredibly dull, self-opinionated and hopelessly bigoted and written with a breathtaking snobbishness. Read more
Published 12 months ago by M. Garvey
Canals of Britain
This is probably the best book written about the canals of Britain. LTC Rolt, Tom used the canals in their heyday. Read more
Published 15 months ago by P. R. Bryson
Hugely disapointing book
I have to say that after all the hype about this book I was amazed at how boring and tedious it was.It is just a monotonous description of the countryside, pubs. etc. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Updike
Canal History
Anyone who develops an interest in canals, or indeed anyone studying the Industrial Revolution, will find this book by Tom Rolt a fascinating insight into Canal history. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2010 by Water Rat
A enthusiast or a bigot?
I had wanted to read Rolt's "Narrowboat" for some time, having read other books by him. We must be forever grateful that this book, and Rolt himself inspired the restoration of the... Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2009 by K.E.C
A Classic that improves with age
This wonderful book, beautifully written, has been an inspiration to many with an interest in canals. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2005 by Michael F. Freer
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