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Synopsis
The author is a born story-teller and his hilarious 'Tales of the Cut' does for the tight-knit macho world of the Northern waterways what the writer James Herriot did for Yorkshire and the life of a country vet. He describes, with relish, the almost surreal 'big debates' held each day at 'baggin time', when the often-unlettered men argue over newspaper articles and vie with one another to tell the most preposterous yarns. One of the chief characters is the toothless boatie 'Arry, who although unable to read or write, carries on numerous lucrative scams, in addition to his legitimate work as a labourer for the company. His vast girth is apparently held together by an enormous belt fashioned from the remains of his last boat-horse's harness. Readers also meet Big Al (a 5ft 1ins former Italian POW), Puddling Paul, Pontius Pilot (the 'hand-washing' foreman), Hissing Syd, Sam (caught dancing naked in his garden at midnight), the naive Nice Lady from HQ, the divers Snitch and Snatch, and many other memorable personalities - not to mention the lock dogs, always ready to cadge tasty tit-bits from the crews of passing ships.
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