The Horseboating Society is a national society, with the primary aim being the preservation and promotion of Horseboating on the

canals of Great Britain The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's ro ...

. The Society was founded on 19 January 2001 at the

Ellesmere Port Boat Museum The National Waterways Museum (NWM) is in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England, at the northern end of the Shropshire Union Canal where it meets the Manchester Ship Canal (). The museum's collections and archives focus on the Britain's navigable ...

, and it is the only organisation in the UK solely dedicated to horseboating.

Horseboating

*''See main article: Horse-drawn boats'' Boat horses were the prime movers of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, and they remained at work until the middle of the 20th century. Today, horseboating is a way of recapturing the working lives of this former waterway community, especially the thousands of families and the tradesmen who kept the traffic moving.

Achievements and notable journeys

On 4 August 2006, Robin Evans, Chief Executive of

British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...

, joined horseboat ''Maria'' at

Portland Basin Dukinfield Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Peak Forest Canal, the Ashton Canal and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal meet near Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. The area has been designated by Tameside Metropol ...

, where the Lower

Peak Forest Canal The Peak Forest Canal is a narrow ( gauge) locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network. Route and features General description The canal consists of two level ...

meets the

Ashton Canal The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne. Route The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing thro ...

. ''Maria'' is Ashton Packet Boat Company's flagship

narrowboat A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commerc ...

and Britain's oldest surviving wooden narrowboat, built in 1854 by Jinks Boatyard in

Marple Marple may refer to: Places * Marple, Greater Manchester, a town close to Stockport, in England ** Marple Bridge, a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester ** Marple railway station in Marple, Greater Manches ...

, and still horsepowered to this day, i.e. permanently without an engine. He took part in a taster session of driving boathorse ''Queenie'' along a section of the canal, and he proceeded to take ''Maria'' through Hyde Bank Tunnel by legging the boat from the cabin roof. This journey was also notable since ''Maria'' used to carry

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

(1854 to ca. 1904) from

Bugsworth Basin Bugsworth Basin is a canal basin at the terminus of the Peak Forest Canal at Buxworth (formerly Bugsworth) in the valley of the Black Brook, close to Whaley Bridge. It was once a busy interchange with the Peak Forest Tramway, for the transpor ...

to Ashton-under-Lyne, and the Society chose to commemorate this by re-enacting the journey, more than 100 years later. In 2007, the Society made a journey along the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

to the

World Canals Conference The World Canals Conference (WCC) is an annual conference about canals and other waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. The society was awarded a grant of £42,500 from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

for this journey and other activities in support of the World Canals Conference. This journey was also part of British Waterways' "Coal and Cotton" event, celebrating the Leeds and Liverpool Canal's history of transporting coal from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

to Liverpool, and taking

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

from Liverpool docks to

. ''Maria'' duly carried sacks of coal, and samples of cotton supplied by the

Merseyside Maritime Museum The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is part of National Museums Liverpool and an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage. It opened for a trial season in 19 ...

In May 2008, NB ''Maria'' was horse-drawn again, this time on the

Huddersfield Narrow Canal The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an inland waterway in northern England. It runs just under from Lock 1E at the rear of the University of Huddersfield campus, near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield, to the junction with the Ashton Canal at White ...

. She had been "legged" through the Standedge Tunnel in 2006, the first boat to have been legged through in 60 years at that time. This time, a

UK Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

minister and a local

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

took turns at legging Maria through the highest, longest, and deepest canal tunnel in the UK. In 2012, NB ''Elland'' was horse-drawn for the full length of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, believed to be the first time such a journey had been made for 68 years, culminating in a demonstration pull through the new

Liverpool Canal Link The Liverpool Canal Link is an English waterway link that connects the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, at the Liverpool Pier Head, to the city's South Docks. It cost £22m and was opened in March 2009. The new link adds of navigable waterway to t ...

. In the annual Waterways Renaissance Awards 2008, jointly organised by the British Urban Regeneration Association and by

The Waterways Trust The Waterways Trust was an independent registered charity, established in 1999, that worked with partners to see the waterway network in England, Wales and Scotland supported, valued and enjoyed by a wide audience. The Trust was formerly registe ...

, the Horseboating Society achieved the "Commended" award in the "Historic Environment" section. The Society works closely with

, the Boat Museum Society, the

British Horse Society The British Horse Society (BHS) is a membership-based equine charity, with a stated vision of "a Society which provides a strong voice for horses and people and which spreads awareness through support, training and education". It currently has m ...

, the

Inland Waterways Association The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations. Not ...

, the Towpath Action Group, the

Institute of Historic Building Conservation The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) is a professional body in the United Kingdom which was formed as a charitable trust company in 1997 by members of the former Association of Conservation Officers. The object was to widen t ...

, and the Shropshire Union Flyboat Restoration Society.

Horseboating Gallery

Image:Harnessing Demo.jpg, Boathorse harnessing demonstration Image:Queenie boathorse.jpg, Queenie the Boathorse Image:Driving demo.jpg, Boathorse driving demonstration Image:Boat horse at the Peak Forest Canal 2.jpg, Boathorse Queenie with driver

References

{{Reflist

External links

BBC Interview with Chair of Horseboating SocietyBritish Waterways' leisure website "Waterscape.com", article on horseboating and Horseboating SocietyInland Waterways Association Press Release about ''Maria'' 's journey to the World Canals ConferenceOnline version of Towpath Talk magazine, July 2005, article on Horseboating Society
Waterways organisations in the United Kingdom Horse transportation Equestrian organizations

Horseboating

Achievements and notable journeys

Horseboating Gallery

See also

References

External links