The history of Stoke Bruerne, Blisworth and the tunnel and canal that links them, has finally been revealed in David Blagrove’s new book. The well illustrated book delves into every aspect of how the canal came to this quiet rural Northampton countryside 200 years ago and its economic effect on the local people and the nation as a whole.
Rich and vivid boating tales of the tunnel and the characters who crewed the vessels through it make this an important contribution to the archives of canal history.
Roger Hutchinson.

A Boater's Guide to Boating by Chris N. Deuchar
The Historic Narrow Boat Owners Club, £4.50
ISBN: 0-9531512-0-4
Available from The Narrow Boat Trust

Essential reading for anyone boating on Britain's waterways. Packed with methods and tips derived directly from the ways and words of former full time working boatmen, but directed at present day use, this is the guide for time-tested traditonal techniques for boating "smarter not harder..."

weekend canalside cottage at Stoke Bruerne from the legendary Sister Mary, on to working with Willow Wren pair, Redshank & Greenshank, on the GU, Oxford Canal, parts of the BCN and the Thames in his school holidays.
There's plenty of detailed descriptions of working a pair of working boats and an evocative description of a vanished life-style.
My only gripes are the pages are large and the print is small,
there are no photographs - and worse, no maps.
I suspect this could have been the dream adventure for any working boat afficendo had they lived near working canals at this time.
Dave Davies

She sets the scene for these magical photographs, taken by amateur photographer Robert Longden, often seen by boat people around Sutton's Stop - Hawkesbury Junction, the hub of the Midlands coal trade, observing the minutiae of canal life. From time to time he would give Sonia and other boat people the odd print or two, resulting in her taking a small collection with her when she left the Cut.
25 years later she set out to find out what remained and to find out what happened to the photographer and his pictures.
Robert had died in 1957, aged 78, and his widow, uninterested in photography, had given away his Leicas cameras and thrown away his photos and negatives.
Finding his son, who unearthed from his shed two small boxes containing over a hundred 3 ¼" square positive glass slides, spotted with damp and lying partly in mould, Sonia sent them to a specialist in London.
When cleaned and reclaimed from damage, they revealed themselves as wonderfully grainy, deep velvety blacks and whites, safe for posterity.
Turned down for publication in the 70's, they finally saw the light of day in 1997 - and what a treasure trove!
Mainly featuring photos around a Hawkesbury Junction mostly long gone - the cast iron bridge, Greyhound pub and the Engine House remain, while the Coventry and Longford power stations, their cooling towers, and the gas works are no more.
A fantastic view of the men, women, children and babies of the time at work and play, along with the boats of Fellows, Morton & Clayton, Ovaltine, S.E and Samuel Barlow, John Knill, British Waterways, Harvey-Taylor and the last horse-drawn Number Ones, Joe and Rose Skinner's Friendship.
Friends of mine have been emotionally moved by some of these pictures - the painfully obvious strain of a woman bow-hauling a fully-loaded butty through Hilmorton locks being the chief example - I cannot recommend this stunningly beautiful book enough.
Dave Davies.

Bread On The Waters by David Blagrove

NBT member David Blagrove is well known in canal carrying circles and this, his first book, tells of his initial waterways experiences in the late 1950's and early 60's.
Initially running a converted narrowboat for trips on the Kennet, he then works for Willow Wren, giving a fine description of almost the last days of canal carrying and the people working the cut. Highly recommended.
Dave Davies.

Fruit Flies Like A Banana: England By Canal and Classic Car by Steve Haywood.
Sumersdale Travel £7.99
ISBN: 1-84024-351-1

Just published, this engaging and always witty tale of a three month, mostly single-handed canal journey, attempts to subvert the by now somewhat cliched format of descriptions of the route with outlying places of interest, by interweaving the stories of the Triumph Herald and the relationships between the founders of the IWA and flying off at tangents on the state of the world at every opportunity. Thoroughly enjoyable!

No. 1, by Tom Foxon
JM Pearson & Son, Tatenhall, Burton-On-Trent, Staffordshire.
£14.99.
ISBN: 0-907864-58-9

On leaving national service in 1953, Tom Foxon was able to realise his ambition of owning his own boat and the somewhat romantic notion of "following the trade" and earning a living as a 'No 1'
The book tells of his adventures in the North West and BCN, introducing us to such characters of the cut as 'Sunlight

Narrow Boats At Work, by Michael E Ware.
Moorland Publishing Company, Moor Farm Road West, Ashbourne, Derbyshire DE6 1HD.
ISBN: 0-86190-144-4

Based mainly around pre-1950 black & white historic photographs, this pictorial description of Boats, Boat Building, Cargos, Docks, Boat People and more is essential browsing for anyone interested in working narrow boats.