315. The vintage canal boats delivering coal around England
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 พ.ย. 2023
- The Narrowboat Trust operates a motor boat and butty pair, taking them to events around the country to promote how the canals were once used. You too can have a go as they're keen to hear from anyone who would like to learn or just support their endeavours.
NBT website
www.narrowboattrust.org.uk
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Theme music: "Vespers" by Topher Mohr and Alex Alena, from the TH-cam music library
#narrowboat #canal #cruisingthecut #rivers #offgrid #liveaboard
This footage will be watched long after we're all gone. It's a great record of our times and you were right to concentrate on this kind of content. Think you might eventually break your view count record with this one.
Well done, David. I love that people are keeping the old traditions alive. Gloria 🐂
This is great to see that there is people teaching volunteers and others how to handle the old vintage boats.
In this way, the skills of yesteryear or yester-century will never be lost.
It’s also great that in this manner, you’re raising awareness of the boats, and what they do, and make people aware that there is a way of learning the skills if they are so interested and inclined.
Fascinating video, looking forward to your future content
Ben from Australia 🇦🇺
Thank you
Couldn't do it myself but it's good they are keeping these old boats going!! 🤷🤘
Brilliant David … sat next to those boats many an afternoon waiting for Rick Cooper ( when he remembered ) to transfer coal from his van into my transit van last winter. Has you know Rick was back chugging again after suffering a shoulder injury, the last time I personally saw him was at Mancetter and it was to be my last supply from him. So sad, but like the people in this video, people like Rick are essential to those of us living on the canals. Things I love about Canal life, these boats, our great heritage and burning dry wood and coal, on cold nights and in winter!
I love that the Trust is keeping these old boats working and that people come out to volunteer as crew. Not only do they help keep the old knowledge alive, the act of running these boats pays homage to those that came before, honouring those who made a life on the canals feeding the factories that made England the greatest industrial nation of the age.
I'm Irish, so I'm totally all for a coal fire. You can't beat a good old open fire with coal or peat, especially on a cold wintry night. No lights, just the glow and flickering of the fire. It's a pity people are so sensitive nowadays that you had to say that.
Anyway, loved the video..I'm still watching it! I think it's cool you can take part. I wonder would they accept an Irish lass.
Thanks again for the video...I'll keep quiet and keep watching the rest 😊
I lived long ago on the NW coast of Scotland & fondly remember the smell of burning peat...not so much fun the digging, stacking to dry & carrying down from the hill!
It has nothing to do with sensitivity. It's the fact that population has skyrocketed so more people are heating their houses, and particulates pollution in densely populated areas is a recipe for all kinds of different problems. COPD, various cancers etc etc.
If you live rural, it's no problem, the total amount of pollution will still be fairly low. But imagine nearly everyone burning coal and wood in a standard residential area - it gets really bad really quickly. Combine it with weird weather effects that we're seeing more and more often, and you risk another round of the Great Smog of 1952 that killed more than 10.000 people.
Poland still has about half their houses fueled by coal furnaces, and it's one of the reasons why their air quality is among the worst in Europe. It's cold, hard science.
Of course afterburners on the chimneys (like a catalytic converter on a car) only need to be made compulsory to lower particulate emissions...
or the new technology of extremely clean burning wood burners.....
It's the money....always follow the money.
@@mfbfreak
If you check out contemporary accounts, coal heating have absolutely ruined the health of the locals of densely populated urban areas.
...I heat my home way out in Utah in the U.S. with a 1940's stove ...its good fun and forever learning how to burn it better cleaner and more efficiently !! >^- •^~~~/
Thanks David. Wonderful that there are people who give their time and energy to the preservation of our national heritage.
Your content is the best on youtube.
Thank you David❤
Thank you very much!
The "kerthump-kerthump of a low-revving lump" is quintessential CTC. Along with the all-world content and quality of this channel, there is the very important aspect of documenting a unique way of life, and done with such aplomb as to astound even the most discerning viewer. David, you do a great service to the narrowboating community as well as your viewers. Well done sir, and much appreciated. You are inimitable. Cheers!
Many thanks 😊
Lovely to see the old working boats actually working.
Outstanding work by the trust! As an American I'm fascinated by the canals and the fact that ya'll have preserved them.
So much of the Superiority of the west is from canals. Not just the Far canal.
We have few canals, and even fewer still functional.
Didn't actually preserve them,Many went to rack and ruin and many are that way today,Enthusiasts cleared them out and got them running similar to the steam Enthusiasts who saved some Locomotives
Engine next to the loo at least means it is warm when you have to drop the trousers 🙂
🤣 a valid point
Always nice to listen to David's soothing presentations. Thank you for another history lesson ❤
Glad you like them!
Definitely interested
"Tea is always useful." Best quote I've heard in ages.😂
We have to keep the old ways going. Thanks David👍🇦🇺🙏
Another gem of a video , David. THank you so much for producing these, very enjoyable!
My pleasure!
David another brilliant video enjoyed very much thank you.
I've been stuck in America for 45 years but just the sound of the Lister marine engine got me back to ten years of boating and doing restoration at Claverton, taking a 60 ft boat across Kildwick Moor in a thunderstorm, interrupting a fishing competition in Leeds, etc. This was a treat, and I'm lucky I found it. Thank you. Juliet Miller (former secretary of the Narrow Boat Trust around 1975)
Wonderful report. I sometimes think these videos are better than when you were living aboard. So much interest and information and history of the canals. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂
Glad you like them!
@@CruisingTheCutSuch videos remind me of watching “Out of Town” in my youth. Thank you David for continuing the tradition.
Great history, I do admire the volunteers who work all over the canals
I do too
@@CruisingTheCut
Especially the lockies!
THIS is your BEST historical explanation of classic canal boat usage.
As a child I remember bulk loaded narrow boats on the Leeds-Liverpool canal with coal, or grain or heavy non-perishable goods. Many of them were still horse drawn until after WW2 to save fuel. The contrast between the cargo and the bright floral paintwork on everything down to the kettles and pans was a source of wonder to us as children.
David is like a modern day Jack Hargreaves, without the pipe! Nicely done David.
How true 👍 even the theme tune has a close resemblance
After 30 or so years I have finally found out what my Uncle Barry gets up to on the infamous "Coal Run" - what a great film - thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it 😀
Awesome that living history is still going strong 😊😊😊😊
Hello David. That was a memory from the 70’s. my friend and I had just started up a Scout Group in South |||Wales. We didn’t yet have tents or camping gear. We decided to hire two boats on the Brecon Monmouth canal. A couple of months before we went it was cancelled, the bank of the canal had given way. We found an ad in the Scouting magazine for canal hire on the Grand Union canal. We drove up to Braunston with two other leaders and their wives along with my brother and his mate. We had two boats, Ant & Axe, two 70ft boats with a cabin in the leading boat with a boatman and his lady and 12 scouts, the leaders and party had the butty boat, the one leader who brought his wife and kids had the boatman’s cabin. The boat was not vey comfortable. It had 12 beds in bunk formation, a chemical elsan, a sink and a 4 burner cooking range, table and chairs.
The roof of our barges were blue glass binre pieces, every other one was placed on the next so the boatman or his lady, Sandy, could run from one end to the other at the lock when the barges would tie up abreast. I asked my mate why the kids take to their bunks when we tied up abreast. My friend told me the kids realised that Sandy was Commando, she didn’t wear underwear.
Overall it was a great trip. I had taken two canoes and we used them very often.
As always a joy to hear your voice.
Much appreciated, cheers
Charlotte Fleming's hat is AMAZING!!!
Another absolutely cracking video! What a particularly lovely bunch of volunteers, especially good time to be reminded of the essential kindness and decency of many people when the 'bigger' picture might not look quite so rosy.
Glad you enjoyed it
Keeping history alive. Hard work but all those involved are so happy. What a great video. Well done David. Thank you.
that's some history we can see today, cheers Skipper
Hi. I've been a longtime fan. Finally connected. This episode was wonderful. My husband and I have a 1949 built sailboat, 40 foot sloop with a Tiny Tot coal stove for heat. We buy pea coal at our local steam train. We live in the US near the Essex Steam train station, so it's a great place to buy real coal. Funny, we live near Essex, which all of our town names came from you guys! We have the original Volvo Penta engine, and a battery, with oil lamps in the saloon, alcohol stove. Not fancy but wonderful. Thanks for such great videos on the water. I love it. Would love to rent a narrowboat-- on my bucket list!
If I lived in England, and was near those boats. I'd volunteer! Such an interesting way of life.
one of the best video on this channel!
Wow, thanks!
Wonderful tribute to these historical boats. Thank you, David! 😎🥰😎🥰😎💕💕💕
Enjoyed this one being it gave some of the history of the canals as well as the working boats that were so critical in the past years. Being I am from the colonies I was never exposed to the canals or the boats that used them.
I was struck today by the pacing of your videos. They are perfect to allow us to concentrate on your commentary whilst soaking up the quality visuals. Thank you so much for this body of work.
I very much appreciate that as I do specifically try to "let the videos breathe" as we used to say when I worked in telly.
We saw them on their return journey just above marston doles on the Oxford. Was such a sight😍 being only 21 my dream would be to own an old working boat one day
Our youngest member started at 17 and now has his own pair of boats at the grand old age of 25! He delivers coal and gas on the Grand Union.
"Tea is always useful." Thank you for this video! Greetings from northern germany 😃
Your videos are so informative. You share things that most of us will never see or experience. Thank you for sharing your stories and videos.👍
Thanks for watching!
@@CruisingTheCut thank you!!!
History and tradition.. Such a fine combination.
Absolutely
Ooo this looks amazing! Definitely something we would love to do one day 😍 great to know they welcome volunteers! absolutely love the history of the working boats.
thanks for watching ? Thanks for uploading - what a history come alive there; great stuff; bravo from Belgium
Glad you enjoyed it
Ah the life a narrowboat! Thank you for sharing this peaceful and interesting video!
Fantastic to see this tradition still in operation - long may it continue.
Great to see the tradition continued hoping the can get volunteers
Thank you very much David. This reminds of the brilliant piece of reporting that is Coalfinger.
Before I watch I just have to let you know, your original video on the coal boats was the first I'd ever seen your channel and I've been watching ever since! The thumbnail reminded me of it immediately. So happy DownieLive went to the UK to go narrow boating so you'd pop up with the YT algorithm
Nice one David! You'd think that, after seven years living on a narrowboat, I'd get bored with more - but this was fascinating!
Glad you enjoyed it
Could listen to that Lister all day ❤️
Ahh, the glorious sound of the Lister. Very interesting video. Glad to see such traditions being kept alive. 👏👏 Thank you for sharing. 👍😀
whilst hard work, it is certainly nice to do it at a slower pace than modern day. Wonderful to maintain the history and traditions of old. Thanks for the great content. Cheers.
Many thanks!
When visiting my grandma in Skipton in the 1960's, she would make tea & crumpets and I was in charge of the crumpets. I had a two foot long brass fork to hold the crumpets to the glowing coals in the open hearth and there's no better tasting crumpets (or toast for that matter, done the same way).
Cracking video - thank you David
Hello from Detroit Michigan USA Great video Brother thank you for taking us on your adventures on the cut
Thanks for watching!
Love your channel, it's like wee mini-documentaries good work Sir, ATB
Thanks 👍
Another excellent, and informative video David. I use the same 'coal' in my greenhouse fire. Toast and toasted sandwiches are extra special done on an open fire. If they fall in and get a bit charred, so much the better 😄😄😄.
Sounds great! 🤣
Superb vid David! Thanks
Glad you enjoyed it 😀
Coal or wood fires are lovely. Very comforting in the winter.
Yes they are!
Thanks David, very interesting. I remember watching these boats on the GUC in the 1950's.
Thanks for sharing that fascinating trip with us here on the other side of the world. Many of our ancestors worked on the canals or relied on this transport system as part of their everyday life before immigrating to New Zealand. My great grandfather, who was a stone mason, used to tell us as children how he helped unload the barges and what back braking work it was. They certainly earned their living in those days.
Well done! I hope the Trust has more volunteers after this video. What a wonderful opportunity!
Another great video David. Thanks so much. I love that these volunteers are keeping our history alive. Wonderful stuff.
Wow, that's pretty badass crew taking on such an effort. Grand effort.
PS, great vlog (as always)... Luv ya work...
worthwhile once again thanks David.
Thank you David, you seem to find the best parts of the canal life and everything else that goes hand in hand with it , well done .
The paint schemes are brilliant!
The strum at the beginning of the videos always make me smile.
Very nice. A floating living history museum. Thanks for sharing…!
Glad you enjoyed it
Awesome video
Thanks!
Bloody brill David. Superb production and so interesting on what could have been a dull subject….you certainly have a skill…more please
Thanks for the shot of the duck!
🤣
This is what I subscribed for. Another excellent view on the canals. Much appreciated.
Thank you 😊
Being a history buff and Living in upstate NY next to the Erie Canal my whole life all of your videos really peak my interest David but these mini documentaries if you will take my interest to another level! The Erie Canal was inspired by the UK canal and river trust waterways and built back at the height of its use in the 1800s and most likely constructed by the same immigrants and their ancestors that worked on the British canals at one time or another. Fantastic video! Renting a narrow boat to explore the waterways in the UK is most definitely at the top of my bucketlist and I am planning on checking it off very soon!
I hope you do!
Thank you David.. Yet another glimpse into the past, on how coal and commodities were delivered. All though not in plastic bags back then. Great to see the Trust volunteers keeping the tradition going, and yes it's always great to see the old working boats still floating about on the cut. Great work all.. 😊
I love that they are keeping bits of unique history alive like this!
Many homes here in Central Pennsylvania still heat with raw coal ore. Granted, it is locally mined, really clean burning, hard anthracite coal, so quite possibly equal to or better than those UK briquettes.
Very good video as always excellent interview
Much appreciated
Thank you David...👍👍
Very welcome
Been watching your videos for awhile now. I hope people appreciate the mass of volunteers it takes to keep the canals running. My hat is off to all of them ! :) Please keep up the good work David.
Much appreciated
Here's me hoping this one gets the same amount of views as Coalfinger!
Haha that's probably a big ask!
Thanks for this one David.
Thanks for the video David. A real working history lesson.
"Tea is always useful" - I think that will be my quote for the rest of the month
This is such an enjoyable video. Your production quality is equal to any Discovery Channel venture. I'm new to the channel and find it so relaxing after chores. Thank you. Kirk
Thank you and welcome aboard!
Nice David
Thanks David, this is great to know about. I've done volunteer vacations with other organizations and enjoy that, and I want to cross the pond and do a trip on the canals. This looks like it could be an opportunity where I could combine both things.
Awesome video! Like many others have stated that its great learning the old ways and to preserve them!! 😊
Thank you, David. Good information and history.
Thanks for this wonderful vlog David and for shining a light on the trust,I’ve joined up and can’t wait until May when they start next years activities 👍
Wonderful!!
Interesting and quality as always
Sir, another fine telling of a great little adventure. Very much enjoy your continued coverage of the cut. 😃 ♫
Many thanks!
Awesome video! Loved it!
Reminds me a little of the BBC's Historic Farm Series, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Wonderful episode, David!
Another great vlog, strangely familiar & nostalgic without experiencing such. I think it's the connection with simpler times.
I remember your "Coalfinger" vlog from a few years... one of my favourites
Thank you for the video it’s brilliant ! ❤
You're welcome 😊
Love that vlog, what a delight to watch and learn about our heritage on the canal and those continuing to upkeep it!🤗
David, first comment. Watched all your work… especially during lockdown… So much joy, so many times your videos helped me. Thank you.
Thank you so much. I've had a shitty day for various reasons and your comment has cheered me up a bit. Ta.
@@CruisingTheCutwell my friend, your work brought me many many moments of calm and happiness, so I’m chuffed that I could return a bit of what you gave me! Cheers from sunny yet on-edge and not relaxed USA.
What a glorious vlog David, showing us how these beautiful work horses of boats are still being used in the style for which they were built. Like many, we sailed past these two earlier this year at Alvecote and admired them close up so it was a treat to see them featured here in work mode. Thankyou as always for wonderful vlogs. X
A very interesting story, well done you.
Wonderful, keeping history alive like this. Seems like this could be a nice trip to make to England, to volunteer for a few days.