The unpowered narrowboat Ilford was horse-drawn along part of the Trent and Mersey Canal in October to arrive at an informal gathering of working boats at Stone.
Ilford on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Stone. Photo: Andrew Watts
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Parkhead Festival
The Horseboating Society was at Dudley’s Parkhead Festival, giving demonstations of horseboating techniques.
Read more about this and see photos here.
Demonstration at Parkhead Festival. Photo: Rick Muir
Legging Foulridge Tunnel
The Horseboating Society commemorated the centenary of the bovine feat of Buttercup the brown cow who swam through the mile long Foulridge Tunnel on September 24th, 1912.
On the exact date, a hundred years later in 2012, the horseboat Elland was legged through the Foulridge Tunnel and a storyline was developed. As the boat made its way through the tunnel, it came across a cow called Buttercup swimming through the tunnel. She was offered a ride on the boat which she gratefully accepted. Emerging at Foulridge, Buttercup was safely on board the boat but still needed reviving with alcohol after her long swim, just as in 1912. Unfortunately Cow’s Rum could not be found so Lamb’s Navy Rum was used instead!!!
See all the photos of the legging of Foulridge Tunnel here in our Photo Gallery.
Foulridge Tunnel. Photo: Warwick Burton
Foulridge Tunnel. Photo: Warwick Burton
Hereford and Gloucester Canal
Boat horse Gypsy Queen returned to the Hereford and Gloucester Canal to play an important part in the opening of the restored section between Over Basin and Vineyard Hill.
Gypsy Queen pulled “Alder” with special guests Timothy West and Prunella Scales on board to cut the ribbon for the opening of the 300 yard section of canal.
Pictures of the opening and the event are on Hereford and Gloucester Canal website.
Testing the water – trial run. Photo: Rick Muir
Official opening journey with special guests. Photo: Rick Muir
Timothy West and Prunella Scales cut the ribbon from the bows of “Alder”. Photo: Rick Muir
Vixen on the Rochdale Canal
The passenger horseboat Vixen (built in 1990) was used during the Rochdale Canal Festival in August 2012. She was started from Hebden Bridge to go to Sowerby Bridge for the start of the festival. She then travelled over several days from Sowerby Bridge to the Rochdale Canal Summit level, carrying passengers on various occasions.
An enterprising idea, from the Rochdale Canal Development Officer Lucy Rogers, was to invite poet-in-residence Winston Plowes to hold poetry workshops on the horse-drawn boat over two days. The result was an exchange of words and vocabulary, culminating in a poem written about the horseboating from Todmorden to Walsden.
On Friday August 24th, Vixen was used to give public trips on the Rochdale Canal Summit amidst spectacular Pennine scenery which the passengers enjoyed in glorious sunshine. The resident lock-keeper is keen to see Vixen used again for horse-drawn passenger work on the Summit, even including some limited lock use.
See more photos of the Vixen on the Rochdale Canal here in our Photo Gallery.
Vixen on the Rochdale Canal. Photo: John Humpherson
Ilkeston on the Grand Union and Regent’s Canals
Historic horseboat Ilkeston was horseboated on the Grand Union Canal at Rickmansworth and on the Regent’s Canal on its journey from Ellesmere Port to the London Canal Museum.
Read more about this and see photos here.
Ilkeston on the Grand Union at Rickmansworth. Photo: Lawford Thomas
Arrival at Liverpool’s Pier Head
Elland arrived in Liverpool and was the first ever horse-drawn canal boat at the city’s canal link. Follow link to see Bay TV’s video of Elland being towed at Pier Head and interview with Sue Day.
Pier Head’s mane attraction!
Liverpool will be taken back in time next week, with the arrival of the first ever horse-drawn canal boat at the city’s canal link. The special visit, organised by the Horseboating Society, marks the completion of a 128-mile journey which began on Leeds canal in April, to mark the year of the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee.
The history-making horse is Bilbo Baggins, a 15.1hh cob type stallion. He will be drawing the 150-year-old, 60-foot Yorkshire narrowboat Elland onto the Pier Head on Tuesday 14th August at approximately 2.00 pm.
The arrival of the horse, pulling the brightly adorned, wrought iron hull, will give people a rare glimpse into yesteryear, when working horses were a part of everyday life at Liverpool’s docks. On-board will be volunteers from The Horseboating Society and Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society, as well as local community groups. They will be joined by the city’s World Heritage Officer, John Hinchliffe; and Sue Day, who is Chairperson of The Horseboating Society and owner and trainer of Bilbo Baggins.
The £22 million Liverpool canal link, connecting the Leeds and Liverpool canal opened in 2009. Although there is no towpath at the site, Bilbo will use his five years’ boating experience to complete a horse pull of the boat to the canal link. He will then go on to meet the Carters’ Horse statue, erected at the Pier Head in 2010 in honour of the horses which worked to and from Liverpool’s docks.
World Heritage Officer John Hinchliffe said:
“This will be a fantastic occasion for Liverpool, and the arrival of a horse-drawn canal boat at the Pier Head will be a sight to behold. Horses were a common sight on our waterfront from the 18th century, right through to the 1960s. They maintained the vital link between the docks and the rest of the city and were instrumental in placing Liverpool as one of the world’s most prominent and prosperous ports.
“This visit, the first of its kind at our canal link, will help to give meaning to some of the historic structures on our waterfront and will give people a rare opportunity to see a working horse in action. And it will provide a fascinating insight into our past and the activities that historically took place at our World Heritage Site, before they were superseded by advances in technology.”
Bilbo and Elland embarked on their journey from Leeds canal on World Heritage Day, 18th April, heading to Saltaire’s World Heritage Site, before moving on to Skipton, Blackburn and Burscough. They will leave Litherland on 13th August and will travel down Stanley Locks before completing their journey in front of the Three Graces on 14th August at 2pm approx.
The Horseboating Society hopes to promote heritage education and community involvement throughout the route. They are marking the Olympics by giving the journey the theme of a ‘b(o)aton relay’, with the canal boat being passed from one community to another along the canal, and token cargoes being taken on-board en-route. Further links to the Diamond Jubilee and Olympics are provided by the decoration of the boathorse harness with Diamond Jubilee and Olympic Games brasses and red, white and blue paintwork, while the boat chimney chain is adorned with brass diamonds.
The canal boat is also decorated with red, white and blue wool and cotton bunting, as a reminder of the importance of the textile trade on the Leeds and Liverpool canal.
The completion of the journey in the city will mark a Diamond Jubilee triumph – because as well as being the first ever horse-drawn boat to arrive at the city’s canal link apart from Maria arriving from Manchester in 2007, it will be the first to arrive in Liverpool from Leeds during the reign of the Queen, with the last such trip taking place 68 years ago. The Liverpool leg of the journey is supported by the city council and other local organisations including National Museums Liverpool and the Mersey Heritage Trust.