OUR WATERWAYS MUSEUMS ARE UNIQUEThese priceless collections bring together the interdependence of: The functional beauty, and fitness for purpose of our waterways, honed over two centuries, and their economic benefits The craft and skills of boat builders, painters, and the boating population and a record of their insulated life styles, and attitudes to life and work. Plus the architecture and engineering designed and built for inland trade and navigation. This created a sustainable transport tool for the benefit of all.
The waterways museum collections show: Ř social and economic history, Ř utilitarian aesthetics, Ř art and craftsmanship Ř architecture and engineering Ř energy efficient transport –
| THE PERFECT INTEGRATED PARTNERSHIP The extraordinary survival of a whole eighteenth century way of life and work into the mid twentieth because of the inherent economics of water transport and the quality of the original construction— q the same payload, q the same q the same q the same boats, q the same locks, q the same We have in these museums the staggering survival of a huge body of evidence, preserved by continuity of trade and workforce, still just within living memory. The historic boats are living waterways theatre. In 1946 Tom Rolt wrote "If the canals are left to the mercies of economists and scientific planners, before many years are past the last of them will become a weedy, stagnant ditch, and the bright boats will rot at the wharves, to live only in old men's memories". In 1831 this was published “Canal boats and canals we suspect are fast going out of use.... in the meantime the produce of the most extensive manufactures in the world, and the supply of immense masses of people, will be transported over these beautifully smooth, level noiseless roads; ...we must preserve them, out of respect for the extraordinary benefits we have derived from their assistance, and the almost incredible effect they have produced upon the commerce and riches of the country...” Our waterway museums are often young peoples introduction to our canals and their history – the enthusiasts and users of tomorrow. Other than the canals themselves, they are the best PR we have. They must not be lost from lack of funding. Those of us who care must fight for them – it is our responsibility.
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