Gloucester Waterways Museum
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1.2  Life on a Working Narrow Boat

     Most boatmen worked for a carrying company, an industrial firm or a local trader who owned a few boats. Some boatmen (known as 'number ones') did own their own boat, and others ran their own business using a hired boat, but these were in a minority. Up to the mid-nineteenth century, most narrow boats were crewed by men whose families lived ashore. However, competition from the railways forced the canal carriers to lower their charges, and this in turn reduced the boatmen's wages. In the second half of the nineteenth century, many of them were therefore obliged to give up their homes on land and take their families to live and work on the boats.

Living Accommodation
     Living accommodation on a narrow boat was cramped, as there was a need to leave as much space as possible for the cargo. A typical cabin was less than 7ft wide and between 8ft 6in and 10ft long, and a standard internal layout soon evolved. The cabin was entered from the 'hatches' (a) through a pair of doors, with the coal box acting as a step (b). On the left stood a range or a bottle stove (c) which was kept alight all the year round for cooking and boiling water for making tea. Next to the range, was a large cupboard for crockery (d) which had a door that was hinged at the bottom so it could be dropped down to form a table (e). On the right-hand side of the cabin was a side bed (f) which served as a seat during the day and as a bed for children at night, with storage space underneath. Forward of the day cabin was a double bed formed by a mattress on a wooden flap (g) which was folded up to the left during the day to form the front of a cupboard (h), leaving a further area for seating on a bench to the right. This sleeping area could be divided off from the rest of the cabin by curtains at night to give the parents more privacy, and a new baby could sleep on a shelf of the open cupboard. In the stern of a horse boat, behind the hatches, was a small cupboard where food was stored away from the warmth of the cabin. On the roof of the cabin were kept one or two water cans for storing fresh water for drinking and cooking, which were refilled when necessary from stand-pipes along the canal route. Some boats had a small fore-cabin in the bow of the boat to provide additional space.

Setting Out
     It was common for a boatman to be paid a fixed amount for a trip and to find his own crew. Before leaving his base, he was given money to pay the canal tolls (and perhaps an advance on his wages), and he stocked the boat with food and filled the water can. He also supervised the loading of the cargo, as it needed to be properly distributed or the steering of the boat could be affected. If the cargo required protection from the weather, the hold was covered by tarpaulin cloths that were supported on a line of planks resting on stands at intervals along the length of the hold.

On the Move
     Days began early and ended late so that maximum distances could be travelled. One of the crew usually had to walk with the horse to keep it moving steadily forward. For working through a lock, there was a well extablished routine with each member of the crew knowing just what to do in the right order. If two boats arrived at a lock from opposite directions, there could be an argument as to who arrived first, and this sometimes led to a fight. Inevitably, there were occasional accidents - someone who missed his footing was quite likely to fall into a lock and be drowned. The horse was an important part of the team and was usually well looked after. At appropriate intervals, the horse was given a nose-can of food and then a drink of water, and at the end of the day, the horse was groomed and put into one of the many canal-side stables belonging to the canal company or to a public house. At the end of the journey, the boatman had to remove the cloths and planks to allow access to the cargo, and he could be paid extra to help with the unloading.

Hygiene
      Washing clothes was usually done on the canal bank using water from the canal which could be scooped up using a small bowl known as a 'dipper'. The washing line was hung over the boat's hold when the cargo was discharged. For a toilet, it was common to use a convenient hedge, a bucket or to go over the side of the boat. For washing down the boat after a dirty cargo, a mop was carried on the cabin roof, and boatmen were expert at spinning the mop shaft to throw off excess water after use.

Obtaining Supplies
     Boatmen had ways of obtaining what they needed. As long as they were not too greedy, they were unlikely to be caught helping themselves to some of the cargo, such as a little coal for the stove. Sugar could be extracted from a sack by inserting a tube through the mesh of the sack. Chocolate crumb was carried in bags that might be 'accidently' damaged in handling, and it did not seem right to put back what came out. When carrying grain, a small quantity could be given to a lock keeper with chickens in exchange for some eggs. If food was short, it was always possible to catch a rabbit or raid a lock keeper's garden or a field of vegetables. However, a crew could become particularly desperate during a period of severe frost, as ice on the canal could trap the boat miles from any shop with a diminishing supply of food for the crew and the horse.

Tunnels
     When negotiating a tunnel without a towpath, a member of the crew had to walk with the horse over the top of the tunnel while the boat was taken through it. The boat was usually propelled by ‘legging', the crew lying on their backs or sides and pushing on the tunnel walls with their feet. An alternative was to use the boat shaft (pole) to push against the tunnel roof, although this practice was discouraged because of the damage it could cause to the structure. On some busy canals, full-time leggers worked boats through the tunnel for a fixed charge, and some tunnels had tugs to tow a line of boats through.

Family Boats
     When a boatman was accompanied by his wife and chidren, each able member of the family was expected to play a role in working the boat. The life of women was especially hard as they also had to look after the children and the domestic chores. If another child was expected, the family would moor up at a village just before the birth and would be quickly on their way again afterwards. Very small children were sometimes sat on the cabin top, tied to the boat to keep them safe. As soon as they were strong enough, older children were expected to take their turn at leading the horse, steering the boat and helping to set the locks. As the family grew, space on the boat could become very cramped. In the 1880s, regulations were introduced to limit the number of children living in a small cabin, but some families managed to fool the inspectors by hiding excess children under the cloths that covered the cargo. When motor boats came into use in the twentieth century, many motors were expected to tow an unpowered 'butty' boat, and this also had the effect of providing a second cabin for the family working the pair. Boat children seldom had time for schooling since life was spent on the move, and the resulting lack of education meant that many boat boys grew up to be boatmen. However, if a family had a house, the boatman might just take a teenage son to help him on the boat, leaving his wife and younger children at home – then they could spend time at school.

Social Life
     In the second half of the nineteenth century, families living on the boats became increasingly isolated from the rest of society. Because of their travelling lifestyle, the main social functions were evening gatherings at canal-side pubs. Many young boatmen ended up marrying girls from another boating or canalside family, but courting was difficult, with couples having to rely on chance meetings or messages left with lock keepers. As with families on the land, however, marriages and christenings were occasions which did bring people together.

Costume
     The isolation of the boating families led them to continue for many years to wear fashions that had been generally popular during the early Victorian period. The women commonly wore shawls, blouses, ankle length skirts and bonnets which were heavily pleated and frilled. The bonnets provided protection from both the wind and the rain. Boatmen commonly wore a striped shirt, a waistcoat, a red and white neckerchief and a baggy hat. They also wore a leather belt in which to hang the windlass used to work lock paddle gear. This was replaced on special occasions by an elaborately embroidered and crocheted belt with a spider’s web pattern.

Boat Decoration
     The outside of a boat cabin carried the name of the owner and some simple geometric patterns. Around the middle of the nineteenth century, cabin interiors and equipment began to be decorated with the style known as ‘Roses and Castles’, which continued to be popular well into the twentieth century. The style probably grew out of the cheap commercial art of the early 19th century. When moving on to the boats, families would have taken with them
familiar styles of decoration, which were then transferred to their new surroundings. As the boat people became more isolated from the wider community, this decorative style became more distinctive and stylised. It was common for the roses and castles to be painted on the inside of the cabin doors, which were of course folded back at most times and so available for all to see. On some boats, particularly those of owner boatmen, the style was also used on the outside of the cabin. Other things to be decorated included the drop-down cupboard door, water cans, hand bowls and horses’ nose cans.
     Other popular forms of internal decoration were polished brass work, crochet lace trimmings, rag rugs and ‘ribbon plates’, which had a series of holes pierced round the rim through which a ribbon could be threaded. On the outside, many boats were adorned with ropework that was both practical and decorative, and some had a a horse's tail hanging from the rear end of the 'elum' (rudder & tiller).

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