Just touches the surface. Many more canal-related books are available,
including many guides to individual canals. Many titles are available
from the
Inland Waterways Association On-Line shop.
East Anglian and East Midlands (includes Leicester Ring) (2009)
Richlow Guides - ceased publication in 2015
Chesterfield Canal (2008)
Lincolnshire Waterways (Jul 2008)
North Yorkshire Waterways (March 2011)
South Pennine Ring - Part 1 (Jan 2010)
South Pennine Ring - Part 2 (Jan 2011)
South Yorkshire Waterways (March 2012)
Waterways World Canal Guides - all pretty old now
Grand Union (2000)
Kennet and Avon (2002)
Llangollen & Montgomery (2005)
Oxford (2002)
Shropshire Union (2004)
General Information - classics
The Times Waterways of Britain
by Jonathan Mosse (2010)
Inland Waterways of Great Britain
by Jane Cumberlidge; 9th edition (2009)
Publisher: Imray. ISBN 978-1846230103
River Thames Book
by Chris Cove-Smith; 8th edition (2022)
Publisher: Imray.
Inland Boat Owner's Book
by Graham Booth; 4th edition (July 2010);
"Everything you need to know about buying, owning and running a boat";
Publisher: Waterways World
Cruising French Waterways
by Hugh McKnight; 4th edition (2005) - a bit old now
Inland Waterways of France
by David Edwards-May; 9th edition (2021); now in 2 volumes;
Publisher: Imray
Through the French Canals
by David Jefferson; 14th edition (2021); Pub.: Adlard Coles Nautical
Waterway Routes Through France Map
compiled by Jane Cumberlidge (2013)
Inland Waterways of The Netherlands
by Louise Busby and David Broad; Pub.: Imray; 2nd edition (2016)
A Boaters Guide to Boating
by Chris Deuchar;
a mixture of old and new waterway techniques. Published Oct 97.
Reviewed in Waterways World Feb. 98.
ISBN 0-9531512-0-4. (Chris is a participant in the canals mailing
list/uk.rec.waterways newsgroup.) Contact Chris, for costs and other
details via his publication page at
Chris Deuchar's Books ...
Illustrated History of Canal and River Navigations
by Edward W.Paget-Tomlinson; Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press;
Date Published: Mar 1993 [Dr. Sean Neill says "covers canals, structures, boats, carrying companies etc etc. -
obviously with limited detail but enough for most people".]
Paper Maps
"Paper" as distinct from
Online & Offline Canal Maps. These, and GPS software/devices,
have pretty much obsoleted paper maps.
Note that the canals guides listed above all
contain detailed maps. However, if you insist on having a separate paper map, there
is an excellent selection available from the
Inland Waterways Association On-Line shop.
However if you are driving in your car, and hope to drive to a particular
point on a canal without using a GPS, the best choice
of altas for
this is probably Philip's Navigator
Britain, which shows canal locks and bridge numbers.
There's a huge number of videos available on sites like
Youtube. (For example,
search Youtube for "narrowboat"). All too daunting for me to list -
I'm afraid you're on your own here.