Canal Boating- Books, Software, Paper Maps, and Videos

Route Planning Software - UK canals and waterways
Paper Maps
Videos

Books

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.

Hind and Hart has provided a page of bookshops, covering both bookshops convenient to canals and waterways, as well as canal and waterway related bookshops, wherever they may be located.

Also have a look at Mailing List Members' Recommended Books, and Bill Davies' article on canal books.

Canal Guides- U.K. - Series

First Mate Guides - website includes updates

Four Counties & Cheshire Ring
Birmingham & West Midlands
Thames and Southern Waterways
Grand Union
Northeast
Northwest
East Anglian and East Midlands (includes Leicester Ring)

Nicholson's/Ordnance Survey Guides to the Waterways

London, Grand Union, Oxford & Lee
Severn, Avon & Birmingham
Birmingham & the Heart of England
Four Counties & the Welsh Canals
North West & the Pennines
Nottingham, York & the North East
Thames, Wey, Kennet & Avon

Pearson's Canal Companions

[No relation to the author of these web pages.]

Cheshire Ring (2005)
Four Counties Ring (2007)
Kennet & Avon (2007)
Oxford and Grand Union Canals (2005)
Pennine Waters (?)
River Severn & Avon Ring (2006)
South Midlands/Warwickshire Ring (2007)
Stourport Ring (2007)
Welsh Waters (2006)

Waterways World Canal Guides

Grand Union
Kennet and Avon
Llangollen & Montgomery
Oxford
Shropshire Union

The European Waterways - A Manual for First Time Users: by Marian Martin. Publisher: Adlard Coles Nautical. ISBN 0-7136-4356-0; 2003
Britain's Waterways - a Unique Insight: by Brian Roberts; 2nd edition (2006)
Britain's Waterways - Cruising rings and other things: by Brian Roberts; 2nd edition (2008)
Cruising French Waterways: by Hugh McKnight; 4th edition (2005)
Inland Waterways of France: by David Edwards-May; 7th edition; UK ISBN 0 85288 472 9; Pub.: Imray; Reviewed in Waterways World Mar. 03
Through the French Canals: by Philip Bristow; 10th edition (Jan 2003); Pub.: Adlard Coles Nautical
Waterway Routes Through France Map: compiled by Jane Cumberlidge
Inland Waterways of Ireland: by Jane Cumberlidge; UK ISBN 0 85288 424 9; Pub.: Imray; Reviewed in Waterways World Oct 02
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".]
Publications from the Dutch Barge Association: Follow link for list. Some in english, some in french.

Route Planning Software - UK canals and waterways

Canal Planner for Windows - program on CD

Canalplan AC - planning online via the web; free service

Paper Maps

"Paper" as distinct from "on-line".

In planning a cruise, most people use one of the software options above. While cruising, most people use one of the canals guides listed above (all which contain detailed maps). However, if you insist on having a 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, then you have a different problem. The best choice for this at the time of this writing (end 2006) is the Philip's Navigator Road Atlas Britain.

Videos

Please note that there are three video standards in which waterways videos may be found: PAL, SECAM, and NTSC; they are incompatible. Be sure you know which standard is in use in your country, and be sure the cassette you are getting is in the correct format. Just saying "VHS" is NOT sufficient! (An alternative is to get a cassette in the "wrong" format, and pay a service to convert it, which can be costly.)