Too Many Boats

The history of the British Waterways narrow boat carryingfleet, and its decline.BW inherited 1300 carrying and 500 maintenance craft onnationalisation in 1947, many of which were in a poor state of repair andlacked both crews and contracts. Then FMC failed in 1948, giving BW a further172 boats.

The booklet charts the sad decline of the canal carryingfleet, bedevilled by poorly maintained canals, boats past their operating livesand of course a fledgling motorway network which offered a much faster and moreflexible bulk transport option.