Working narrowboat and butty leaving the Oxford Canal en route to the River Thames  along the Sheepwash Channel

Working narrowboat and butty leaving the Oxford Canal en route to the River Thames along the Sheepwash Channel. It is a manoeuvre which has been undertaken for more than 200 years, and the use of a pair of boats was common: one with an engine (or pulled by a horse or mule) and the other, the butty, with no means of self-propulsion.


A coalboat delivering to residential narrowboats in Oxford

A coalboat delivering to residential narrowboats in Oxford. Floating homes became increasingly popular after World War Two, and while some have access nowadays to an electricity supply almost all rely on smokeless coal for heat. The dimensions of the boat in the picture are identical to those which traded on the canal when it first opened more than 200 years ago – the same width and same maximum length, dictated by the dimension of the locks – and coal has always been the principal cargo: continuity exemplified!


One of many residential narrowboats

One of many residential narrowboats (converted from a holiday hire boat) which became increasingly popular in the late 20th century as house prices in Oxford rose steeply. Note the postbox and the chimney of the all-important solid-fuel stove. The lock to the left is Isis Lock, connecting the Oxford Canal with the River Thames.


Hayfield Wharf on the Oxford Canal, 1895 (Henry Taunt)

Hayfield Wharf on the Oxford Canal, 1895 (Henry Taunt). The photograph indicates the immense demand for coal at this time and most of the 20th century, and has clearly been commissioned by the wharfinger, Frank Restall, whose name can be discerned no fewer than six times!


Oxford Canal terminus, 1930s

Oxford Canal terminus, 1930s. The view is of that part of the terminus wharf area devoted entirely to coal, the principal cargo carried on the canal until it ceased to be a working waterway after World War Two. The site is now the location of Nuffield College.


Oxford Canal terminus, 1937

Oxford Canal terminus, 1937, in the year that the site was purchased by the car manufacturer William Morris. After the Second World War he funded the construction of Nuffield College on the site, and the de facto canal terminus became the suburb of Jericho. In the background, slightly obscured by the lamp post, is the neo-classical Canal House, headquarters of the Oxford Canal Company.


Abel Beesley, waterman, on the Castle Mill Stream, 1901 (Henry Taunt)

Abel Beesley, waterman, on the Castle Mill Stream, 1901 (Henry Taunt). The Beesley family is one a several which has had waterways’ associations in Oxford for centuries. Their activities included the cultivation of rushes (such as those shown) and osiers for making baskets and eel traps, as well as boat haulage and fishing. Abel Beesley was also renowned as an invincible champion of professional punt racing.


Passengers replacing freight on the Oxford Canal, 1957

Passengers replacing freight on the Oxford Canal, 1957, in an early example of the canal’s transition from an industrial working waterway to one catering for the leisure trade.


Canal narrowboats at Jericho, 1995

Canal narrowboats at Jericho, 1995. Two are residential – boats have been used as homes in Oxford since at least the early 19th century – and Rosamund the Fair was a restaurant boat, operating on the Oxford Canal and the River Thames. Its name commemorates Rosamund Clifford, famous as the mistress of King Henry II, who was buried at Godstow Nunnery, which stands close to the Thames above Oxford.


Coal continued to be (and still is) the principal cargo carried on the Oxford Canal even after the waterway’s decline after World War Two

Coal continued to be (and still is) the principal cargo carried on the Oxford Canal even after the waterway’s decline after World War Two. Two boatwomen, Mrs Rose Skinner (with the shovel) and Jean Humphries, are shown unloading a narrowboat in Jericho in 1956.


Oxford

Section 3. Transport

In the twentieth century, the Thames was no longer used for transport to London; railways had taken its place. However, the Oxford Canal was flourishing at the beginning of the century as a means of transporting coal to Oxford in special barges. Coal was used for almost all domestic heating and for industrial purposes. Other goods were also brought to Oxford when speed was not essential, since water transport was often cheaper.

After the Second World War, almost all water transport was for leisure and tourist activities. Even on the canal there were trips for tourists rather than horses wearily dragging heavily-laden barges.

Twin-cities:

Perm

Transport

City & Water

International virtual exhibition of documents of twin-cities Perm, Louisville & Oxford.

Authors: