Living and working on the canals
Working on the canals was a hard way of life. Boat people worked long days in all weathers – with often just a husband, wife and any children they had managing the myriad tasks involved.
At the very least a canal boat needed two people to work it: one to lead the horse and one to steer the boat. A third pair of hands to set the locks came in useful, as did assistance in keeping the ‘home’ ticking over; children needed to be fed, babies looked after, clothes washed, brass and woodwork kept spick and span, not forgetting the need to keep the horse fit, fed and healthy and the boat maintained.
It is not surprising that most boat people were born and brought up on the canals and went on to marry other boat people. Few came to the canals from other trades.
The heart of the home – the cabin
They say an Englishman’s home is his castle, and this is no less true for life on board a canal boat. To describe space as limited would be an understatement, often entire families lived in a room less than ten feet long and hardly high enough to stand in, but despite this the boat people had immense pride in their domestic space.The Victorian fondness for lace, frills and frippery did not stop at the canals. Inside the tiny boat cabins hung flowered curtains, crocheted lace, painted roses and castles and ornaments of every kind. This on top of the basics, of table, stove, chair and bed. Cleanliness and decoration were highly valued, every day was wash day, and it was not unusual to see a line of bright white washing hanging above a boat loaded with coal.
The children of the boat people
Children of boat people were brought up on the boats, moving up and down the canal network as required and getting involved with daily tasks onboard. It was not uncommon for boat children to be competent at handling horses, ropes and tillers from a very young age.
Because of their transitory existence, boat children received little in the way of regular education. They would sometimes attend school while staying with relatives on dry land, then move on and maybe attend a different school at a later date. Older children, from eight or nine onwards, were generally needed to help full time on the boats. Large families may have lent one or two children to help out on relatives’ boats.
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