This is a canal barge, called a 'narrow boat'. They were used throughout the industrial revolution up until the second world war to move heavy commodities like coal up and down country. There was, and is, a great network of canals in the UK. The barges, and the modern imitations, are now used largely for leisure trips and some people live on them. They are very narrow so as to be able to navigate the canals.
This narrow boat is actually pictured on the River Thames which is much wider than most canals. In the last 40 years the canal network has been substantially restored for leisure use and the movement of water.
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This is a beautiful composition, net! I love these canal boats ... what a great way it would be to see the U.K. for sightseeing and leisure. Great capture.
Erm, that's a narrowboat, chaps. :)
Certainly pays to view large - very nice shot.
PS Travellers' Joy (or it might be Traveller's, not sure) is an everyday name for the wild Clematis that grows by the wayside. You don't hear it much now. Come to think of it, I can't remember hearing the name since I was little.
Beautiful capture. When my son was in England he lived just opposite a canal and every time I visited it was a joy for me to watch these barges going on their leisurely way.
@sparkle - This was taken on the Thames at Marlow. So its pretty wide. However, the lock just downstream from here is a bit more narrow. But not like most of the local canals. Here is the lock at Marlow... http://365project.org/netkonnexion/anotherone/2011-07-14
There was a canal that was visible from the Central Line Tube headed to West Ruislip when I lived in England in the 1980s. I'd always make sure to sit on the left side of the car so I could admire the colorful narrowboats that lined the edge of the canal for the night. Each day there would be a different handful of boats at anchor.
Thanks for bringing back a favourite memory so brightly with your picture!
I have put some details up about the barge.
Certainly pays to view large - very nice shot.
PS Travellers' Joy (or it might be Traveller's, not sure) is an everyday name for the wild Clematis that grows by the wayside. You don't hear it much now. Come to think of it, I can't remember hearing the name since I was little.
Thanks for bringing back a favourite memory so brightly with your picture!