@koalagardens@dutchothotmailcom
The reason there is not a lot of room in the tunnels, is because the barges were originally pulled by horses.
When they reached a tunnel the horse would be led along a path above it. You can see the path on the left hand side of the image, coming back down to the tow path.
To get the barge through the tunnel, someone would lie on their backs on top of the barge, stick their legs in the air and literally push the barge through by walking along the tunnel roof.
It was called “ footing the boat”.
Hard work in some of the very long tunnels.
Interesting shot. A group of us a narrow boat trip a while ago turned off the engine in a tunnel, and walked the boat through. Not easy keeping it in a straight line!
The reason there is not a lot of room in the tunnels, is because the barges were originally pulled by horses.
When they reached a tunnel the horse would be led along a path above it. You can see the path on the left hand side of the image, coming back down to the tow path.
To get the barge through the tunnel, someone would lie on their backs on top of the barge, stick their legs in the air and literally push the barge through by walking along the tunnel roof.
It was called “ footing the boat”.
Hard work in some of the very long tunnels.