The Cromford Canal ran 14.5 miles (23 km) from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks. From Cromford it ran south following the 300-foot (91 m) contour line along the east side of the valley of the Derwent to Ambergate, where it turned eastwards along the Amber valley. It turned sharply to cross the valley, crossing the river and the Amber...

Named after the Greek goddess of youth, the double-sculling skiff Hebe was a most beloved and well-travelled little boat. Adored by the young Desmond Stoker, whose father had fitted her with a sail and canvas cover, she was rowed, sailed and frequently man-hauled along canals and rivers the length and breadth of the country. Holidaying on Britain's canals in the late 1920s was confined mainly to a few eccentrics and enthusiasts, even though much of the canal system was still accessible and...

The Birmingham canals truly got underway following an advertisement in Birmingham's Aris's Gazette of 26 January 1767. The plan was to take a waterway from Wolverhampton to Birmingham with a branch to Lord Dudley's coal mines near Wednesbury, and this canal network continued to grow extensively until the 1860s. With the decline in the demand for coal after the Second World War, the BCN lost sixty of its miles, but it has nevertheless largely survived to the present day. R. H. Davies, autho...

#1 New York Times Bestseller: The definitive book on the sinking of the Titanic , based on interviews with survivors, by the author of The Miracle of Dunkirk ."Absolutely gripping and un-put-downable." —David McCullough, author of John AdamsAt first, no one but the lookout recognized...

The River Medway travels through the highly populated areas of Gillingham, Chatham, Maidstone and Tonbridge, among a number of other smaller towns and villages. Married to the Thames, the Medway has a rich and varied history. Ancient sites are plentiful along the River Medway; Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman evidence can all be found. Two military battles have also been named after the river: the Battle of the Medway during the Roman invasion of Britain; and the Raid on the Medway, which to...

A grieving world has already recognised Lawrence Beesley as the chief recorder of the Titanic wreck. The sports master at an English public school, who was going West for a tennis tournament, he had no special qualifications for performing the task that fell to him alone out of nearly a thousand survivors but he brought to bare a splendid self-possession upon his observation of the whole sad story, and a turn for accurate observation... a memorable bookThe Loss of the ...

The vital interconnections that rivers share with the land, the sky, and usRivers are essential to civilization and even life itself, yet how many of us truly understand how they work? Why do rivers run where they do? Where do their waters actually come from? How can the same river flood one year and then dry up the next? Where the River Flows takes you on a majestic journey along the planet's waterways, providing a scientist's reflections on the vital int...

The Manchester Ship Canal was a huge engineering achievement. It included seven swing bridges and the aqueduct at Barton, and helped turn the cotton-producing capital of Great Britain into an inland seaport. This was a feat many at the time believed could not be achieved. One of the wonders of the modern industrial world, the Manchester Ship Canal, with its huge locks and ocean-going vessels, was a magnetic draw for enthusiastic Victorians who marvelled at its construction. This book looks...

It boasted libraries, palm trees, swimming pools, a 50-phone switchboard and was nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower… No, she's not a skyscraper, she's the Titanic! Marking the centenary of the sinking of the White Star Liner RMS Titanic in 1912, 'Titanic, A Very Peculiar History' delves into the human stories of both crew and passengers and the incredible feats of engineering and design involved in the ship's construction. The ebook also takes a look at events that occurred once the ship w...

Many people remember with great fondness the pleasure steamers that plied the River Thames in the years after the end of the Second World War. The mighty General Steam Navigation Company, more commonly known as 'Eagle Steamers', dominated the business. But fewer people now appreciate the significant role that the New Medway Steam Packet Company (known as 'Queen Line Steamers') played in the growth of services in the Thames Estuary from the early 1920s until the early 1960s. The 'Eagle & Qu...

This is an extraordinary tale of life on the high seas aboard one of the last American merchant ships, the S.S. Stella Lykes, on a forty-two-day journey from Charleston down the Pacific coast of South America. As the crew of the Stella Lykes makes their ocean voyage, they tell stories of other runs and other ships, tales of disaster, stupidity, greed, generosity, and courage.

The 50-mile stretch of the River Tamar forms a unique county boundary between the counties of Devon and Cornwall. The Tamar's source is East Youlstone near Bude less than 4 miles from the north Cornish coast. But instead of flowing northward into the Atlantic Ocean it flows slowly south. through reed-fringed mudscapes passing the towns of Launceston, Gunnislake, and Saltash before widening out and eventually meeting the English Channel at Plymouth Sound. In the sound the river merges with ...