Canal History
Books and Articles
Although I am best known for my research into the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, over the past few years, I have been concentrating on translating European books and articles on early canal construction. The first of these was Sebastian Maillard's 1817 book on canal construction, published by the Railway & Canal Histprical Society in 2021 under the title Technology, Economics, and Canal Development. It includes Appendices on the waterways in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and an assessment of the role of the craftsman in the Industrial Revolution.
My latest book is a translation of Johann Ludwig Hogrewe's 1780 book on English canals, published under the title: The First Canal Guide. Besides the translation, it includes a historical background to North German inland waterways and their influence on both Britain and the Hanovarian regime. It also looks at Hogrewe's, and other, descriptions of James Brindley's work on embankments on the Bridgewater Canal, and how overcoming the problems influenced his later canal work.
Books
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal, a History and Guide, Carnegie, 1990, ISBN 0 948789 40 9
Liverpool and Its Canal, Merseyside Portfolios, 1992, ISBN 0-9516129-3-X (with Allison Hewitt)
Around and About the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Milepost Research, 1992, ISBN 0-95192-360-9
Railway on the Water, Sobriety Project, 1993, ISBN 0-9522592-0-6 (Editor)
Padiham Power Station, commemorative book at its closure, National Power, 1993
The Aire & Calder Navigation (Images of England), Tempus, 1999, ISBN 07524 1715 0
Canal Lifts and Inclines of the World, Internat, 2002, ISBN 0-9543181-1-0 (Translator and editor)
Liverpool and Its Canal, Landmark, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84306-336-0 (enlarged edition)
Brightwork, Traditional Paintwork on Leeds & Liverpool Canal Boats, Milepost Research, 2009, ISBN 0-9519236-2-5
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal: Its History and Heritage, Milepost Research, 2012, ISBN 0-9519236-3-3
Memories of a Wartime Canal Boatwoman, Nancy Ridgway, edited by Mike Clarke and Timothy Peters, 2014
Railway on the Water, Milepost Research, 2015, revised edition
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal, its history, extended revision, Milepost Research, 2016, ISBN 9780951923689
Technology, Economics, and Canal Development, an early technical book and what it reveals (translation of Maillard's book on Canal Engineering), 2021, 9780901461711
The First Canal Guide, A translation of Hogrewe's 1780 book on English canals, 2025
Articles
Daniel Adamson, Ships Monthly, 1976
The Origins of the Narrowboat, Canal & River Boat, December 1982, pp 30-32
Sailing Barges on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Journal of the Liverpool Nautical Research Society, 1988
English Canals - Yesterday and Today, Rzeki, 1996, Vol 5, ISSN 1230-2562
The Klodnice Canal Inclines, Journal of the Railway & Canal Historical Society, Vol 32 part 7, March 1998
British Canal History in Perspective, Waterways Journal, Vol 1, 1998, ISSN 1466-3732
Canal Boat Building in Blackburn, Aspects of Blackburn, 1999, ISBN 1-871647-56-8
Paddling About in Canal History, Waterways World, 1999
Meander Neck 'Canals' and the Early Improvement of Navigable Waterways; Transatlantic Case Studies, 1999, published in America, (with Philip Lord, Jr.)
Wooden Barge-building and the Origins of the Narrow Boat, Waterways Journal, Vol 3, 2000, ISSN 1466-3732
Canal Workers and Boatmen Around Accrington, Aspects of Accrington, 2000, ISBN 1-871647-65-7
European Canals, section for Encyclopedia Britannica, author, 2002.
Wartime Waterways, Waterways Journal, Vol 5, 2002, ISSN 1466-3732
Untertägige Kanäle in britischen Bergwerken, Der Anschnitt, 2-4 2002, ISSN 0003-5238
The Early Years of the Douglas Navigation, Waterways Journal, Vol 6, 2003, ISSN 1466-3732
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Narrowboat, Winter 2006
The Rochdale Canal and Its Carrying Department, Waterways Journal, Vol 10, 2007, ISSN 1466-3732
Hodson's of Whitebirk, Waterways Journal, Vol 12, 2009
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal Company Fleet, Narrowboat, Spring 2009
The Father of Britain's Canals? Narrowboat, Summer 2009
Ice-breaking on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Narrowboat, Winter 2009
Waterways between East and West Europe; a History to 1930, Waterways Journal, Vol 13, 2010, ISSN 1466-3732
John Rennie and the Rochdale Canal, Engineering History and Heritage, Vol 164 EH3, 2011
The Bridgewater Canal, Narrowboat, Summer 2011
The Draper Family of Buscough and Foulridge, Waterways Journal, Vol 14, 2012, ISSN 1466-3732 (with T J Peters)
The Rochdale Canal, Narrowboat, Autumn 2012
History and Replacement of Lock Gates, Engineering History and Heritage, vol 167 no.1, 2013, ISSN: 1757-9430.
The Underground Canals at Worsley, Narrowboat, Winter 2013.
Transport Workers Battalions, Narrowboat, Summer 2014.
Construction & Engineering Staff on the L&LC, Waterways Journal, Vol. 18, 2016
Power Shift: early internal combustion engines on the L&LC, Narrowboat, Autumn 2016
Conference Papers
The Dock Engineers and the Development of the Port of Liverpool, (with Nancy Richie-Noakes) Liverpool Shipping, Trade and Industry: Essays on the Maritime History of Merseyside, ed. Valerie Burton, NMGM, 1989, ISBN 0-990367-34-4
Thomas Steers, Dock Engineers and Dock Engineering, papers presented at a research day school, Merseyside Maritime Museum, 13 February, 1993
British Canals - Yesterday and Today, 18th Baltic Conference on the History of Science, Riga, 1996
British Canal History: a European perspective, 1st Waterways History Conference, 11 October 1997.
Recording and Interpreting: some thought on writing history, 3rd Waterways History Conference, 9 October 1999
Conserving Canal Heritage, Preservation of the Engineering Heritage - Gdansk Outlook 2000, ISBN 83-911909-4-3
The First Steam Locomotives on the Mainland of Europe, 1st Early Railway Conference, 2000
Underground Canals in England, Polish/German Confernce on Mine Canals, Walbrzych, Sept 2001.
Identifying and conserving important historic inland waterway boats, Inland Waterway Craft - preservation and use, 20th April 2002, Ellesmere Port.
Reuse of Industrial Buildings in East Lancashire, 2002.
Cast Iron Swing Bridges, Heritage of Technology - Gdansk Outlook 4, 2005, ISBN 83-88579-26-6
Canal Conservation and Interpretation in North-West England, Zabrze, 2005
The Benefits of Canal Heritage, Heritage First Seminar, British Waterways, Birmingham, 2005
Waterways between East and West Europe; a History to 1930, World Canals Conference, Serbia, 2009
Environmental Problems on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, TICCIH Conference, Freiberg, 2010
The Development of the Canal Lock, poster paper, World Canals Conference, Toulouse 2013.
The Historical Character of Canal Locks and Their Conservation, World Canals Conference, Milan 2014