Book preview: Urban Waterways

Before paved roads and railways, the industrial centres of England were connected to the ports by a network of rivers and canals. Many of these urban waterways fell into disuse during the first half of the twentieth century because of competition from faster forms of transport but in the last fifty years they have undergone a complete revival.

Today, thanks to pleasure boaters, some of these routes are busier now than they were in their commercial heyday. In this book photographer Derek Pratt explores most of the major cities and towns linked by the waterways, capturing their essence with images that are always evocative and often surprisingly beautiful. From the industrial arteries of Manchester and Birmingham to the leisure hotspots of London, Derek showcases the huge variety of life along England’s urban waterways.

With fascinating text and quirky captions, this unique book informs and entertains in equal measure, and proves that today’s urban waterways are no longer rubbish-filled canals carving their way through concrete jungles, but a much-ignored feature of England’s landscape that warrants greater appreciation.

Derek Pratt is a professional photographer and specialist writer on Britain’s inland waterways. His Waterways Photo Library contains a vast collection of colour and black and white photography taken over a period of almost half a century.

Urban Waterways is Derek’s fourth book published by Adlard Coles, following his bestselling Waterways Past and Present, the spectacular The Thames: A Photographic Journey from Source to Sea, and most recently London’s Waterways.

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