Horseboating Society Facts for Kids

Boathorse Queenie

Imagine a time when boats on canals were pulled by horses! This old way of moving goods is called horseboating. The Horseboating Society is a group in the UK that works to keep this amazing tradition alive. They want to make sure people remember and learn about horseboating on Britain's canals. The Society started on January 19, 2001, at the Ellesmere Port Boat Museum. It is the only group in the UK focused just on horseboating.

What is Horseboating?
Amazing Journeys and Achievements
Images for kids
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What is Horseboating?

Boat horses were super important during the Industrial Revolution. This was a time when new machines and factories changed how people lived and worked. Horses pulled boats full of goods along canals, helping to move things around the country. They worked until the middle of the 1900s.

Today, horseboating helps us remember the lives of the people who worked on the canals. Thousands of families and skilled workers kept the boats moving. Horseboating lets us see what their daily lives were like.

Amazing Journeys and Achievements

Horseboat descending Marple Locks

The Horseboating Society has done many cool things to show off horseboating.

A Special Trip with Maria

On August 4, 2006, a special boat named Maria made a journey. Robin Evans, who was the head of British Waterways (the group that looks after canals), joined the trip. Maria is a very old narrowboat, built in 1854! It's Britain's oldest wooden narrowboat that still uses horse power. It has never had an engine.

Robin Evans got to try driving the boathorse, Queenie, along a part of the canal. He also helped move Maria through a tunnel by "legging" it. Legging is when people lie on the boat's roof and push against the tunnel walls with their feet to move the boat forward.

This journey was extra special because Maria used to carry limestone over 100 years ago. The Society wanted to remember this history by doing the same trip again.

Journey to the World Canals Conference

In 2007, the Society took a journey along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. They went to the World Canals Conference in Liverpool. They even got a grant of £42,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to help with this trip and other activities.

This journey was also part of an event called "Coal and Cotton." It celebrated how the Leeds and Liverpool Canal used to carry coal from Leeds and Wigan to Liverpool. It also brought cotton from Liverpool docks to Leeds. Maria carried sacks of coal and samples of cotton, just like in the old days!

Horseboat under tow

Through the Longest Tunnel

In May 2008, NB Maria was pulled by a horse again, this time on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. In 2006, Maria was the first boat in 60 years to be "legged" through the Standedge Tunnel. This tunnel is the highest, longest, and deepest canal tunnel in the UK! This time, a UK Government minister and a local Member of Parliament took turns legging Maria through the tunnel.

A Long Pull on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal

In 2012, another boat named NB Elland was pulled by a horse for the entire length of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. People believe this was the first time such a long journey had been done by horse in 68 years! The trip ended with a demonstration pull through the new Liverpool Canal Link.

Awards and Partnerships

The Horseboating Society also won an award in 2008. They received a "Commended" award in the "Historic Environment" section at the annual Waterways Renaissance Awards.

The Society works with many other groups to help canals and horses. Some of these groups include British Waterways, the Boat Museum Society, the British Horse Society, and the Inland Waterways Association.