Nicholson Guides facts for kids

The Nicholson Guides are a series of books that help people explore the waterways of England, Wales, and Scotland. These guides were first published by Robert Nicholson Publications. Later, they were published by Bartholomew and the Ordnance Survey, and now by HarperCollins. They show both waterways you can travel on by boat and those you can't.

What are Nicholson Guides?

These guides are like special maps and information books for rivers and canals. They were first made for people traveling by boat. Now, they also include waterways that you can explore on foot or by bike.

Each page of a guide usually has a map of a part of a waterway. The maps show important things like bridges, locks (which help boats move between different water levels), boatyards, and places to get services. The maps also point out nearby pubs, towns, villages, roads, and railways.

How the Guides Started

Robert Nicholson started publishing guides to London in the 1960s. He noticed there wasn't a guide for the River Thames, so in 1969, he created Nicholson's Guide to the Thames.

In the early 1970s, more people started enjoying boating for fun. British Waterways, which manages many canals, asked Nicholson to create guides for their waterways. These new guides were similar to the Thames book.

Creating the First Guides

To make the guides, a boat was rented. Writers Paul Atterbury and Andrew Darwin were hired to gather information. A student was also hired to drive the boat. They wrote down details about places to eat near the canals and interesting spots to visit. They also noted every useful place for boaters, like water points and "winding holes" (places where boats can turn around).

They developed a special style for the guides that was used for many years. The first edition of these guides cost 75 pence. By the early 1980s, the price had gone up to £1.50.

Guide Formats and Editions

The first guides were tall, thin books. The canal line usually ran from the top to the bottom of each page. Sometimes, the map would "straighten" the canal in the middle of a page, changing which way was north.

The first set of guides had four books:

• 1 South East
• 2 North West
• 3 South West
• 4 North East

A fifth guide, The Midlands, was added in the early 1980s. These first guides were small, hardback books that could fit in a pocket.

In 1981, a "second revised edition" came out with only three books:

• 3 North
• 2 Midlands
• 1 South

This edition no longer mentioned British Waterways. The maps were printed in two colors, black and blue. The canal line was shown in blue, while the rest of the map was black and white.

By 1985, the guides were called 'The Ordnance Survey Guide to the Waterway'. They were published by Nicholsons and had four guides:

• 3 North
• 2 Central
• 1 South
• Thames (and Wey)

The books changed to spiral-bound paperbacks, which made them easier to use while traveling. In the late 1980s, a fifth guide covering the Fens and the Broads was added.

The fifth edition in 1991 included five books:

• 1 South
• 2 Central
• 3 North
• River Thames
• Broads & Fens

By the 7th Edition in 1995, Nicholsons was part of HarperCollins. There were four main books again, plus a new fold-out map of Great Britain.

Major Changes and New Editions

A big change happened in the mid-1990s. The Ordnance Survey, which makes official maps, said that the two-color maps needed to be replaced with full-color maps.

David Perrott, who had worked with Robert Nicholson since the first Thames book in 1969, remained the editor. After about 14 months, HarperCollins decided to go ahead with full-color maps. They then created seven regional guides. These guides were still being used in 2019. They also made a fold-out map of all the waterways and later guides for the Broads and the Scottish Canals.

Before this, the people researching the guides were paid for their bed and breakfast and some fuel for their boat. With the new editions, they started getting paid through a proper business agreement.

The editions from 1997, 2000, 2003, and 2007 expanded to eight books, covering more specific areas:

• 1 Grand Union, Oxford & the South East
• 2 Severn, Avon & Birmingham
• 3 Birmingham & the Heart of England
• 4 Four Counties & the Welsh Canals
• 5 North West & the Pennines
• 6 Nottingham, York & the North East
• 7 River Thames & the Southern Waterways
• 8 Scotland, the Highland and Lowland Waterways (only in the 2003 edition)

There are also two smaller fold-out maps: one for all of Great Britain and one for Scottish waterways.

From 1997 onwards, the maps became A5 size and were in full color. The canal routes were drawn over the latest Ordnance Survey maps, and north was always at the top of each page.

Jonathan Mosse joined the research team in 1989. He famously cycled the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal, which was being restored at the time. His findings were added to the Southern guide.

The plan used to be to update all the guides every three years. Now, two or three guides are updated each year. The guides have also been changed to appeal to more people. They now include any waterway that can be followed from one end to the other, whether by walking or cycling. For example, the northern parts of the Lancaster Canal were added to the 2019 North West and the Pennines guide.