| Aegre |
A tidal bore |
| Aft |
Back of the boat. |
| Arm |
A branch canal |
| Balance Beam |
The beam that projects from the top of a lock gate that balances the weight of the gate. Push on the beam to open the gate |
| Beam |
The width of a boat |
Blade
aka Screw |
Propeller |
| Bollard |
A post usually made of steel or wood, used for tying up a boat.
Found at locks and mooring places. |
| Bore |
A tidal wave |
| Bow |
The front of a boat |
| Bow Haulers |
Persons pulling a boat by hand |
| Breasted |
Two boats tied together, side by side |
| Butty |
A boat with no engine towed behind a powered boat |
| BWB or BW |
British Waterways Board now known as British Waterways |
| Bye Wash |
Takes exess water past a lock |
| Carvel Build |
Method of wooden boat construction, planks laid edge on edge |
| Caulking |
To force tarred hemp or similar into a joint to seal it |
| Checking Strap |
Rope thrown round a bollard to check the speed of a butty |
Conservation key,
aka Anti Vandal Key,
aka Handcuff Key |
Used at locks and moveable bridges where there is a possibility of vandalism |
| Cill |
A concrete step that the top gates of a lock sit on |
| Clinker Built |
Method of wooden boat construction, planks overlap |
Clough
aka Jack Clough |
A paddle covering a culvert entrance to control flow of water. Sometimes just a sliding board with a handle attached |
| Contour Canal |
Canal that follows the contours of the land saving on locks, bridges etc. |
| Counter |
A rounded stern deck |
| Cratch |
The front board of a narrow boat, usually triangular |
Cross Over Bridge
aka A Roving Bridge
aka A Turnover Bridge |
Carries the tow path from one side of the canal to the other |
| Cross Straps |
Two ropes used for towing a butty |
| Cut |
Canal (As cut by navvies) |
| Dolly |
A small post on the stern deck used for tying a rope on |
| Double Lock |
Two locks side by side |
| Draught |
Depth of boat under water |
| Draw |
To lift a paddle |
| Drop |
To drop a paddle |
| Dunnage |
Lengths of timber laid on bottom of boat so that straps can be put under cargo to lift out |
| Elsan Disposal |
A place to empty and clean chemical toilets (not pump out) |
| Engine Hole |
The place where the engine sits |
| Fender |
Ropework wove in to a protective pad hung on front, back and sides of boat to protect it from damage |
| Flight of Locks |
Several locks together with just a short pound in between each |
| Fly Boat |
Fast moving boat working 24/7, having priority at locks and tunnels |
| Fore |
Front of boat |
| Freeboard |
Side of boat from gunnels to water line |
| Freshet |
Increased flow in a river caused by heavy rain |
| Galley |
A boat's kitchen |
| Gangplank |
Used to bridge the gap between boat and bank |
| Gas Boat |
Boat with covered hod used to carry tar or similar in bulk |
| Gate Paddle |
Paddle covering a hole in a lock gate, opens to let water through |
| Gongoozler |
A person or persons gathered at a lock or bridge etc. who watch the boats and crew |
| Ground Paddle |
Paddle over a culvert at a lock to let water in or out of the lock |
| Guillotine Gate (or Lock) |
Gate that lifts up as opposed to opening sideways |
| Gunwale |
The top edge of the hull of a boat |
| Handspike |
Used to operate lock paddles on the 'Calder and Hebble Navigation' instead of a windlass |
| Hatches |
Covered openings in the deck or roof of a boat |
| Hobbler |
Casual canal workers who could be employed to help at a lock flight, or to leg through a tunnel |
| Hold |
Cargo storage area below decks |
| Hull |
All of the boat below cabin level |
| Hythe |
A wharf or quay |
| Inclined Plane |
A structure used to raise or lower boats from one section of the waterway to another in water filled troughs. There are no working inclined planes in Britain now |
| Inverter |
A device used to change low voltage DC to 240v AC |
| Jam Hole |
Kearley and Tonge's jam factory at Southall on the Grand Union Canal |
| Joshers |
A distinctive shaped narrowboat owned by Fellows, Morton & Clayton |
| Junction |
A point where two or more canals meet |
| Lasher |
A weir |
| Lateral Canal |
A canal that follows the route of a river and taking water from the river |
| Leggers |
Casual canal workers who were employed to leg boats through tunnels |
| Legging |
Usualy done by two people lying on there back on boards attached to the front of the boat, pushing against the tunnel walls with there feet and therefore propelling the boat |
| Lengthman |
A BW employee in charge of a length of waterway |
| Linear Moorings |
Moorings along the canal where the boat is tied parallel to the towpath |
| Lock Gates |
The mechanism that lets a boat into and out of a lock and also holds the water back |
| Lock Wheeler |
Someone who goes ahead of a boat to prepare the locks |
| Maffers |
Marsworth on the Grand Union Canal |
| Moira Cut |
Another name for the Ashby Canal |
| Navigation Lights |
used in poor visibility on rivers to show other boats where you are and what direction you are going in. White lights – front and back; green light – right hand side; red light – left hand side |
| Northwich |
Boats built by Yarwoods of Northwich |
| Number 1's |
A working narrow boat driven by the owner, as opposed to several boats owned by a company and driven by employees |
| Offline Mooring |
Moorings in a basin or marina |
| Oxford River |
The Thames above Reading |
| Packet Boat |
A passenger boat on canals |
| Paddles |
Trapdoors in the lock gate or side of the wall of the lock which let water in and out of the lock (Also known as a sluice) |
| Pigeon Box |
A ventilater above the engine hole with opening sides |
| Pins aka Stakes |
Hammered in to the ground and used to tie the boat to |
| Port |
The left side of the boat (facing forward) |
| Pound |
The length of water between locks |
| Pump Out |
A facility for emptying toilet holding tanks |
| Reach |
A stretch of water between locks on a none tidal river or between landmarks on a tidal river |
| Ribbon Plates |
Decorative plates with interlaced ribbons round the edge |
| Road |
The route ahead, ie good road - locks all in your favour |
| Rudder |
When attached to the tiller it steers a boat, by directing the water at the back of the propeller |
| Scour |
An underwater sand bank |
Shafting
aka Punting
aka Poling |
To move a boat with a pole |
| Shroppie Fly |
A 6' wide narrow boat pulled by two horses to transport urgent goods.
Also a famous pub on the Shropshire Union Canal at Audlem |
| Side Cloths |
Waterproof covers on a narrow boat |
| Skipper |
Captain or person in charge of a boat |
| Slide |
A sliding hatch cover |
| Snatcher |
A fairly short tow rope |
| Snubber |
A long tow rope |
| Staircase Locks |
A group of locks joined to-gether, the bottom gate of one, is the top gate of the next |
| Stank |
A temporary dam to stop the flow of water |
| Starboard |
The right side of a boat facing forward |
| Stern |
The back of a boat |
| Stern Gland |
Where the drive shaft goes through the boat, kept packed grease (a daily job when cruising) |
| Stoppages |
when work/maintenance is taking
place on a waterway, a section of it may need to be ‘closed’ to boaters for a certain length of time.
Stoppage notices are issued when this happens |
| Stop Planks |
Used to shut of a section of canal, they slide into grooves set in the canal side
Sometimes a permanent gate is used and normally kept open |
| Strap |
Strong rope passed round a (strapping) post to stop or slow a boat |
| Stern |
The back of a boat |
| Strings |
Thin ropes |
| Stern |
The back of a boat |
| Summit |
The highest section of a canal |
| Swim |
The tapered part of a hull |
| Tiller |
Attached to the rudder to control steering |
| Tipcat |
Specially shaped rear fender |
| Tom Puddings |
Unique non powered boat used on the Aire & Calder Navigation
Several of these were joined together and either pushed or pulled by a special tug |
| Towpath |
The path at the side of a canal or river
Originally the path used by the horses that towed the boats |
| Tumblehome |
The slope of the side of a boat between gunnels and roof |
| Tunnel Light |
Usually the only external light on a narrow boat.
Similar to a car headlamp used in tunnels to help you see and as a warning to on-coming boats |
| Weir |
Controllable dam used to increase the depth of water behind it |
Wind
Pronounced as in the wind that blows |
To turn a boat to face the opposite direction |
| Winding Hole |
A specially widened part of the canal, wide enough to turn (or wind) a boat in |
Windlass
aka Key |
An L shaped tool with two different sized square holes that attaches to a spindle on the paddle mechanism of a lock, allowing the paddle to be raised or lowered |
| Woolwich |
A narrow boat built by Harland and Wolff at there depot in Woolwich |
