The early years We now think of our canals and rivers as timeless, our 'heritage' stretching back 250 years. But in 1972 they were very different from today, perhaps not so much in how they appeared, but how they were used and regarded. At the start of the decade the Upper Great Ouse, the Ashton, the Basingstoke, Caldon, Dudley, Rochdale and Huddersfield were just some of the routes closed to boats. Whilton - probably the first canal marina built from scratch - had only just opened. And specialist boatyards for the new breed of canal leisure boater were few. The Ribble Link was yet to be imagined (let alone built), London's canals were still a hidden world and cargo-carrying boats were a fresh memory.
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