Old Leeds/Liverpool Canal Photos

[NNR]

Hi,

  I would have assumed that a lot of photos would have been taken of the Leeds-Liverpool canal over the years. I ask because my Great Great Grandfather was the bridgemaster on a stretch of the canal (in Seaforth) and lived at, obviously, the bridgemaster's house, during this time (1860s/70s). Is it likely that there are any photos of the canal dating back to this time? Might someone have photographed bridgemaster's houses?

  The house still exists, but Great Great Grandfather died in 1879. I've always thought that a contemporaneous photograph of the house (with a family of appropriate age lined up outside!) would be the only chance I'll ever have of seeing a photo of him.

[big g]

Stephen,

Try this site:
www.bootlehistory.co.uk, there is a forum with several boards.

Glenys

[alpinecottage]

I don't know where you are Stephen, but if in UK you can watch the recent walk Tony Robinson did along this canal on 4od (Walking through History, I think it's called).  There were some old photos shown on the program and at the end were a list of credits, which will tell you where Channel 4 got their info from.

[Treetotal]

You might have some luck here:

http://www.llcs.org.uk/

Carol

[Lal]

A few things that might be of interest:

Most useful probably is the Boat Families site, where there's a chance you may find family members if they worked the canal: http://www.boatfamilies.org.uk/

They also published a book which is really good: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Burscough-Boatmen-Their-Marriages-Boats/dp/1901231127 OK, so your family may not be from around Burscough but the boatmen travelled wide and married outside the area. And that book is packed with great photos.

Modern photos and all sorts of info can be found on these two sites:
http://www.towpathtreks.co.uk/LLC/walking_the_leeds_liverpool_canal.html
http://www.leedsliverpoolcanal.co.uk/

It's also worth looking what groups there are on facebook, as there are some very active, picture packed local history sites for the North West running at the moment.

[garstonite]

contact Scottiepress ..
http://www.scottiepress.org/projects/nature.htm