A to Z of Canals and River Navigations
A is for aqueduct, animals (a boat family’s name for donkeys) and aegre (a tidal wave),
B is for balance-beam, barge, basin, boats, bollards, bobbins, butty, bridge, beck, bore, bow hauling, bye trader, and boundary post,
C is for canal, cargo, chalico, clough, cock boat, cotting, cut, cratches, coracle and chandler,
D is for day boat, drains, drawbridge, distance post, draw, dydle and dredger,
E is for embankment, ebb and eye,
F is for fishing, fly boats, flash-lock, flight, flat, fleet, flow, fly paddles, freshet, fixed bridge and footbridge,
G is for Grand Junction, Grand Union, Grand Trunk, ground paddle, galley beam, gang, gang planks, gauging, gongoozler and guillotine gate,
H is for Heartbreak Hill, handspike, hane, haling way, hauling path, heel post, henhouse rangers, hold, hollow quoin, horse boat, house lighter and hoppers,
I is for invert and inclined plane,
J is for junctions, joshers, jambing pole, jack clough and joeys,
K is for keels, keb and keys,
L is for ladders, land water, lift up bridges, legging, let off, lee boards, loodel, locks, lode, lighter and long boat,
M is for maintenance yard, marina, mileposts, mooring pins, mitre post, museums and monkey boats,
N is for navigator, navvy, nip, number ones and narrow boats,
O is for ooze, open boats, Ouse (Great), Ouse (Little) and Ouse (Yorks),
P is for paddles, pounds, pound locks, pen, punt, pubs and puddling,
Q is for queues, quant, quarter bits and quoins,
R is for reservoirs, risers, rate, ranters, reach, rimers, roding, rivers, racks and roving bridge,
S is for ships, screws, seizing chain, set to, shafting, slacker, soar pin, staith, stands, stank, steering pole, stop gates, strap, stud, sweep, side pond, sill, slat, sluice, staircase locks, steps, stop-planks, swing bridges, summits, starvationers and staunch,
T is for tiller, tolls, trows, tackle, trow, tying point, Tom Puddings, towpaths, turnover bridges, tub boats, tugs, Turk’s head and tunnels,
U is for underground,
V is for Venice (Little),
W is for water-gate, weirs, windlass, wherries, warehouses, washlands, weigh dock, wide boat, wind to, wings, winding gear and Woolwich (large and small),
X is for the mark of a navvy,
Y is for Berkeley Yellow cloth, stretched out on tenterhooks, above the Stroudwater Navigation,
Z is for the meandering zig-zags of canals, avoiding the expense of locks, as they pursue their elevation.