Canal book unlocks the watery past
Expert writes book on history of waterway
AN INNOVATIVE new book about the Ashby Canal has been written by a man who worked on the waterway for more than a quarter of a century.
Ashby Canal, Past, Present & Future represents more than 25 years worth of research and hands-on graft by Geoff Pursglove, one-time Ashby Canal project officer for Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, now retired.
Beautifully presented, with archive photographs, specially produced maps, timeline, biography panels of people important to the canal’s development, and reproduced press cuttings and historical documents, it is a wholly accessible and hugely informative volume.
Although covering the whole stretch of waterway, there is plenty of interesting information about the canal in Hinckley and around the battlefield villages of Shenton, Shackerstone and Sutton Cheney.
Mr Pursglove said: “I have been working on the Ashby Canal for more than 25 years so felt it was time to pull the information I have gathered together into a readable form.
“This book covers the history of the canal from the late 1700s to the present day and beyond.
“There is a glimpse of what might have been, with a possible branch to Swadlincote, and a suggested connection to the Trent.
“There is a detailed update on the current canal restoration from Snarestone to Measham and Moira and historical information about the canal around the Hinckley area.”
Having worked on the canal for such a long period, the book also benefits from Mr Pursglove’s own before and after photographs of work done and developments completed in that time.
Ashby Canal, Past, Present & Future costs £9.95 and is available from Trinity Marina on Coventry Road, Hinckley, Sutton Cheney wharf cafe on the Ashby Canal off Wharf Lane, near Sutton Cheney and from the Ashby Boat Company in Stoke Golding or online at www.ambionpublishing.co.uk