Canal Terminology: 

please email: i_maclachlan@yahoo.co.uk  with more examples to add to the list

bow-hauling: pulling a boat, usually a butty, into a lock by hand

breast-up: tie boats side by side, at night or in some cases when going into locks empty

butty: a narrowboat which is not powered, but towed as one of a pair

cratch: a small timber and tarpaulin covering at the fore end of the hold

the cut: any canal

dipper: a large metal vessel with a handle, used for washing cooking and laundry

joey: unmotorised narrowboat without living accommodation or covering for cargo. Pulled by a horse or tug and usually used for short trips around Birmingham

joshers: slang name for boats belonging to the company of Fellows, Morton & Clayton, after Mr Joshua Fellows

lengthsman: employee of the Waterways, whose job is to maintain a 'length' of canal 

lock-wheeling: to go ahead on foot or bicycle and prepare the lock for passage by boats

monkey: a power driven narrowboat which can tow a butty

monkey hole: a storage space inside the boat

pinner: an apron

to shaft: to manipulate the position of a boat by using the shaft (boathook) or a long pole

snubber: towing rope made of coconut fibre and used between the fore end of the butty and the stern of the motor - at full stretch usually 70 feet long.

spare-wheeling: filling in for a crew member when a boat was short handed

to stove: to fumigate with sulphur to rid the boat of bugs

strap: ropes used for tying up or short length towing

stroving: working hard

Turk's Head: decorative rope fender found in numerous places on narrowboats

winding hole: wider spot in the canal, where boats can turn round (wind)

windlass: L shaped cranking handle used for winding the lock paddles up or down

work fly: work on one of the fly boats with larger crews, which did the London to Birmingham trip non stop in something under 60 hours

Hillingdon Narrowboats Association : The Boathouse : Royal Quay : Harefield :  UB9 6JA

Telephone +044 01895 82 35 82