Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.

Glossary from A to Z

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Term	Definition
Abaft	Towards the stem of a vessel.
Above board	Above deck level.
Admiral Class	Narrowboats built by Isaac Pimblott & Sons of Northwich (except for the last two pairs, which were built by Yarwoods,) for British Waterways they are named after admirals from Anson to Mountbatten.
Aegre	Tidal wave or bore.
Aft	Behind or towards the stern.
After part	The rear or stern of a craft.
Albert's Two	A working boater's term for the two Cassiobury Park Locks, Nos. 75 & 76, on the GU main line.
Amidships	The centre or middle part of a craft.
Ampton Boats	These were unusual craft 80 feet long, much longer than the normal canal craft as they worked exclusively over a stretch of water without locks, between collieries on Cannock Chase and the Wolverhampton area.
Animals	A boatman's name for donkeys used singlely, or in pairs, for towing boats.
Answer Pins or Anser Pins	Hooks and shackles at the stern of a boat used for breasting up or strapping.
Apron	Part of the lock bottom where the sills are fixed.
Arm	A branch from the main canal.
Astern	Behind. Usually at the rear of a vessel, as with a following craft.
Avon Tar Barge	The Avon tar barge was bluff in the bows with a rounded counter stem. They worked over the Avon section of the Kennet and Avon, under sail until the First World War.Traffic began during the late 1860s and ended in 1967.
Awash	(1) Washed over by waves or lying low, near the surface of the water. (2) The anchor of a craft is awash when lifted clear of the water.
Bacat	The experimental system was capable of conveying 140 tons compartment boats across the North Sea within a larger double-hulled vessel. On reaching their home port the smaller craft were to be taken further inland by tugs.
Back door	Communicating door of a narrowboat, between cabin and hold or cargo space.
Back end beam or Cabin beam	A plank across the hold just forward of the cabin.
Back end rail	An iron or steel rail running from side to side on the leading edge of a traditional narrowboat cabin.
Backering	A horse towing a boat without anyone on the towpath to drive it.
Balance Beam or Balance.	The beam projecting from a lock gate which balances its weight, and by pushing against which the gate is opened or closed.
Ballasting	Dredging by hand with a scoop.
Barge	Large commercial craft used for conveying goods or minerals over the inland waterways. More than 7 foot beam. Also a small passenger or pleasure craft.
Barge Walk	A towpath in Thames-side usage.
Bargee	Crewman or owner-skipper of a barge.
Barlow Boat	These narrowboats operated in the coal trade, mainly from Birmingham.
Bars	Horizontal beams in the structure of a lock gate.
Bats	The blades of a propeller.
BCN	Birmingham Canal Navigation.
Beam	The maximum width of a boat.
Beams		On a working narrowboat four removable lengths of wood placed across a boat's hold.
Beck	A dyke or drain.
Big Engine	A Josher fitted with a 15hp Bolinder engine.
Black Boats	Thomas Clayton short distance boats used for the transport of bulk liquids.
Blade	The propeller.
Block Rope	Used with a pulley block to increase the power of a horse pulling a boat out of a lock.
Blow To	A warning blast on the horn when approaching a bridge hole or other place where the view is restricted.
Blue Tops	The last commercial narrowboats built by the British Transport Commission which were fitted with distinctive blue fibreglass hatch covers.
Bluff	The sturdy, blunt, near-upright construction of a craft, normally relating to the bows.
Boat	Any type of small craft on the inland waterways. Normally less than 7 foot beam.
Boat Snapper	Man employed to move unattended boats during loading and unloading processes.
Boater	Person living or working on a canal boat.
Bobbins	Short wooden rollers, usually painted, threaded on to the traces of horses, thus preventing chaffing when towing a boat.
Bolinder	An early single cylinder diesel engine fitted to many trading boats.
Bollard	Wood or metal posts used for tying up boats at locks and moorings.
Bore	Tidal wave or aegre.
Bottom Road	Working boater's term for the route NE of Birmingham to Coventry.
Bow haulers	Men working in gangs to pull boats or barges, from the towing paths.
Box mast		Square-shaped box-like mast or upright of a canal boat. Often telescoping in two sections. Used as a towing post and to support protective covers.
Box Pump	A square sectioned pump made from wood with the wooden piston sealed with leather.
Bracing chains	On working narrowboats these removable and adjustable chains were placed across the hold to pull in the sides of the boat.
Bracket Open	Driving a motor boat at full speed.
Bread and Larders	Boatmen who worked the south Oxford Canal.
Breast	The end wall at the head of a lock, which supports the sill.
Breast Post	Also called a Head or Mitre Post. The vertical post farthest from the hanging point of a lock gate.
Breasting up	Two or more boats secured side by side for river navigation or passing through a double lock.
Bridge Hole	The opening and channel beneath a bridge.
Brighouse Fender	An intricately made rope stern fender for Yorkshire Keels.
Bulk	Ornamental structure of wood and light canvas, stuffed with hay, fitted to the front board or cratch of a narrowboat.
Bull Nose or Knuckle	Bull Nose is a Thames term for the rounded stonework at the entrance to a lock. Knuckle is the equivalent dockland term.
Bumping Pieces	Wooden or iron protective cladding on lock gates or the breast wall.
Butt Strap	In riveted iron and steel boats this was used to secure butted joints between plates.
Butty	Non-powered boat of a working pair, on the narrow canals. Originally a horse boat but later towed by a motorboat.
BW or BWB	British Waterways and its predecessor the British Waterways Board
Bye-Trader	Any trader on a canal other than the company owning the canal.
Bye-wash	The overflow weir that allows canal water to by-pass a lock.
Cabbage Turn	A sharp turn between Wormleighton and Marston Doles on the Oxford Canal.
Cabin beam or Back end beam	A plank across the hold just forward of the cabin.
Cabin block	Wedge-shaped block on the stern cabin roof of a narrowboat. Used to support the rearmost of a set of top planks
Carvel build	The construction of a wooden boat with planks laid edge to edge.
Caulking	Making the seams of a wooden boat watertight by sealing them with oakum.
Chalico	Protective dressing of horse dung, tar and cow-hair used in boat building.
Change Boat	An alternative boat used by working boaters when their own boats were being docked.
Check Pin	A horn shaped pin on the lock side, to hold boats on their checking straps.
Checking Strap	A rope attached to the stern of a butty boat, which was put around a bollard to slow the boat.
Cill or Sill	The brick, masonry or concrete bed at the bottom of lock gates.
Clamp up	To freeze up.
Clapping Post or Clapping Quoin	The old and modern terms for the vertical sill of a lock against which the lock gate closes.
Clinker build	The construction of a wooden craft with overlapping side planks.
Clough	A paddle, or small door, used to control the flow of water through a lock or weir.
Cockpit	Open space at the rear of a narrowboat's stern cabin.
Coin or Coyn	The hollow quoin into which a lock gate heel post is recessed.
Coin Post	Old Staffs & Worcs. term for a lock gate heel post.
Compartment Boats	Also called "Tom puddings". Once used on the Aire and Calder Navigation and formed into trains to be pushed and/or pulled by a tug.
Contour Canal	A canal built to follow the natural levels, or contours, of the terrain thus reducing the number of locks and earthworks required.
Corketts Two	A working boater's term for the Ivinghoe Locks, Nos. 32 & 33, on the GU main line.
Cotting	A fenland term for uprooting rushes or reeds in a river. See also Roding.
Counter	Flat, rounded stern deck of a motorboat.
Cradging	A fenland term for re-enforcing a bank with reeds or turf.
Cratch	Triangular front board on a narrowboat.
Cross Beam	Wide planks across the hold of a boat, slotted to hold stands.
Cross Straps	Two short ropes used to tow an empty boat.
Cross Wind	To enter a lock or other narrow place at an angle and thus colliding with the sides rather than gliding down the centre.
Crossover Bridge	A bridge carrying the towpath from one side of the canal to the other. Also called a Turnover or Roving Bridge.
Cut	An artificial channel or canal.
Cutter	A small pipe with a vertical loop of brass, fitting above the upright exhaust pipe of a motor boat to break the force of the exhaust under bridges and tunnels.
Dandy Paddle	Trent & Mersey boatman's term for a top paddle.
Day boat	Also known as a Joey boat. A boat often used for day trips, sometimes without a stern cabin.
Deck lid	Hinged cover over a locker, at deck level.
Dipper	A metal bowl with a handle used for as an all-purpose utensil.
Dodswell Two	A working boater's term for Dudswell Locks, Nso. 47 & 48, on the GU main line.
Dolly	An iron or steel stump on the counter of a motor boat, used for towropes.
Doors	A fenland term for gates, therefore lock gates are known as sluice doors.
Double Lock	A two-rise staircase lock or normal locks placed side by side to increase traffic capacity.
Downhill Runner (or Strap)	Another name for a Checking Strap - a rope attached to the stern of a butty boat, which was put around a bollard to slow the boat.
Draw	To raise, as in drawing a paddle to allow water through a lock or weir.
Drop	To lower, as in dropping a paddle to shut off the flow of water through a lock or weir.
Dummy Bows	The false bows attached to the first boat in a train of compartment boats, also called the jebus.
Dunnage or Dennage	Scraps of timber used to raise cargo above the floor of the hold, thus enabling slings to be passed beneath.
Dydle	A Norfolk term for clearing or dredging a channel.
Eau	Pronounced O, a fenland term for an artificial channel or cut.
Elum or Ellum		Combined rudder and tiller of a butty boat.
Engine hole	Engine-room space on a motorboat.
Eye	A fenland term for the aperture through which water enters or leaves a lock or sluice.
Fall	Gear for lowering tackle.
False Cratch	A triangular wooden construction forming the rearward part of the cratch.
False Floors	Removable floors raising the cargo above the bottom of the boat.
Family boat	Boat or barge occupied by the skipper and his family.
Fan	Propeller.
Fellows, Morton & Clayton	A famous canal carrying company which sold its fleet to the British Transport Commission in 1948.
Fender	Protective pad or buffer used to protect a boat from damage. Traditionally of rope work, but now rubber and plastic materials are also used.
Fest Ropes	A pair of ropes one on each side of a fen lighter, the loose ends being passed round the steering pole to steady it when in use.
Finney	Working boater's term for Fenney Stratford on the GU.
Five Paddle	A working boaters term for Home Park Mill Lock, No. 70, on the GU main line.
Flash Lock	A weir with a single gate to allow navigation. Boats either had to navigate with, or against, the rush of water or to wait for the whole of pounds on either side of the weir to become equal. Also called a Navigation Weir or Staunch.
Flash or Flush	(1) A sudden release of water used to assist navigation on rivers. (2) An inland lake, often caused by subsidence due to salt mining.
Flat	Mersey flats, and the larger Black flats, were a type of trading vessel operating around Liverpool and the River Weaver. The term 'flat' is also used to describe the shallow punts or rafts used for canal maintenance.
Fleet	A Norfolk term for a shallow.
Floodbank	Banks constructed some way back from a river's natural banks, designed to limit the effects of flooding.
Fly boat	A swiftly moving canal boat carrying priority cargoes.
Fore	The front or forward part of a boat.
Forebay	The breast wall and upper sill of a lock.
Forestay	Rope or wire securing a mast or upright at the front. Connects masthead and stem post.
Freeboard	The space on the side of the hull between the top and the water line.
Freshet	An increased flow of a river caused by rain.
Gaffsail	Sail supported by a spar or gaff in its upper parts.
Galley Beam or Lintel	A beam uniting across the top the gate posts of a pair of lock gates of the old types of river lock hung on hooks and rides. The galley beam keeps the gate posts in place, and prevents these unbalanced type of gate from falling inwards.
Gang	Five fen lighters, or two Stour (Suffolk) lighters, chained together for navigation.
Gang Planks	(1) Removable planks running along the top of a narrowboat, held by stands, and running from the stern cabin to the cratch. (2) Planks used for access between the shore and a boat or ship.
Ganzies	Rushall Locks, BCN.
Ganzy	The Rushall Canal.
Gas Boats	A decked-in narrowboat used for transporting gas liquor or tar in bulk.
Gas two	A working boater's term for the Northchurch Locks, Nos. 51 & 52, on the GU main line.
Gate Paddle	Paddles or sluices that admit water to a lock via the openings in a lock gate rather than via culverts built into the ground.
Gauging	The measurement of a boat's freeboard in order to calculate the tonnage carried. The scale was established by placing known weights into a boat and recording the measurements appropriate to each weight.
Girder	A thin rope, running from the top planks to the cross beam, used for lashing down top planks.
Gongoozler	An inquisitive bystander often found by locks and other places where boats gather.
Greasy Ockers	Fellows, Morton and Clayton boaters.
Ground Paddle	Paddles or sluices that admit water via culverts built into the ground rather than via openings in a weir or lock gate.
GU and GUCCC	The Grand Union (canal) and the old Grand Union Canal Carrying Company
Gudgeon or Tan Pin	A pin at the foot of the heel post of a lock gate on which the gate turns.
Guillotine Gate	A vertically rising lock or stop gate.
Gunwale	The upper line or edge, along the hull, of a boat or ship.
Half Lock	A staunch or watergate. It differs from a flash lock because the single gate is placed below the weir to make a level rather than to release a flash.
Haling Way	Also known as the towing path or haling path. Canal or riverside paths used for towing from.
Handspike	A length of wood used to operate lock paddles instead of rack and pinion gears. Still used on the Calder & Hebble Navigation.
Hatches	(1) Covers over a cargo space or the entry to a cabin. (2) Rear entrance to the stern cabin of a narrowboat.
Head	Immediately above the top gates of a lock is the head of the lock.
Head Post	Also called a Breast or Mitre Post. The vertical post farthest from the hanging point of a lock gate.
Heel Post	The vertical post on which a lock gate hangs and turns.
Helum or Elum	Combined rudder and tiller of a butty boat.
Hobbler	A man casually employed by working boatmen to assist them through a lock flight. Also and alternative term to lock wheeling.
Hold	Cargo space below deck level.
Hold Back	Go astern to slow or stop the boat.
Hold In	Hold or turn the boat in the direction of the towing path.
Hold Out	Hold or turn the boat in the direction away from the towing path.
Hollow Quoin	The recess in which the heel post of a lock gate is fitted and turns during opening and closing.
Horse boat	(1) Narrowboat drawn by a horse or other animal. (2) A pontoon or ferry to take horses across a river where there are no bridges and the towing path changes sides.
Horse Marines	A term used in Yorkshire for the horse haulage contractors that towed the keels on the canals.
House Lighter	A fenland term for a lighter with a cabin.
Hythe	A quay or wharf.
Ice Plates	Metal plates attached to the front and side of a wooden narrowboat at the waterline to protect the hull from ice sheets.
Inclined Plane	A device on wheels that lifted boats from one level to another without using locks.
Inside and Inside Turn	Inside is the boaters term for the towpath side of the canal thus an inside turn is one where the deep water is on the towpath side.
Invert	An inverted brick, or masonry, arch as used at the bottom of a lock or tunnel.
Ippey Cut	The Wilts and Berks Canal.
Jack Clough	See Paddle.
Jam Hole	Kearley and Tonge's jam factory at Southall on the GU. A regular destination for narrowboat cargoes.
Jambing Pole	The pole that projected from fen lighters forming a gang, except for the first and second lighters. The first carried no pole, the second the longer steering pole.
Jebus	The false bows attached to the first boat in a train of compartment boats.
Joey boat	A day boat often used for short trips, sometimes without a stern cabin.
Joshers	Boats which belonged to Fellows, Morton & Clayton Ltd.
Keb	An iron rake used to retrieve coal and other articles from the canal bed.
Keel	A type of boat once in extensive use on the Yorkshire rivers and canals, they measure approximately 58 feet long by 14 feet beam.
Keelson	An inner keel, fitting above or in place of the keel.
Knobstick	An Anderton Company working narrowboat.
Knuckle or Bull Nose	Knuckle is a dockland term for the rounded stonework at the entrance to a lock. Bull Nose is the equivalent Thames term.
Lade Hole	A well in the floor (or shutts) of a narrowboat to facilitate pumping out.
Land Water	Water in a river that has drained from the land, as distinct from water forced upstream by the wind or tide.
Lanteen sail	Triangular sail attached to a long yard or diagonal with a shorter mast. The mast is stepped well forward, frequently having a short boom at the rear.
Lash	This experimental system used a host ship containing up to eighty-nine 435 ton lighters for Atlantic crossings. The lighters were lifted in and out of the host ship by means of a travelling overhead crane, operating from bridge to stern.
Lasher	A weir.
Lateral Canal	One running alongside a river and using it to supply water.
Leam	A fenland term for a drainage and navigation channel.
Lee boards	Boards fitted to the side of sailing barges and lowered to decrease the leeway made when sailing close to the wind. These boards act as a keel.
Leggers	The people engaged in legging a boat through a tunnel. These may have been the boat crew or professional leggers that were stationed at most long tunnels.
Legging	The method of propelling boats through tunnels by two people pushing the boat with their feet against the tunnel walls. Widely used with horse drawn boats, as most tunnels had no towpath.
Legging Boards	Boards that could be attached to the front of the boat and which projected out to the sides, on which the leggers lay while legging through a tunnel. Most boats would carry two sets, one for wide, and one for narrow tunnels. Also called wings.
Lengthman	A person in charge of a particular length of canal.
Let Off	A paddle, or other device, to allow water to be drawn from the canal to regulate water levels or to drain a section for maintenance.
Level	A level is said to be made when two reaches of water, one on each side of a lock gate or weir, become level.
Lift	A working boater's term for a lock staircase. Can also refer to boat lifts e.g. the Anderton Lift.
Lighter	A term including a variety of vessels from the Fens, the Thames, the River Stour (Suffolk) and the Bridgewater Canal.
Lintel or Galley Beam	A beam uniting across the top the gate posts of a pair of lock gates of the old types of river lock hung on hooks and rides. The lintel keeps the gate posts in place, and prevents these unbalanced type of gate from falling inwards.
Lock	A construction for navigating between different water levels on rivers and canals using controlled changes in water levels to float the boat to its new level. See also Flash Lock and Pound Lock.
Lock Distance Post	Posts set 15 or 20 yards from the head and tail of a lock. The first boat to pass the post had claim to the lock.
Lock Spit	A shallow trench linking slope holes dug as an early stage of canal excavation.
Lock, To	To work a vessel through a lock.
Lock Wheeler	Someone who goes ahead (originally on a bike) to get locks ready.
Long Boat	River Severn term for a narrowboat.
Loobey, Looby or Luby		A swivelling piece of metal on the top of a boat's mast to hold a towrope, sprung so as to return to a vertical position.
Loodel	A vertical extension to a tiller used when steering high loads such as hay or straw.
Maffers	Working boater's term for Marsworth on the GU and for the top Marsworth Locks (Maffers 7).
Marines, Horse	A term used in Yorkshire for the horse haulage contractors that towed the keels on the canals.
Mast (on a working narrowboat)		A hollow square extendable post towards the front of the boat's hold used for attaching a towrope.
Mast Beam	The cross beam just ahead of the mast into which the mast is fitted.
Middle Beam	The cross beam behind the mast, which is slotted to take a stand.
Mitre Post	Also called a Head or Breast Post. The vertical post farthest from the hanging point of a lock gate.
Monkey boat	Slang term for a typical narrowboat used more on the Grand Junction and London waterways. It said to relate to Thomas. Monk, a boat owner in London who designed the first living cabin that became the traditional design for narrowboat cabins.
Moria Cut	The Ashby Canal.
Moshers Two	Daw End Locks, BCN.
Mud Box	Working boater's term for the water intake filter on the engine cooling system.
Mud Heelers	Boaters working on the north Oxford Canal.
Mudding	Dredging by hand.
Nags Head Three	A working boater's term for the Seabrook Locks, Nos. 34 - 36, on the GU main line.
Narrow Boat	A craft, traditionally measuring approximately 70 feet long by 7 feet beam, used throughout the Midland canal system. Sometimes also referred to as a monkey boat or long boat.
Narrow canals	Narrow-gauge canals with restrictions of navigation at stop-locks to boats of less than 70 feet by 7 feet.
Navigation lamp	Oil or electric lamp displayed on or near the cratch of a narrowboat. Used for night work or in tunnels.
Navigation Weir	A weir with a single gate to allow navigation. Boats either had to navigate with, or against, the rush of water or to wait for the whole of pounds on either side of the weir to become equal. Also called a Staunch or Flash Lock.
Neals	A working boater's term for Slapton Lock, Nos. 30, on the GU main line.
Nip	A term used on the River Trent for a narrow place.
Noble	Working boater's term for Newbold on the Oxford Canal.
Northwich	Commercial narrowboats built by Yarwoods Ltd. at Northwich, Cheshire.
Number one	An owner-boater, mainly on the narrow canals.
Oakum	Lengths of shredded rope used with pitch to seal apertures between planks and such like.
Oil Rod	The speed control on a Bolinder engine.
Old Thirteen	Farmers Bridge Locks, BCN.
Open boats	Boats with no cabins. Often these were used as day boats.
Outside and Outside Turn	Outside is the boaters term for the side of the canal away from the towpath thus an outside turn is one where the deep water is on the opposite side to the towpath.
Oxford River	Working canal boaters term for the Thames above Reading.
Packet boat	Boat used in regular service for passengers, their hand luggage and small parcels.
Paddle	A slat, or small door, used to control the flow of water through a lock or weir.
Paddle Bar	The rod or shaft linking a paddle to the operating mechanism.
Pen	A fenland term for a lock.
Peters Two	A working boater's term for the bottom two Marsworth Locks, Nos. 37 & 38, on the GU main line.
Pigeon box	Oblong or box-shaped ventilator above the engine-hole hatch of a motorboat.
Pill	A tidal creek with a soft mud bottom. From the welsh pwll (pool).
Plank Staunch	An East Anglian staunch simply constructed of planks laid one above the other.
Pointing Doors	A fenland term mitred lock gates.
Pool	North of England term for a canal pound.
Pools	A working boater's term for Horton Lock, No. 31, on the GU main line.
Port Claytons	Narrowboats belonging to Thomas Clayton which carried oil between Ellesmere Port and the Black Country.
Portage	To lift craft out of the water and carry them past an obstruction such as a lock, weir or rapids.
Pot	The socket at the bottom of a lock which takes the gudgeon or tan pin.
Pound	The length of canal between two locks. This can vary from a few feet, at Bratch Locks, to many miles.
Pound Lock	The normal type of lock found on inland waterways, having a lock chamber with gates at either end and paddles to control the water level. See also Flash Lock.
Pup	A 9hp Bolinder engine.
Quant	A Norfolk term for a boat pole or shaft.
Quarrage	The small changes in the tide at the uppermost limit of tidal influence on the River Severn, sometimes as high as Diglis weir, Worcester.
Quarter Bits	A pair of ropes on a fen lighter attached from the fore end of the jambing pole to each side (or quarter) of the lighter in front.
Queaches	Wet spots near a canal. From Queachy meaning boggy.
Railway Basins	Basins built to provide a direct interconnection for the transfer of goods between the railway and canal.
Railway Boats or Station Boats	Narrowboats operated by railway companies to take goods to and from Railway Basins.
Ram's Head		The wooden rudder post on a butty usually decorated with rope work and sometimes with a horse's tail.
Rampers	On wooden boats the spikes driven laterally between adjacent planks to hold them together.
Reach	On a non-tidal river the stretch of water between locks or on the tidal river between bends or landmarks.
Red Ticket	Issued to boats with urgent cargoes enabling them to pass through closed locks.
Reed Rond	A Norfolk reed bank.
Ribbon Plates	Plates with pierced edges, prized as decoration for the working boater's cabin and still popular today.
Ricky	(1) Rickmansworth on the GU (2) A boat built by Walker Brothers of Rickmansworth.
Rimers	The posts holding the removable paddles in Thames weirs.
Ring Hole Deep	A boat so fully laden that the rings on the gunwale are awash.
Risers	A series of locks having no intermediate pounds, so that the top gates of one forms the bottom gates of the next. Also called staircase locks.
River Class Boat	(1) Tanker narrowboats owned by Thomas Clayton of Oldbury named after rivers. (2) British Waterways Authority narrowboats dating from 1959 also known as blue tops.
Road	(1) The canal route e.g. The Bottom Road (2) The state of the locks ahead i.e. good - most locks in our favour - or bad.
Rocking	Working boater's term for a cutting.
Roding	A Fenland term for cutting rushes or reed in a river, or cotting if they are uprooted.
Rodney boat	A neglected family boat with scratched paint and dull brasses. A floating slum.
Rods	Working boater's term for engine controls of the type fitted to Bolinder engines.
Rond	A Norfolk river bank.
Roving Bridge or Turnover Bridge	A bridge carrying the towing path across another canal or branch at the junction.
Royalty Class Boats	Boats of the GUCC fleet of the 1930s, launched to coincide with a programme of widening, dredging and modernisation on the line of the canal, between London and Birmingham. They were named after kings and queens and only six were constructed.
Runcorn Boat	The type of narrowboat used on and around the Bridgewater Canal.
Running blocks	Wooden blocks used to guide a towing rope.
Scend	The space between the bottom of a boat and the bed of the waterway.
Scoop	A wooden shovel, about five feet long, for bailing water out of a narrowboat hold.
Scour	A bank of mud or sand caused by water flow.
Scouring	Clearing out a canal or navigation to improve its use and appearance.
Screw	A screw propeller.
Seizing Chain	The chain by which two fen lighters are attached to each other, stem to stern, when forming part of a gang.
Set, To	To set a staunch is to close it so that the water may accumulate.
Severn Tanker	These all-steel barges operated from 1928 until the mid 1960s, mainly at Stourport, Worcester and Gloucester. They were, limited to a length of 137 feet.
Severn Trow	This type of craft, now extinct, operated mainly in the Severn estuary, although many of the smaller type worked as far inland as Shrewsbury and the Welsh Marches. The larger type (70 foot length, 17 foot beam) would carry about 120 tons.
Severner	A Severn & Canal Carrying Co. narrowboat.
Shaft, To	To propel a boat through a tunnel with a long shaft as an alternative to legging.
Shafting	Punting or poling a boat.
Shearings	Panels or planks lining the interior bodywork of a craft.
Short Boat		These canal boats (length 62 feet, beam 14 feet 3 inches, cargo capacity 50 tons) were designed to fit the short but wide beam locks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Originally of wooden construction, horse-drawn or bow-hauled from the towing path.
Shroppie Fly	A narrowboat, round-bilged and streamlined. It was only 6 feet wide and was used for urgent and perishable goods over the Shropshire Union Canal. Towed by two galloping horses, round the clock in relays, they travelled at over ten miles an hour.
Shutts or Shoots	The false floors of a narrowboat hold.
Side cloths	Protective covers drawn up or let down from the sides of a boat or barge to protect the cargo.
Side Lock	A lock linking two waterways running in parallel.
Side Ponds	A reservoir to take water to and from a lock as a water saving measure. Many of these can still be seen beside locks but very few that are in working order.
Sill or Cill	The brick, masonry or concrete bed at the bottom of lock gates.
Slack boards	Side planks, also known as wash boards, used to prevent part of a cargo of slack or small coal from slipping into the water.
Slacker	A paddle, or small door, used to control the flow of water through a lock or weir.
Slat	A paddle, or small door, used to control the flow of water through a lock or weir.
Saulters	A working boater's term for Boxmoor Top Lock, No. 62, on the GU main line.
Slide	Hatch cover on the top of a stern cabin. Made to open by sliding backwards and forwards.
Slope	The fall of a river's surface over a distance. May be expressed as a fall of a number of feet and inches per mile.
Slope Holes	Nicks in the ground, every two or three chains distance, to mark each side of a canals course. Made by canal cutters following the surveyor's pegs. See also lock spits.
Slub or Slutch	Dredged mud.
Sluice	A fenland term for a lock.
Snatcher	A short rope used for towing.
Snubber	A long rope used for towing a butty.
Snubbing Post	An old Chester Canal term for a strapping post.
Soar Pin	A straight pin with a shoulder attached to a cabin top and used for attaching tow ropes prior to their replacement by towing studs.
Soss	A sluice.
Sough	A drainage tunnel for canal tunnel construction or mine workings. Pronounced suff.
Spread	A fenland term for a pole, shaft or quant.
Sprit	A fenland term for a pole, shaft or quant.
Staircase Locks	A series of locks having no intermediate pounds, so that the top gates of one forms the bottom gates of the next. Also called risers.
Staith or Staithe	Loading gantry, usually at or near a colliery, for loading coal into boats or ships.
Stake	A fenland term for mooring.
Stakie Barge	A Thames swim-headed barge that often carried hay in her hold rising as much as 13 feet above deck. Very few were seen the 1920s. The mate was often perched on top of the cargo so as to shout directions to the helmsman.
Standed Boat	A boat left unattended for loading or unloading.
Stands		Flattened or attenuated uprights of a narrowboat, supporting top planks and side cloths.
Stank	A temporary watertight dam used to isolate and drain a section of waterway for repair.
Star Class	GUCCC boats named after stars and constellations.
Starvationer	Narrow cigar-shaped boat, formerly used in the underground workings of collieries owned by the Duke of Bridgewater at Worsley near Manchester.
Station Boats or Railway Boats	Narrowboats operated by railway companies to take goods to and from Railway Basins.
Staunch or Stanch	A weir with a single gate to allow navigation. Boats either had to navigate with, or against, the rush of water or to wait for the whole of pounds on either side of the weir to become equal. Also called a Navigation Weir or Flash Lock.
Steering Pole	The pole which projected from the second fen lighter in a gang by which the whole gang was steered by men standing on the first lighter.
Stem Post	The fore post of the boat that forms the apex of the bows.
Stemmed	Aground on a mud-bank.
Stern gland	The aperture through which the drive shaft connects with the propeller. Normally packed and greased to minimise water seepage.
Stern Stud	A T-stud at the rear of a butty or horse boat.
Stiffeners	Thinner stands used as extra support for the top planks of a narrowboat.
Stop Gates	Wooden gates similar to lock gates that can be used to dam the canal in the event of a leak or the need for repairs, but which are normally kept open.
Stop Grooves	Places provided to fit Stop Planks to dam the canal in the event of a leak or the need for repairs. These are normally found at places where the canal narrows, e.g. bridges, aqueducts and locks.
Stop Lock	A lock provided to protect the water supply of one canal company from another rather than to affect a significant change in the level of the waterway.
Stop Planks	Wooden boards that can be inserted into Stop Grooves to dam the canal in the event of a leak or the need for repairs.
Stoppage	The temporary closing of part of a waterway for maintenance or repairs.
Stourlifter	A railway narrowboat operating between Wolverhampton and Stourport.
Strakes	Protective horizontal bars or bands protecting the sides, bow and stern of a boat or barge.
Strap	A rope used to stop a vessel by winding one end round a post or bollard on shore, the other end being attached to the vessel.
Strapping Post	A post, either on the lock side or the top gate, provided to hold the strap of a boat entering a lock.
Stretcher	(1) Crossbar to which the low rope is attached for horse towing. (2) Cross plank or bar used to strengthen the hull of a narrowboat.
Stride	A Thames term for a galley beam or lintel.
Strings	Thin ropes used to secure side and top cloths on a working boat.
Stroudwater Barges	Used on the Stroudwater Canal, also working into the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, via Saul Junction. They were about 70 feet long, with a beam of 15 feet 6 inches, and between 70 and 75 ton in capacity.
Struts	Inward-sloping wooden stays used to support the top planks and covers of a narrowboat.
Stud	A tee shaped cleat fitted to the front or rear of a narrowboat to which mooring lines can be attached.
Stumpy Barge	A Thames barge which was swim-headed and only 45 to 55 feet long, used during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Summit Level	A pound with no locks which rise from it, therefore a key point for water supply.
Sutter	A fenland term for a guillotine lock gate.
Suttons Stop	Hawkesbury Junction where the Oxford Canal joins the Coventry Canal.
Swan's Neck	Ornamental rope work on a butty, connecting the rudder blade with the top of the rudder post or ram's head.
Sweep	A large oar.
Sweeps Two	A working boater's term for the Berkhampstead Locks, Nos. 54 & 55, on the GU main line.
Swim	The shaping or tapering of a boat's hull to allow a good flow of water around the vessel when moving.
Swim, To	A boat which answers readily to the helm is described as 'a good swimmer', or may be said to "swim well'.
Swim-end	Boat or barge with a flattened, square end (bow or stern) raked to overhang the water at an angle of about 45 degrees.
Swingletree	A later and sturdier form of towing stretcher.
Tack String	An extra line tacked onto the towline of a horse boat.
Tackle	A boatman's name for the harness of a boat horse.
Tail	Immediately below the bottom gates of a lock is the tail of the lock.
Talbots	A working boater's term for Stoke Hammond Lock, No. 23, on the GU main line.
Tan Pin or Gudgeon	A pin at the foot of the heel post of a lock gate on which the gate turns.
Thames Sailing Barge	The sailing barge of the Thames and the Medway, although frequently trading with east-coast ports and able to cross the North Sea. It is still admired for the beauty of its reddish-brown sails, the mast and tackle of which can be lowered.
Thames Wherry	An old craft, of which very few were to be seen after the First World War, was fairly long and wide with a high-pointed stem, often sheathed in iron. Some were pointed at both ends and could be rowed in either direction.
Thick	Many locks close together.
Tide Lock	A lock between fresh and tidal water. Some may operate in either direction i.e. may rise or fall depending on the state of the tide.
Tiller	Wooden or metal beam attached to the rudder post of a craft for steering.
Timberhead	The wooden bollard fitted to certain regional narrowboats.
Tingles	Horizontal pieces of wood strengthening the elum on a narrowboat.
Tipcats	A round rope stern fender.
Toe	The bottom of a bank or embankment.
Toll	Canal tolls were based on the distance travelled, the tonnage and the type of cargo. The charges varied from canal to canal, some tolls having set maximum due to the Act of Parliament under which the canal was authorised, and some categories of goods
Tom Pudding	A compartment boat once used on the Aire and Calder Navigation and formed into trains to be pushed and/or pulled by a tug.
Top Bend	On a wooden narrowboat the top planks that were made with curves in two directions.
Top planks	Gangway of planks down the length of the hold or cargo space of a narrowboat. Supported by stands and mast, between cabin roof and cratch.
Towing path	Also known as the haling path or way. Canal or riverside paths used for towing boats.
Towing post	The box mast of a boat or barge used for towing.
Towing Stud	A fitting on the cabin top of boats for fastening the towing line. This enabled the steerer to control the length of line used from the steering position.
Town Class	GUCCC boats named after towns and villages.
Transom	A flat, often D-shaped panel forming the stem of certain types of wooden craft.
Trenail	An oak peg used as a fastening in building traditional wooden boats and barges.
Trench Boat	An extra narrow narrowboat designed to work through the Shrewsbury Canal which was an unusually narrow canal. These boats were 70 foot long with a 6 foot 2 inch beam. They could carry about 17 tons.
Tub Boats.	Small box boats carrying from three to five tons, once used in Shropshire and on the Bude canal in Cornwall, and elsewhere.
Tumblehome	Inward-sloping sides of a stem cabin on a narrowboat. More pronounced on a butty or horse boat than on a motorboat or tug.
Tunnel cutter	Metal ring fitted above or across the top of a funnel or stovepipe. This prevents soot or grit from entering the pipe when passing through a tunnel, and also helps to disperse smoke.
Tunnel lamp	Original type of navigation lamp, fixed to the cratch of a narrow boat. Made with either a straight or a curved lens. Eventually replaced by an electric lamp of the van type.
Turk's head	Spliced and woven rope work decorating the top of the rudder post on a butty. This resembled the turban of a Turkish warrior.
Turnover Bridge or Roving Bridge	A bridge carrying the towing path across another canal or branch at the junction. Also called a Crossover Bridge
Turns (Waiting or Working turns)	At times of water shortage boatmen were not allowed to empty or fill a lock that was set against them, instead they had to wait for a boat to arrive from the opposite direction so that no water was wasted by working empty locks.
Tying Point	The point of least draught on a waterway determining the maximum draught vessel that can navigate. Very often a lock sill is the Tying point.
Una rig	A rig type of East Anglia. It consisted of a large single sail with gaff and boom, the mast stepped well forward. Any craft with una rig is fairly shallow and broad in the beam, often fitted with an extra rig.
Uprights	Detachable wood pieces stretching from the gunwale to the gang plank on a commercial (or working) narrowboat.
Valley	Working boater's term for an embankment.
Waiting (or Working) Turns	At times of water shortage boatmen were not allowed to empty or fill a lock that was set against them, instead they had to wait for a boat to arrive from the opposite direction so that no water was wasted by working empty locks.
Walkers	A working boater's term for Lot Mead Lock, No. 80, GU main line.
Wash Lands or Washes	An area of land between the normal course of a river and the flood banks. This area is provided to take the excess water in time of flood.
Watercress Bed	A badly leaking boat.
Watergate	West Midland term for a staunch.
Waterman	Boatman or bargee, usually working on a river rather than a canal navigation.
Weigh Dock	A dock that was provided for establishing the gauging, or loading, levels of a boat at various tonnages. This scale would then be used for gauging the boat and collecting tolls.
Weir	A barrier or dam across a channel to increase water depth and control the flow.
Well-deck	The stern deck of a butty boat which is enclosed by the sides of the boat.
Welsh Narrowboat	Day boats, mainly double ended (the rudder being moved from one end to the other to save turning ) operated over the canals of South Wales. They were 60 to 65 feet long with a beam of between 7 feet 6 inches and 9 feet, depending on the canal.
West Country Vessel	This slightly smaller version of the Humber, or Yorkshire, keel plied mainly on the Calder and Hebble Navigation and even farther inland. They were often wooden horse barges, although they sometimes worked down the estuary to Hull.
Wey Barge	This was a bluff-bowed, flat-bottomed barge operating mainly between the Wey Navigation and London. It was a wooden craft in carvel style, having a D-shaped transom, a maximum beam of 13 feet 101/2 inches and capacity 80 tons.
Wherry	The name given to the sailing vessels which traded over the rivers of the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads.
Wich Barges	A smaller version of the Severn trow, that were used on the Droitwich Canal in the salt trade.
Wide Boat	A boat with a beam of over 7 feet, typically 11 to 14 feet, in use on canals having wide locks.
Wigrams	A working boater's term for the Calcutt Locks (Wigram's 3) and the adjacent Napton Junction (Wigram's Turn).
Wind	To wind a boat is to turn the boat around.
Winding Hole, Winding Place or Winning Hole	A wide place in a canal provided for the purpose of turning a boat round. Pronounced as in kindling.
Windlass	(1) An L-shaped tool used for opening paddles on lock gates. Often carried in the waist band or belt of a boater. (2) Gear for raising heavy loads.
Windlass hole	Cupboard in the stern cabin of a narrowboat where a spare windlass of the type used for opening locks was kept.
Wing walls	The walls flanking the tail of a lock.
Wings	Boards which could be attached to the front of the boat and which projected out to the sides, on which the leggers lay while legging through a tunnel. Most boats would carry two sets, one for wide, and one for narrow tunnels. Also called legging boards.
Woolwich	A steel narrowboat built by Harland & Wolff Ltd at Woolwich. There are large and small Woolwich boats.
Wooser	South Midlands's term for a narrowboat.

Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.