narrowboat
Sign in to savethumb|right|Modern narrowboats for leisure cruising, Bugsworth Basin, [[Buxworth, Derbyshire, England]]
Article
16 sectionsContents
- Terminology
- Size
- Development{{dash}}traditional working boats
- Painted decoration
- Modern narrowboats
- Types
- Traditional stern
- Cruiser stern
- Semi-traditional stern
- With a butty stern {{anchor|Narrowboats with a Butty stern}}
- Centre cockpit
- Capabilities and limitations
- National organisations
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|right|Modern narrowboats for leisure cruising, Bugsworth Basin, [[Buxworth, Derbyshire, England]]
A narrowboat is a particular type of barge, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commercial canal traffic gradually diminished and the last regular long-distance transportation of goods by canal had virtually disappeared by 1970. However, some commercial traffic continued. From the 1970s onward narrowboats were gradually being converted into permanent residences or as holiday lettings. Currently, about 8,580 narrowboats are registered as 'permanent homes' on Britain's waterway system and represent a growing alternative community living on semi-permanent moorings or continuously cruising.