Putting industry on video - an archive for the future
Co-Productions
Co-Productions
SIGHT SEEN PARTNERSHIPS
Recording essential waterways skills and techniques
Sight Seen Partnerships
A group of waterways enthusiasts drawn from British Waterways, volunteers, boating societies and museums, dedicated to preserving and recording waterways skills and techniques, whilst the memories of those who actually worked on the boats are still fresh enough to correct and guide the efforts of those taking part.
Towpath Encounter
A record of the techniques involved in working horse drawn boats through locks and past other boats.
Recorded on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal with technical advice from Tom Mayo, one of the most respected Severn and Canal Carrying Company boat captains.
Last Coal Run from Anglesey
Recreating a coal run with tugs and joey boats (open day boats) from Anglesey on the edge of Cannock Chase, into the heart of the Black Country, before the construction of the new M6 Toll road altered this quiet corner of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) forever.
A Tanner a Night
With the aid of horses, harness and a beautifully restored narrow boat, the daily work of one of the few complete surviving canal stables was recreated for this recording.
This humble but essential building in Wheelock, Cheshire, was brought alive for 2 days for a new generation of canal boaters to enjoy.
Warehouse at Work
Using the original cranes and hoists in Broad Street Warehouse, a small group of experts reconstruct the way that boats entered the building's indoor wharf and were unloaded, how the warehousemen would have used the lifting machinery, and the sights and sounds of a building that had remained silent for nearly 40 years.
Topcloth and Tippet
Using the beautifully restored boats of the Working Boats Project and the knowledge and advice of retired boat captain Phil Garrett; the crew of captain and mate demonstrate the complete procedure of clothing-up a pair of narrow boats, from positioning and fixing the planks, to the knots, hitches and fancy ropework.
Gunnels Under
Watch the Sight Seen team raise a sunken narrow boat that is "gunnels under", using historic boat raising tackle and traditional techniques.
Glyn Philips, who it is believed was the last person to use such equipment when he supervised the raising of a boat that sank in Netherton Tunnel in the early 1980s, was able to oversee the project and direct the film.