Exploring Rolt's Landscapes

L.T.C. Rolt played a crucial role in the revival of Britain's inland waterways and pioneered the first preserved narrow-gauge railway. He is still a towering figure in the fields of inland waterways, preserved railways and post-war conservation: a bridge and a locomotive have been named after him, and there is a Rolt Prize, Rolt Fellows and an annual Rolt Lecture. In this series of linked essays, Joseph Boughey explains aspects of Rolt's earlier life and work, and sets his writing and practice in a broader context, considering such themes as the landscapes Rolt knew; the nature of travel and 'country' writing; the organicist movement of the 1930s and '40s; English canals and navigable rivers from the 1930s to the '50s the background to early railway preservation; and the nature of craft, craftspeople and preservation. Exploring Rolt's Landscapes focuses on an earlier period of Rolt's life before he devoted his life to writing professionally. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the rich history of Britain's waterways.

Auteur

JOSEPH BOUGHEY is one of Britain's leading living waterways historians, co-author of British Canals: The Standard History. He taught estate management and environmental management and planning at Liverpool John Moores University until 2010. He has written for the Journal of Transport History, the Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society and the Waterways Journal, for which he was on the editorial board. He was a Council member of the Railway and Canal Historical Society, and a Trustee of the Raymond Williams Foundation. He has spoken about Rolt on television and was 'canal consultant' for the series Canals: The Making of A Nation. Since 2013, he has had a regular column in Narrowboat magazine.