British Waterways Cards Since 1994

Back in 1994 Gongoozler carried an article about British Waterways' post cards published during the previous ten years. This is an update on what has happened since then. Due that year was the North East Rivers set of eight poster cards which I, trading as Postercards, was co-publishing with BW. They eventually appeared in 1996, all because I couldn't find a suitable image for the Ouse
OWF2 (above) and OWF5 are similar designs promoting Northwich on Water at different locations in 1999 and 2000.

card, NER4. The nearest I got was a b/w photo in the Public Record Office of Fred Taylor's poster 'York' for the North Eastern Railway, c.1922. It was the only poster image featuring the Ouse I came across.

With research and imagination I re-tinted an enlarged photo of the photo for the card. Meanwhile in 1995 I co-published more poster cards, the Canals Alive! set of six featuring narrowboats, plus a response card.Then there was a gap until 1999, when the On Water poster set came out. Many of you will have received these four cards with British Waterways News that summer. However, two of the original designs never made it into print. These depicted posters promoting On Water events at Newark and Bristol. With the magazine delayed three months to include BW's public consultation, the events had happened before publication. The designs had to be replaced by cards for Northwich on Water and millennium moorings in Docklands. And because the London card retained its original number 4 in the set, it isn't in chronological order in the set

A further change of plan followed the misprinting of two of the final designs. To save reprinting all four, we had to abandon our idea of inserting the cards in the magazine as a perforated sheet. They were all published as individual cards, including the 5000 provided to each event organiser.

But misprinted cards promoting Leeds on Water were given away in that city's centre over the weekend of 7/8 August because the reprints wouldn't have arrived in time. So there are two versions of card OWF1 - red title (correct) and black title (misprint).
Hatton Bottom Lock, Grand Union
Canal, in the Lapworth set.

Which brings us to last year. I did manage to publish an A4 sheet of cards which was issued with the spring/summer edition of British Waterways News. It contained two more On Water poster cards - OWF5 for the second Northwich event (eventually cancelled in the September fuel crisis) and OWF6 'West Yorkshire Festivals on Water'. The other two cards were LH1, a photo of narrowboat Atlas, promoting BW's living history project, and an un-numbered Harper Collins card promoting Nicholson waterway guides. Again, each 'sponsor' had 6000 of their own designs to distribute.

Card OWF7 followed the style of some freecards in being published DL size including a clip-off coupon. Printed on thin card with a non-postcard back, it transforms to a standard size card featuring a Leeds on Water 2000 poster once the coupon is cut off.

Turning to topographical cards, Lapworth office published six late in 2000 portraying views along the canals it manages. They are based on photographs by Alan Tyers and retail at £2.00 per set post free.

And to round off last year's production, BW's London region printed a monochrome green 'acknowledgment' postcard of narrowboats at Blomfield Road.

So far this year, Brauston office has published five view cards of its canals using Robin Smithett's photography. With arty white borders, the set retails at £2.52 post free.

Due this spring is a set of five cards based on poster which explain BW's biodiversity. And the BW Pension department may publish a couple of poster images as cards to promote extra contributions among staff.

A couple of cards not published by BW nevertheless carry our logo. In 1996 Staffordshire County Council published a card of narrowboat Sagitta, used for educational work from BW's Norbury base. And in 1998 a long card was published featuring a Simon Warner photo of Ferrybridge to promote an exhibition of his work.

I should also mention a card featuring photographs by BW patrol officer Ray Duckworth. It's Heritage Cards & Souvenir's RICA-0001: The Ripon Canal, a multiview on sale in local tourist offices.

That covers BW cards since 1995. There are also the cards separately published by the Waterways Trust museums. I'm not qualified to explain the hows and whys of their production, but I'd love to hear that someone is cataloguing them.

An extract from Postcards Published by British Waterways, a two-page listing is available from me or from the Editor in return for a SAE (Self-addressed envelope). The list represents cards I'm intending to place in the BW archive, consultable by Internet in due course if the Trust's current lottery bid is successful.

 

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