m3838 Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Hi. Not necessarily concertina related, but close geographically. In the "Wind of the Willows" there's a Barge Woman. On the barge. What is a barge woman? Is it just a woman on the barge? My little one is asking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirge Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Hi. Not necessarily concertina related, but close geographically. In the "Wind of the Willows" there's a Barge Woman. On the barge. What is a barge woman? Is it just a woman on the barge? My little one is asking. Well yes but you'd expect her to be living on it and working it and it would have implied 'working class and rather rough with it' to Graham's readers. (How does G spell his name?) Commendable choice of reading matter in a world which values Harry Potter in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnC Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 (edited) In the UK the boat described would also be called a Narrowboat or Canal boat and whole families lived and worked on them. The boats were used to transport vast quantities of goods across country (before the advent of good roads and motorised transport ) on the network of canals, the boats were originally horse drawn http://www.canaljunc.../horsedrawn.htm, then later powered by steam or diesel engines. http://www.canaljunc...nal/history.htm The canal women were very house proud and would try to keep the small living cabins clean, also decorating surfaces with painted 'Roses and Castles' everything from the doors on the cupboards to the buckets used to hold water http://www.canaljunc...ses_castles.htm There was also a 'Boatwomans bonnet' designed to protect the head/hair and back of the neck as the women worked alongside their husbands on the boats. http://www.lhcrt.org.uk/bonnetkit.htm Cheers Ann Edited September 23, 2010 by anlej Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindizzy Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Here's a real live barge woman, Anne-Marie on the coalboat Alton which runs a fuel and coal and wood delivery service on the Macclesfield Canal. She is about to run us down (I learnt later from friends that the boat need to stay in the centre to get enough depth of water.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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