Waterways World has been faithfully serving the Waterways community for around 30 years. They have published on every conceivable waterway subject from a to z, and used every writer who bears the stamp of authority on the Subject. From time to time, other magazines come to light but do not survive, or are not taken seriously by waterways enthusiasts and British Waterways personnel themselves.

Over the decades, British Waterways have left themselves wide open to massive criticism, before they really got to grips with how to run a network.....but to their credit, Waterways World have remained impartial whatever their personal feelings on a subject.

So their opinion is to be respected and their integrity as a publication is supreme. For serious students of Britain's waterways, this is therefore the only magazine worth it's salt. The motto could be "a magazine for all seasons".

Archive material is difficult to come by. Museums are notoriously unforthcoming, libraries simple do not collect material unless it is given to them, and where else do you turn? Now we can turn to the internet to see if some well-meaning soul has spent painstaking hours showing his findings, but there is precious little about the Weaver, although it was a vital trade route for 200 years.

I have not troubled the guys at WW because I am sure they will be glad that their hard work is not to be buried forever, so please use this resource for genuine research as otherwise the material is no longer available. Chris Marsh gave me permission to use his research and memoirs, and Bill Leathwood was a personal friend. If other writers object to their article being read by interested researchers and enthusiasts, then I will remove their notes. This project however is not for gain, but out of a genuine love of this river of ours. Just don't pinch any articles for your own gain, because that will upset any number of good folks!! Just enjoy.

Captain Rick Ferris

This one from Old Glory magazine 1995 Annual edition