Eric Johns

'Heatherbell' during the second world war

Me working Pamela through a lock 1974
Soon afterwards

The horse 'Jim with Pamela 1975
The Mid 70s

Jim having new shoes.
Smethic 1975
Then when we went down the Wolverhampton 21 locks we got to “Cut end” the begging of the Shropshire Union Canal and met Alf Langford “The Fender Maker” there. Jeff gave me one of the best pieces of advice that I have ever had he told me to go and pick Alf’s brains. Alf lived alone on his boat and got lonely at times he invited me to stay with him that winter at Tipton in the Black Country and help make him make rope fenders. I did and it was the start of a career that I still have thriving over 38 years later partly thanks to Jeff’s advice that day.

Alf Langford aboard 'Fiddlers Green'
The old retired boatmen that we met along the way were a wonderfully warm and friendly, hardly educated but had very clear minds with wonderful photographic memories, just like some of the old Romanies that I have met, indeed there was some intermarriage between them.

My first workshop. The Joey 'Jim' Wolverhampton 1977 with my son Daniel

In those days a lot of older retired boatman lived on old boats or near the Cut. We would often attract them as we went around the system but it was Jim the horse who was the main attraction. We would get many hours often over a cup of tea even in their houses looking at old photos and learning about a life style of living and working with horse boats now long gone. Ex ‘number- one’ boatmen who now worked for British Waterways would tell us their stories. Sometimes when passing through a lock or a meeting in a canal side pub. Chocolate Charley was one such legendary figure who we meet on the Anderton Boat lift. Later I got to know his nephew Steve who was a length man on the Cut where I had one of my fender shops near Banbury from 1993-2003.

Get Knotted' was run from here in the old stop plank brick shed at Warwick top lock

Brick garage workshop near Newcastle Emlyn 2008
2000 to the Present

My present Workshop at 'Arosfa' 2010