University of Nottingham : Department of History
in association with
Newark Heritage Bargo CIO
Railway & Canal Historical Society
Transport and Trade on the Trent since 1850
An afternoon meeting of talks and discussion at
North Muskham Rural Community Centre,
near Newark, NG23 6HL
Saturday 26 April 2014
Over the last twelve months members of the History Department at Nottingham University, in association with Newark Heritage Barge CIO and the Railway & Canal Historical Society, have been engaged in a new study of the Trent since the mid-nineteenth century, including traffic carried on the river, the industries it served, and the way of life of families who worked on the river. The project has included the whole of the navigable river, from Shardlow through Nottingham, Newark and Gainsborough to Trent Falls, and has extended to the present day, when a considerable volume of commercial traffic still uses the Trent below Gainsborough.
This meeting has been called to mark the conclusion of the project, to present the findings of the new research, and to consider how best to make the results available. There will be short talks by those who have undertaken the work – Philip Riden, Hywel Maslen and Wendy Freer – followed by a discussion about what should be included in a book on the Trent in this period.
We should be very pleased to see everyone who has expressed an interest in the project at this event, whether or not they have come to any of the workshops we have held over the last twelve months on board the Leicester Trader. We would particularly welcome members of local history societies from Trentside com-munities and everyone interested in waterways history in the region.
The event is being held at North Muskham Rural Community Centre, an exceptionally comfortable venue in a village on the Nottinghamshire side of the Trent just outside Newark. We will begin with a buffet lunch at 12.30 and the talks will start at 1.30. The afternoon will end at about 4 p.m. with a cup of tea.
Thanks to generous funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council for this project, there is no charge for this event, but we would be grateful if anyone planning to attend would let the Chair of Newark Heritage Barge, Hester Kapur, know (hesterkapur@yahoo.com), so that we can arrange catering accordingly. Other enquiries may be made to Philip Riden (philip.riden@nottingham.ac.uk, or telephone 01246 554026 any evening).