“…With the advent of railways, which run close by the canal network using the established routes, and a train network that was expanding, offering a transport system that was efficient, safe and quick -the boater families were impoverished. Struggling to cope, they became isolated from the wider community (Bowles 2015;Burton 1995). Life on the canals was lacking in chances for advancement and comfort, and was filled instead with ample opportunities for petite criminality.…”