'The Forgotten Canals of Yorkshire: Wakefield to Swinton via Barnsley' is part of the canal series in 'Transport Through the Ages', brought to you by Wharncliffe Books. This fascinating book traces the nostalgic journey of the canal boats through the ages. As an illustrative history, 'The Forgotten Canals of Yorkshire: Wakefield to Swinton via Barnsley', is based on a unique collection of photographs collected by the late Alan Hall. They illuminate the Barnsley Canal and the Dearne and Dove Canal not only in their working years but also in their decline and eventual abandonment. Most of the photographs have not been published before and demonstrate very poignantly the official vandalism that befell the canals fifty years ago. Our industrial heritage was wilfully destroyed and important archaeological features were obliterated in the name of progres. Take yourself on a nostalgic journey through the pictorial re-creation of the waterways of Yorkshire, as you read 'The Forgotten Canals of Yorkshire: Wakefield to Swinton via Barnsley'.

A resurgence in canal restoration has seen many English canals reopen in the past three decades, but many are still abandoned, some even vanished under roads, railways and buildings.

Yorkshire Forgotten Fens is a history of the cultural landscape of the wetlands of the Humber basin and the entire county of Yorkshire stretching from the Humber and north Lincolnshire through the Vale of York, through South Yorkshire and Holderness, to Pickering and beyond. The book draws together the story of a changing landscape, the lost cultures and ways of life, and the wildlife that has gone too.With the final chapter closing on the new wet fenland landscapes which are now emerging and presenting current visions and challenges for these truly evocative of landscapes, this is a book based on our past but with a vision for the future. The book is profusely illustrated with maps, photographs, paintings, and extracts from historic documents.

Thomas Telford's life was extraordinary: born in the Lowlands of Scotland, where his father worked as a shepherd, he ended his days as the most revered engineer in the world, known punningly as The Colossus of Roads. He was responsible for some of the great works of the age, such as the suspension bridge across the Menai Straits and the mighty Pontcysyllte aqueduct. He built some of the best roads seen in Britain since the days of the Romans and constructed the great Caledonian Canal, designed to take ships across Scotland from coast to coast. He did as much as anyone to turn engineering into a profession and was the first President of the newly formed Institution of Civil Engineers. All this was achieved by a man who started work as a boy apprentice to a stonemason. rn He was always intensely proud of his homeland and was to be in charge of an immense programme of reconstruction for the Highlands that included building everything from roads to harbours and even designing churches. He was unquestionably one of Britain's finest engineers, able to take his place alongside giants such as Brunel. He was also a man of culture, even though he had only a rudimentary education. As a mason in his early days he had worked alongside some of the greatest architects of the day, such as William Chambers and Robert Adams, and when he was appointed County Surveyor for Shropshire early in his career, he had the opportunity to practice those skills himself, designing two imposing churches in the county and overseeing the renovation of Shrewsbury Castle. Even as a boy, he had developed a love of literature and throughout his life wrote poetry and became a close friend of the Poet Laureate, Robert Southey. He was a man of many talents, who rose to the very top of his profession but never forgot his roots: he kept his old masons' tools with him to the end of his days. rn There are few official monuments to this great man, but he has no need of them: the true monuments are the structures that he left behind that speak of a man who brought about a revolution in transport and civil engineering.