29th August, Happy 80th birthday Peter and what better way to celebrate for a devoted boatman than a visit to the barge museum at Longueil-Annel (the Boatman’s Town).Happy birthday PeterThe museum is comprised of both a building on the bank and a freycinet barge on the canal. The town still claims to be a stopping off place for boats as well as the retirement home for old bargemen., though I must say the poor facilities didn’t encourage a lengthy stay. The history covered in the museum was very interesting and included information re the life aboard a barge, the social struggles faced by barging families and the charging technology bargemen were forced to deal with.Children who grew up on barges usually ended up spending their whole lives on the water. They were tied in a harness so they didn’t fall overboard and their playground was the empty hull. It was not until 1954 that boarding schools were opened for barge children By the end of the 19th century barges were the main form of transportation of goods and bargemen numbered between 35,000 to 40,000. With the advent of the railway this soon changed. Today only 3% of goods transported in France is by barges, whereas in Belgium and the Netherlands this figure is around 15%. The French have a lot of catching up to do!We moved onto Pont l’Eveque and Peter’s birthday dinner, an Indian feast on board
At this stage I am sad to report not only we’re we still having generator problems, but our house batteries had also died. We could have stayed our course on the Lateral a l’Oise to the St. Quentin canal, but the faster route back north was to motor up the Canal du Nord. It was now imperative to get to a fix fast.
To reach our destination of Brussels we had approximately 240kms, 36 locks, 2 tunnels and 2 boat lifts
Karen’s Travel Blog 
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