137 "THE SILENT HIGHWAY"
by E.Wilkins Waite (Fl. 1878-1927)

There is hardly a sound. Perhaps you can just imagine the summer cries of the three curlews fleeting away, and the muffled hooves of the old horse, clumping while pulling on the long tow-rope. Perhaps below the spire in the distance, the church bells are echoing their far-reaching message. But nothing else - such peace was the way everyday in the heart of the English countryside only a hundred years ago.

The day is fading fast and the two men working this decorated narrow boat have just found a suitable night mooring where their cart-horse can graze. There is a deep ditch to the left of the towpath and it shows us that this is not a river. Wait a moment though! We cannot see any more water beyond. Just what can we deduce? It is actually the end of a southern inlet, a part of the 18th. Century canal system, probably just off the Kennet and Avon in Berkshire. This vitally important waterway was originally "cut" through to open up the heavy lucrative trade between London and Bristol, and the men who toiled to shape this cut this were called Navvies or Navigators.

It appears that this is where they have planned to moor overnight. For the the unmanned tiller has been tied off and the tow has gone slack. The skipper is now ready the bows, puffing happily away on his freshly-filled pipe, silence reigns. The late Spring day is now fading fast. The artist who spent much of his time painting in Berkshire must have been inspired by the magic of this moment, and we can all share this with him, even a century later.

Canals were much used commercially during the eighteenth century and well into the nineteenth century, the time of this painting. This type of barge was used for conveying coal, timber, iron ore, wheat, reeds for thatching, or even farm produce such as potatoes. The industrial revolution however had its dramatic effect on all inland water transport, merchandise increasingly transported via the far greater railway network. Canal traffic was by now very little, and the private companies running them found it costly to maintain the banks and dredging work. Luckily for us at the end of the twentieth century that these long forgotten waterways are still here to enjoy, and incredibly beautiful and full of historic interest. Beneath the mirrored surface it will be teeming with fish, especially in these still-water creeks.

As the end of his working day is approaching, and the crescent moon is waning to the south, the skipper in the bow is watched by the black cat. Behind him in the cabin, the stove has been cheered with some more coal. Tea will be brewed and supper cooked as soon as they have tied up for the night in no more than a few moments from now. The lonely silhouette of the ivy-clad elm tree is almost haunting in its near isolation. It will be home here too for some of the larger birds overnight.

If you peer into the background of this painting, you can just see farm labourers during their last moments of work. Perhaps at dawn tomorrow, they will be helping to load produce into this empty narrow boat. Once, this must have been a lucrative farm to have a special inlet cut from the main canal. What could these vaguely depicted characters have been up to? Are they harvesting the new potato crop?

The wonderfully evocative barge is shown here as a contrast to the natural scene around it. Barge folk were usually from families born and bred into the gypsy way of life - always on the move. They were among the rare few in those long gone days who travelled and witnessed the different towns and cities in England. They would have many stories to weave and were often widely knowledgeable. But they would be shunned by many who could easily blame them for theft, as they would never be around long enough to defend themselves from accusation. So they usually kept their own council and rarely socialised beyond the boundaries of their own kin.

Edward Wilkins Waite was a landscape painter who lived at Blackheath in London, and later at Reigate and Dorking, not far from Guildford. He was a member of the New-water Colour Society and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1878. His titles include "The Pineapple Inn", "A Day in Late Autumn, Boxhill Bridge", "The Daisy Field", "The Terrace at Fitttleworth" amongst many others.