Researching the people who lived and worked on Britain’s canals
Mon, 16 May 2016 12:33:00 BST
Dr Jodie Matthews looks at the lives of the Victorian communities on Britain’s waterways in her role as the first honorary research fellow for the Canal and River Trust
TODAY’S canal travellers are mostly leisure boaters, in pursuit of tranquillity. Their Victorian predecessors were families who lived and worked afloat, earning mistrust and criticism from respectable society. This means they are a natural subject for the University of Huddersfield’s Dr Jodie Matthews, who specialises in nineteenth-century attitudes towards people who travelled Britain, including Romanies and Gypsies.
In this video, Dr Matthews is filmed describing her work as she travels picturesque waterways that include the Huddersfield Narrow Canal – completed in 1811 – that bisects the campus of her place of work - the University of Huddersfield.
You can read the full story about Dr Matthews' research on the University's news pages.
