Dunkirk Evacuation

BRITISH CANALS IN WARTIME: TRANSPORT IN BRITAIN, 1944

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  • D 21794
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  • object category: Black and white
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photographs

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A water diviner works along part of the Grand Union Canal, trying to identify to the exact location of a leak in the clay lining of the canal bed. The original caption explains that "where canals run along embankments, or over gravel or sandy soil, water is retained by a clay lining called a clay puddle. Much of the maintenance work on canals consists of repairing leaks in this clay lining. Boats scraping against the sides of the canal wear it away, and when a leak occurs it is often difficult to discover its exact site". The water diviner is following the leak from where the water bubbles out of the ground: his stick will only bend over running water.

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