Jack Aris Remembers

Jack remembers first seeing the Buckingham Canal when he was 4 or 5 years old in the company of his Uncle Philip. This was the Uncle Philip who collected mysterious parcels from the boats and avoided returning through Buckingham town, crossing the fields and going by the old sewerage works to get home with the mysterious parcels, the contents of which Jack never did discover.

Jack recollects being told that the canal had fallen into virtual disuse by the time the First World War started in 1914, but was refurbished during that war. The last bargee operating into Buckingham came from Stony Stratford and looked to Jack to be about 200 years old with his great black beard! (At 74 Jack says he was probably only 55). The boats mostly carried coal; some used to bring lots of stone for roadwork. The return journeys saw the boats carrying hay to London for the horses in the capital.

Although forbidden to go with the bargees who were "a wild looking bunch", Jack and his friends would get rides on the boats in return for opening and closing the lock gates. This was considered to be work for the women and kids - the bargees didn't walk the horses (which were similar to Welsh Cobs but slightly bigger) or open lock gates. Jack remembers seeing the "kettles all polished" and thinking that he wouldn't have to go to school if he could get on one of the boats.

At five or six years old, Jack used to take the odd puff from his Uncle Philip's clay pipe when it was put down. Uncle Philip and Aunt Florence tried to put a stop to young Jack's bad habits. He was sat by the fire at his Uncle's and given a mug of beer to drink and a clay pipe of twist to smoke. Jack says it was "Enough to make a donkey sick, but didn't hurt me a bit!"

The canal near Maids Moreton Mill provided the young Jack and his friends with "one of the finest bits of fishing"; the eels being easier to catch in the canal than the river which passes close by. With a large tablespoon tied to a stick the eggs of ducks and moorhens were collected for Jack to sell.

When Jack was seven years old, he was taken to the canal's closing Festival. This was towards the end of the 1925 or the start of 1926. There were sideshows and two sheep were roasted; these would have been old sheep with no teeth, purchased for around half-a-crown each (two shillings and sixpence: 22.5p now). Jack had pieces of roast meat so tough that it had to be pulled apart between fingers and teeth, and arrowroot "cartwheel" biscuits at a ha'penny each (about a quarter of 1p). People would tip drops of beer into young Jack's glass and he had to be carried most of the way home by his Uncle because he was very tired - "don't know if it was the drink or the fresh air!".

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