Monday, 01 September 2008

Bert and Betty, the Boat People

Marion Kelly with Bert and Betty at the IWA Festival

One of the exhibits I found most amusing and imaginative at the IWA Festival this year was the Bert and Betty books. Aimed at a young pre-school audience, Bert and Betty are tales of a real working boat family from the Victorian era. 

Their creator, Marion Kelly, …. is immersed in the authentic world of the old working boats. She wanted to do something to inspire children with a real sense of history of the canals.

(These books are a sharp contrast with the Rosie & Jim TV programmes, a supernatural fantasy of modern-times canals. The Rosie & Jim dolls that only come to life when the adults aren't around, and aren't really about canal culture at all.)

The Dramatis Personae:

Bert - the working boatman, looking like a crew member of President.

Betty - his wife, bonneted and voluminously skirted.

Bella - the family's 70ft butty (in the pictures the boat they used is actually Raymond

Beauty - the shire horse that pulls Bella.  I'm not sure if Shires were used much on the canals, but you need to stretch a point to raise interest.  Shires are magnificently photogenic.  

Ben - the collie - or is he an old English sheepdog?

“Granny Buttons” - The canal narrowboat (and opinions) of Andrew Denny