Shortly before this year’s particularly poignant Remembrance Day, which marked the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One, we said goodbye to canal conservationist Sonia Rolt, who passed away on 22nd October 2014 aged 95.

Sonia Rolt’s interest in the canals first began when she worked as a volunteer during the Second World War, when many ‘land dwelling’ women went to help operate the boats after the men of the canals had been called away to war. She was the widow of the late Tom Rolt, who was the author of ‘Narrow Boat’ and one of the original founding members of The Inland Waterways Association. Sonia Rolt was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2010 for her services to industrial archaeology and heritage.

During the war the female volunteers wore badges with the initials I.W for Inland Waterways. They were then jokingly referred to as the ‘Idle Women’ although in reality the hours were long and the work was both dangerous and exhausting. (Read more about the Idle Women.)

She married a working boatman, George Smith, in 1945, and campaigned on issues relevant to the boating community, in particular, education for the boat children. Through her work with the IWA, campaigning to prevent canal closures she became close to Tom Rolt, and this lead to the eventual breakdown of her marriage. She later married Tom Rolt and they had two sons. After his death in 1975, Sonia promoted new editions of his books, and she became a Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association in 1993.

In 1997 her book ‘A Canal People’ (pictured) combined Sonia’s writing with the poignant photographs of Robert Longden, and it shows the ultimate decline of cargo carrying on the canals. The photographs depict the men, women and children who were living and working on the boats in the 1940s and 1950s. The book shows that although working conditions were very difficult the canal people still found pleasure in their life afloat.

Sonia herself now takes her place as an important and respected part of canal history, and her story is an inspiration to boaters, conservationists and canal heritage enthusiasts alike.

Could you dedicate your life to working on the canals?

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