Published: 19/11/2009 00:00
ELIZABETH Berrill (nee Tolley) was born and bred on the cut, and is a well travelled woman along the length and breadth of the canal system. But having just celebrated her 88th birthday she has never been able to swim and is still terrified of the water, that for so many years has been a fundamental part of her life.
In a recent interview at her home at Mayfield, Wolverhampton, Elizabeth told the Black Country Bugle that for as long as she can remember the murky waters of the cut have always made her feel uneasy and often she has felt drawn towards its dangers. However this lovely first lady of the canal remains philosophical.
"It's a part of life and you've just got to get on wi' it." she says.
Her daughter Christine never knows to this day how her mom managed to overcome her fear, leaping across locks in her younger days, clambering from her narrow boat home to the butty, which was under tow, and doing all the other jobs around the deck of her boat which necessitated close encounters with the watery depths.
With a pot of tea on the brew and surrounded by memorabilia of Elizabeth's life on the cut, we sat absorbed for an hour as Elizabeth, helped by Christine, turned the clock back and reminisced about an age when canals were almost entirely dominated by working boats.
ʻPeacockʼ Earlier in the year Christine had taken her mother to the Black Country Living Museum because a boat called the Peacock, which the museum now has as a popular exhibit, used to belong to Elizabeth's dad, Bill Tolley. Christine told us her mom wasn't happy with the way they were keeping the boat clean: "They were very pleased to see mom, but she gave one chap a right dressing down and told him he wasn't keeping the engine as clean as her dad used to do, or even herself for that matter. A dirty engine meant an inefficient engine, and her dad, my granddad, could ill afford to break down when his only income depended on delivering goods to destinations as far away as London." At this point Elizabeth chipped in and mentioned her mom, who was also called Elizabeth: "Mom used to be livid sometimes when Dad accepted a load, because all she wanted to do was stay put for a while. But Dad would do anything for anybody and never stopped working.
That's why my education at school was terribly disrupted, because we were never in one place for long enough.
The few days I did spend in the classroom weren't the happiest, as I recall. I was bullied and called names by the other kids, like 'Boaty'; but rest assured I gave as good as I got, and looking back I reckon my education in life far outweighed anything those kids were being taught in the classroom." Horseshoe Christine produced a horseshoe which had been given to Elizabeth quite recently, a huge specimen that would have fitted the largest equine beast, and Elizabeth recalled her dad's love of horses. "My dad loved the horses that helped pull his boats and he would do anything for them." she said. "When the Bollinger engines arrived to power the narrowboats, it took him a long time to accept the change. If he'd been out working all day and couldn't find a stables for the horses to spend the night, he'd carry on along the cut until one became available. He wouldn't rest until his horses were stabled and safe from harm. I'm sure they appreciated this extra care he gave them because I can never remember them letting him down. And after the horses were retired Dad was quite sad." Elizabeth was born at Fenney Stratford, Buckinghamshire, on the Grand Union Canal, on November 2nd 1921, and during her early years learnt everything there was to know about life on the cut. She became her dad's right hand man as she grew older and even helped to steer the boats.
But when she was just 14 a crisis arose which this young lass was determined to resolve.
She had decided her father should be paying her more than the half-acrown she received from him every week ...
Judge "I didn't let anyone off the hook in those days, even my dad, and I wanted more money, so I went to court and told a judge how unfair it was.
My dear dad, bless him, appeared in the dock and declared he had no means to increase my pay. The judge sympathized with us both, but advised me to look for other employment if I wanted to earn more money. This I did, and left Dad for a job at the manufacturers C. B.
Smith in Nechells Lane near Wednesfield. It was a shock to the system when I picked up my first wage packet well a nice surprise actually, let's put it that way." Elizabeth, even at 88, has a sparkle in her eye and a wonderful sense of humour, and was keen to show us some photographs, most of which had been taken by her late husband George.
George was a soldier when he met Elizabeth and spent most of the war away from the Black Country.
Demob He'd also worked on the boats before joining the services, and finding jobs hard to come by after demob, went back to his former employment.
Elizabeth and George were married on 3rd January 1946 at St Peter's in Wolverhampton and proceeded to have nine children in total, three of whom were raised during their formative years on board a narrow boat. Christine helped us out with the complete list of her siblings: "There was George, myself, Bertie, Linda, Michael, David, John, Elizabeth and Paul.
Mom was back on board helping Dad and looking after us kids, and had to tie George and myself down on the top of the cabin in case we fell overboard.
Move It must have been a nightmare for Mom, but she seemed to cope with everything. However, with the family starting to grow there just wasn't enough room left on the boat and we had to move into a house." It was a privilege to meet Elizabeth and her daughter Christine, and be able to wind the clock back to one of the great ages in the history of canals. Elizabeth's stamina suggested she could have reminisced for hours, but time was against us, so we hope the accompanying photographs will help sum up her days on the cut.
In a recent interview at her home at Mayfield, Wolverhampton, Elizabeth told the Black Country Bugle that for as long as she can remember the murky waters of the cut have always made her feel uneasy and often she has felt drawn towards its dangers. However this lovely first lady of the canal remains philosophical.
"It's a part of life and you've just got to get on wi' it." she says.
Her daughter Christine never knows to this day how her mom managed to overcome her fear, leaping across locks in her younger days, clambering from her narrow boat home to the butty, which was under tow, and doing all the other jobs around the deck of her boat which necessitated close encounters with the watery depths.
With a pot of tea on the brew and surrounded by memorabilia of Elizabeth's life on the cut, we sat absorbed for an hour as Elizabeth, helped by Christine, turned the clock back and reminisced about an age when canals were almost entirely dominated by working boats.
ʻPeacockʼ Earlier in the year Christine had taken her mother to the Black Country Living Museum because a boat called the Peacock, which the museum now has as a popular exhibit, used to belong to Elizabeth's dad, Bill Tolley. Christine told us her mom wasn't happy with the way they were keeping the boat clean: "They were very pleased to see mom, but she gave one chap a right dressing down and told him he wasn't keeping the engine as clean as her dad used to do, or even herself for that matter. A dirty engine meant an inefficient engine, and her dad, my granddad, could ill afford to break down when his only income depended on delivering goods to destinations as far away as London." At this point Elizabeth chipped in and mentioned her mom, who was also called Elizabeth: "Mom used to be livid sometimes when Dad accepted a load, because all she wanted to do was stay put for a while. But Dad would do anything for anybody and never stopped working.
That's why my education at school was terribly disrupted, because we were never in one place for long enough.
The few days I did spend in the classroom weren't the happiest, as I recall. I was bullied and called names by the other kids, like 'Boaty'; but rest assured I gave as good as I got, and looking back I reckon my education in life far outweighed anything those kids were being taught in the classroom." Horseshoe Christine produced a horseshoe which had been given to Elizabeth quite recently, a huge specimen that would have fitted the largest equine beast, and Elizabeth recalled her dad's love of horses. "My dad loved the horses that helped pull his boats and he would do anything for them." she said. "When the Bollinger engines arrived to power the narrowboats, it took him a long time to accept the change. If he'd been out working all day and couldn't find a stables for the horses to spend the night, he'd carry on along the cut until one became available. He wouldn't rest until his horses were stabled and safe from harm. I'm sure they appreciated this extra care he gave them because I can never remember them letting him down. And after the horses were retired Dad was quite sad." Elizabeth was born at Fenney Stratford, Buckinghamshire, on the Grand Union Canal, on November 2nd 1921, and during her early years learnt everything there was to know about life on the cut. She became her dad's right hand man as she grew older and even helped to steer the boats.
But when she was just 14 a crisis arose which this young lass was determined to resolve.
She had decided her father should be paying her more than the half-acrown she received from him every week ...
Judge "I didn't let anyone off the hook in those days, even my dad, and I wanted more money, so I went to court and told a judge how unfair it was.
My dear dad, bless him, appeared in the dock and declared he had no means to increase my pay. The judge sympathized with us both, but advised me to look for other employment if I wanted to earn more money. This I did, and left Dad for a job at the manufacturers C. B.
Smith in Nechells Lane near Wednesfield. It was a shock to the system when I picked up my first wage packet well a nice surprise actually, let's put it that way." Elizabeth, even at 88, has a sparkle in her eye and a wonderful sense of humour, and was keen to show us some photographs, most of which had been taken by her late husband George.
George was a soldier when he met Elizabeth and spent most of the war away from the Black Country.
Demob He'd also worked on the boats before joining the services, and finding jobs hard to come by after demob, went back to his former employment.
Elizabeth and George were married on 3rd January 1946 at St Peter's in Wolverhampton and proceeded to have nine children in total, three of whom were raised during their formative years on board a narrow boat. Christine helped us out with the complete list of her siblings: "There was George, myself, Bertie, Linda, Michael, David, John, Elizabeth and Paul.
Mom was back on board helping Dad and looking after us kids, and had to tie George and myself down on the top of the cabin in case we fell overboard.
Move It must have been a nightmare for Mom, but she seemed to cope with everything. However, with the family starting to grow there just wasn't enough room left on the boat and we had to move into a house." It was a privilege to meet Elizabeth and her daughter Christine, and be able to wind the clock back to one of the great ages in the history of canals. Elizabeth's stamina suggested she could have reminisced for hours, but time was against us, so we hope the accompanying photographs will help sum up her days on the cut.
