The Canal Joint Committee appears to have faded into obscurity but was presumably some sort of pre-nationalisation trade association whose role included the promotion of waterways for freight transport (then just about the only sort of transport on the canals). My friend and occasional crew member, Duncan, recently sent me some extracts from one of their publications. The document is undated: Duncan tells me its from 1945 (although I'm not sure how he knows this) and if this is the case then it might have represented an early attempt to rejuvenate traffic after World War II. The chapter I have is that for the North West, which consists of a short description of the route and characteristics of each waterway followed by a list of commercial carriers on the route concerned. Here it what it has to say about the Shropshire Union, Ashton, Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canals (all on the same page!)
If all attempts at attracting traffic back to the canals were as low-key as this it is not hard to understand why they failed. There appears to be no attempt to sell the virtues of water transport and the advantages over its competitors (although in fairness this may have been covered elsewhere) and what there is is just a directory of waterways and boat operators presented very much in a "here it is, take it or leave it" fashion.
Nevertheless its interesting reading and if anyone would like a copy in PDF format please leave a comment with an email address or contact me directly jim "at" nbstarcross "dot" com.
In the meantime if anyone knows any more about the Canal Joint Committee I for one would be happy to be enlightened.
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