Running down the rabbit hole of research

It's no wonder I can't get anything written these days. I started off in January with a whole heap of good intentions. Having published a book every year since 2014, I was convinced I'd have a new novel or travel memoir (or even both) out by June, but it wasn't to be.

The first thing that came along to disrupt my writing life was the delightful arrival of Zoe, the spaniel. All those hours spent walking when I could be writing, but would I exchange her for my pen? Not a bit of it. However, then came the broken wrist I've mentioned before, a more dramatic limitation than my little pooch. I have to say this really set me back a lot and it was more than two months before I could type again. Once I got going, though, another hindrance cropped up: research.

When writing about travel within Europe it's impossible to ignore history, wherever you are. I'm currently working with two books, both of which involve lots of fact checking and research, but the rabbit hole I burrowed my way into yesterday turned out to be more than usually absorbing and unusual.

I'm writing about the waterways. Well, there's nothing unusual about that, I hear you say, and you'd be right, but in this case it's led me to a whole new appreciation of that small, power-hungry, Italian Frenchman, Napoleon. Without him, the canal through-routes from Belgium into France might never have been completed. It was he who pushed for the Canal de Saint Quentin to be finished, a project that connected Paris by water to the coalfields of Belgium. It was originally conceived in the 1730s but abandoned due to other political priorities. Napoleon resurrected the scheme in 1801 and, with his drive and support, it was opened in 1810. 

The Hennie H on the Canal de Saint Quentin in 2017

Waiting our turn to enter the Riqueval tunnel in 2017

Another bit of burrowing was needed to clarify the history of the Riqueval tunnel on the Canal de Saint Quentin. The tunnel is certainly the longest currently in use in Europe and at 5.67  kilometres long (about 3.5 miles), it is quite a daunting prospect for boaters as it isn't possible to navigate it under your own steam. In fact, it never has been, but since 1910, barges and boats have been hauled through the tunnel by an electric tugboat running on a chain. This video shows  a tug pulling barges into the tunnel entrance.

It takes 2.5 hours to be pulled through, normally in convoy with numerous other boats and barges. Engines have to be switched off to avoid an accumulation of fumes in the tunnel, a precaution born out of past tragedies when, during the steam tug era of the 1860s, barge crews in one convoy died from smoke inhalation, despite the ventilation holes in the tunnel. This information was only available on the Dutch Wikipedia site and not on the English or French sites, so it took me extra time to find it in that part of the rabbit warren that is the internet.

The Hennie H in the tunnel

But digging into Canal de Saint Quentin (sorry) led me to other fascinating discoveries. This canal was just part of Napoleon's vision for expanding the watery networks. He also initiated and saw the realisation of the connection between the Scheldt (Schelde in Dutch, Escaut in French) and the Scarpe, the river that runs from Arras through Douai and beyond. The connecting canal was the Canal de la Sensée, originally Censée, between Corbehem on the Scarpe near Douai and Le Bassin Rond at the junction with the Scheldt.

Boats and liveaboard barges on the Bassin Rond 
I took this photo during a visit to the area in 2013

Finding out about the development of Le Bassin Rond and where its name originated had me diving down yet another burrow and brushing up my French to read sections of a book on the history of the Sensée canal. I was curious because there was nothing round about the Bassin Rond as we knew it, but the book explained that before the canal was widened to its current proportions, there'd been a circular basin at the junction with the Scheldt with three locks leading from it, allowing barges to turn easily from one lock into the others. The place still retains the name, despite the fact all that remains of the original Bassin Rond is the old arm of the canal that forms a wonderful lake where pleasure craft and liveaboard boats can lie. I haven't yet found out when the basin and locks were filled in, but I'm still reading. 

The current Bassin Rond 'lake', the former Canal de la Sensée

The houses alongside the old arm are gradually sinking into
the marshy land, giving them a quaint, wonky appearance

All my research has resulted in more reading than I ever intended, accompanied by frequent exclamations at what I've learned, but it hasn't prompted an equivalent amount of writing. I can so easily get lost in the fascination of the history that I sometimes think I'm more of a researcher than a writer. Will I get a book out this year? I'm not sure about that, but I'm enjoying the information-gathering process.

However, I haven't only been running down rabbit holes. My DIY projects are still in progress and I'm happy to report I've made new curtains for the Hennie H. I'm also busy making a new entrance hatch to replace the old one which has suffered irreparably from the assaults of the winter weather and I'm still chipping away at that old wall at the Crumbly Cottage. It's all designed to keep me balanced and busy, isn't it?

That's all for now, allemaal. I hope you're having a good July, whether it's a warm or a cold one. Till next time.