Here are some links to books that might be of interest to members.
The links are to Amazon for convenience, but the books can, of course, be bought at local bookshops too.
River Thames and Southern Waterways: Waterways Guide 7
“The detailed Ordnance Survey® maps clearly show the location of essential features such as locks, towpaths and boating facilities, as well as pubs, shops and restaurants in the area. There are comprehensive navigational notes and descriptive text on the history of each canal, and on local services and places of interest, for which postcodes are included – ideal for use with sat-navs. This practical A5 guide features ‘lie flat’ spiral binding and ‘bookmark’ back cover flap for ease of reference.”
“Practical, all-in-one guide to walking the Thames Path National Trail from the Costwolds to the Thames Barrier in London, including large-scale trail maps, places to stay, places to eat and public transport information.”
Paddle the Thames: A Guide for Canoes, Kayaks and SUPS
A guide to paddling the Thames with detailed maps, launching places, and guides to what to see along the way.
Canoe and Kayak Handbook: Handbook of the British Canoe Union
A comprehensive guide to canoeing and kayaking techniques
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (Many alternative editions available)
“Three Men in a Boat describes a comic expedition by middle-class Victorians up the Thames to Oxford. It provides brilliant snap-shots of London’s playground in the late 1880s, where the fashionable steam-launches of river swells encounter the hired skiffs of city clerks. The medley of social vignettes, farcical incidents, descriptions of river fashions, and reflections on the Thames’s history, is interspersed with humorous anecdotes told by a natural raconteur.”
Since the book is out of copyright, it is available for free in many places on the internet, e.g. at Project Gutenberg
A thousand miles in the Rob Roy canoe on rivers and lakes of Europe (1866)
Canoe Cruise In Palestine Egypt: Rob Roy on the Jordan
The Voyage Alone in the Yawl “Rob Roy”
Since the books are out of copyright, they are available for free in some places on the internet
John MacGregor (1825-1892) through his extremely popular books and magazine articles from 1865 to 1892, practically invented the sport of canoeing. His books are still surprisingly readable.