WREN
JANE BEACON
Wren Jane Beacon On The Cut
Working the cut was a physically demanding way of life. By the Second World War the narrow boat pairs which carried badly needed freight between London and the Midlands were an anachronism but an economic and efficient way of moving fifty tons of freight at a time. Always under pressure to keep moving and get ahead, it was a tough life for any outsider to be dropped into. Which meant that when Wren Jane Beacon was sent to make a round trip, she had some serious challenges to overcome in coming to terms with their way of life. In motor boat pairs and horse-drawn single boats, the basic living conditions and hard work would not suit everyone. But, determined character that she is, Wren Jane Beacon comes out on top and integrates into the canal people allowing her to make a clear-eyed report for the Wrens, to answer the question posed.
Description
As seen through the eyes of this sympathetic outsider, the lives and social structures of the boat people are explored in detail to give a lively picture of a historic way of life dictated by the circumstances in which they lived. Despite it being 1941, for much of her trip the war is far away.
From Limehouse to Birmingham and on to the coalfields around Coventry, then by horse boat to Oxford and Lechlade, Wren Jane enters fully into the closed world of the canal people. This means days of intensely hard physical work but she determinedly sticks with it to emerge as a fledged narrow boat person herself.
The free spirits of the boating community in which she is placed shake Wren Jane’s personal beliefs to their foundations, accustomed as she is to a regulated way of life. The life of the boat person is one of constant toil bounded by the canal system, close to nature and cut off from the endless news of battles and military set-backs. But the way of life is so all-absorbing that Wren Jane barely notices this lack. By her trip’s end returning to the world of war and strict discipline (which one is actually the ‘real world’?) is a daunting prospect. She is left with deep misgivings about her life which will leave a permanent mark on her view of the world.
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This book is the fourth in the series of Wren Jane Beacon and I really enjoyed reading about the way life on the canals was back in the second world war. Jane is sent to find out how the boat crews manage to survive on ‘The Cut’ (This is a universal term used for the canals) and whether an all female crew of WRENS could be in charge and relieve some of the pressure. Many of the men were called up to serve in the forces and thereby the canal boats were not being used to their full potential.
What Jane discovers is a world far far away from her relatively comfortable life in the navy. Hard work is the order on the boats with the women crew doing many of the tasks daily from dawn to dusk. Jane starts off wondering what she has let herself in for, but soon becomes part of the close knit communities that thrive on ‘The Cut.’
How will this work out? Will Jane report back that women can be a crew? Will she miss the life that is so different from the world that is being bombed and targeted?
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