Exhibition: Waterways on the Western Front

Waterways were a vital lifeline on the Western Front during the First World War, saving millions from starvation and carrying tens of thousands of wounded to safety. But as ready-made lines of defence, many men also lost their lives trying to cross them.

This untold story of human endeavour on a vast scale about the waterways of France and Belgium will unfold in a new exhibition.

Using unseen archive film and photos, first hand testimonies and rare objects, the exhibition charts the critical role played by canals in contributing to the war effort. The scale is hard to grasp. Many hundreds of barges took five million tons of food to prevent starvation in Belgium and transported thousands of tons of munitions each day to Ypres.