Lords on water

Practices have changed so much that it is difficult to grasp just how busy the Loire’s boating industry was over nearly 465 miles (750 km) of river. Nothing remains of any commercial rivercraft from the past. And yet, until the expansion of rail transport and the road network, in the mid-19^th century, the Loire was the country’s main trading route. Goods were transported downriver, aided by the current, from the centre of France towards the Atlantic Coast, or upriver, aided by the westerly winds, towards Paris via the Canal d’Orléans.

Barging in

To travel along this river with such fickle flows, it was necessary to climb aboard a “chaland” a 20-to-30-metre-long flat-bottomed barge, with no keel. Loaded with timber from Morvan, coal from Saint-Étienne, iron from Nivernais, vinegar from Orléans or slate from Angers… as well as exotic commodities like sugar, tobacco, coffee and spices… this boat propelled by large sails travelled in convoy, a group of three to eight vessels. The merchant loaded the cargo onto it, supervised by the river carrier, who guaranteed its transportation. Other smaller crafts were used for specific missions, such as the “sablière”, a riverboat for conveying sand, and the “toue cabanée” or “cabane”, for ferrying passengers or fishing.

Working on your bed

Navigating along the Loire bed was a challenge. You had to catch the wind, avoid the shallows and ice jams, pass beneath bridges and get round all kinds of obstacles. To facilitate navigation, it was necessary to maintain the channels, river branches where water and currents gathered. Sometimes the low-flow channel had to be adapted with groynes or submerged dykes. Buoy tenders did not merely direct and guide, they also maintained and cleaned the navigation channel. On the banks, meanwhile, haulers set to work as soon as the wind dropped. The Loire boating industry encompassed an array of trades - carpenters, coopers, carriers, sand workers, millers, fishermen and merchants - whose lives revolved around the river. Set up on the banks, in dedicated quarters, they could be found on the quays of the Loire ports that prospered in the 18^th century. The development of ports between Nantes and Orléans paved the way to major urban works. The Loire, it turned out, was a powerful economic driver.