The German barge Amoebe carrying coal for Mnnheim on the Wesel-Datteln Canal.

Below that is my 1934 Riley 9 special at Tunnel End, Preston Brook.

Mike Clarke (right above) was born in Liverpool. He left school in 1964 to become an apprentice fitter/turner at Pilkington Bros, St Helens. During his apprenticeship, he obtained an ONC and HND in mechanical engineering. 

In the 1960s, Mike was a volunteer on the Welshpool & Llanfair Railway and the Worth Valley Railway. From 1969, he became involved with canals, working for Peter Froud at Preston Brook on a variety of heritage transport, and on the trip boat Lapwing, with 'Chocolate' Charlie Atkins. In 1972 he purchased Pluto, one of the last wooden motor boats used on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, living on board and restoring it to something like its original condition. For two years he was Engineer at Leeds Industrial Museum, and encouraged by Edward Paget-Tomlinson, he began to write articles on waterway history. 

In 1977 he sold Pluto to The Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port and then worked for Dorothea Restoration Engineers, working not only on steam engines and water wheels, but also the routine maintenance of mill stones for stone ground flour production. He had a hip  replaced in 1980, and during his convalescence, he undertook voluntary work at Merseyside Maritime Museum, researching for a book on Jesse Hartley, Liverpool's Dock Engineer during the Victorian period.

From 1980-1986, he was Engineer at the Helmshore Textile Museums, responsible for the removal, installation and maintenance of a wide range of textile machinery. He continued to have articles published and give talks on canal history. In 1986, for health reasons, Mike had to stop working as at the museum, and moved to Accrington Library, where he worked in the new Local Studies Library. His first book, The History of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, was published in 1990 and short listed for the Portico Prize. As a result of the book’s success, in May 1991 Mike set up his own business, Milepost Research, to offer industrial heritage advice.

In the early 1990s, for the Sobriety Project in Goole, he produced Railway on the Water, a book on the Tom Puddings which worked on the Aire & Calder Navigation. In Goole, the No.5 Boat Hoist had been listed, and Mike became Chairman of the No.5 Boat Hoist Trust, to help with the conservation and interpretation of the site.

Since then, Mike has undertaken a wide variety of work related to industrial and canal history, such as conservation policies for the paddle gear on the locks of the Rochdale Canal for British Waterways, and on listed bridges for Hull City Council. He also published books for the Merseyside Maritime Museum, and published Waterways Journal for The Boat Museum Society. 

in 1992, he appeared on a Bavarian Television programme about the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. This led to travels on a 1,200 ton family-operated German barge, and a developing interest in international waterway history. Since then, Mike has visited Russia, Finland, Poland, Romania, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, France, Belgium and Holland. 

As a result he has contacted many researchers and conservators of industrial history across Europe, and has also advised researchers in China responsible for the application for World Heritage status for the Grand Canal. Mike has written articles on European canal history for Encyclopedia Britannica, was extensively involved with the 1996 TICCIH International Waterway Monuments Report, and was consulted by ICOMOS with regard to the Rideau Canal, the Augustowski Canal, and the Grand Canal of China World Heritage Site applications.  

For many years, in the 1970s and 1980s, his only means of road transport was a 1934 Riley 9 special he built from spares saved from his previous Riley 9 cars. He was an active member of the Vintage Sports Car Club for many years, and in the mid-1970s was a marshal at Prescot Hill Climb where he met Tom Rolt. Mike's interest and practical involvement in all forms of historic machinery mirrored the earlier life of Rolt, and Mike's writings reflects their joint interest in the importance of the craftsman in society.

Mike is a member of the Railway & Canal Historical Society, and in 2016 became President of the Society, a post which is held for two years. He is also a member of the Newcomen Society, and various historic boat groups. He founded the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society to help preserve the canal's unique heritage. In 2008, they took over the heritage short boat Kennet from British Waterways. Displays and educational material are usually produced by Mike using his extensive archive and knowledge of the canal. 

With his extensive international links, foreign languages became important. Mike speaks reasonable German, some French, and a little Polish and Russian. His German was good enough to act as translator and editor for an English version of the book Canal Lifts and Inclines of the World, which had been written by his German friend, Dipl-Ing Hans Uhlemann. The book was published by Internat, part of Inland Waterways International, an international group of which Mike was a council member.

Under-lying much of Mike's work is an appreciation of the place of the craftsman in industrial history. His recent research shows how the industrial revolution only came about because of the skill of craftsmen, though encouraging a greater understanding and appreciation of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal will probably be regarded as Mike's most important work. When he moved onto Pluto in 1972, the canal was still regarded as a problem by many. By introducing people to the canal's unique heritage, and the opportunities provided by it, the tide of public opinion changed. His book Brightwork, written with former boat builder and painter Sam Yates, recorded one of the canal's traditions which would have been lost otherwise. 

His role in promoting the history and heritage of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal was recognised with the Mersey Basin's Dragonfly Award in 2000, while the Canal Society's interpretation of Johnsons Hillock Locks, led by Mike, received a BURA Waterways Renaissance Award in 2008. The Society's work with their heritage boat Kennet was given a similar award for Education and Learning in 2015. As part of the celebrations organised by Canal and River Trust for the L&LC's 200th anniversary in 2016, the third lock at Bank Newton was renamed 'The Mike Clarke Lock' in recognition of his fifty year involvement with promoting the canal's history and heritage.

Mike has since concentrated on international work, translating two early canal books, and numerous articles on European canal history. He is currently working on another translation of a German book on canal engineering, and is about to publish an American book from 1817 on the same subject.