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#InlandWaterways - Some of Britain's most famous inland waterways can now be followed on Google Street View thanks to the internet company's latest bit of kit.

The Canal & River Trust reports that it was the first organisation in the UK to take loan of Google's Trekker, a backpack device with a camera that captures images in all directions every 2.5 seconds wherever the wearer walks.

The Trekker allows Google's mapping team to reach areas that the Street View car and tricycle often cannot access, such as canal towpaths.

Now the fruits of labour by some 20 staff and volunteers of the Canal & River Trust can be seen online - such as Bingley's five locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Little Venice in London and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North Wales.

Hopefully Ireland's own inland waterways won't be too far behind!

Published in Inland Waterways
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About Commander Bill King, Solo Circumnavigator

William Donald Aelian King was the last surviving submarine commander in the Second World War - in charge of the British Navy's T-class Telemachus that sank a Japanese sub in the Strait of Malacca, between Malaysia and Sumatra, in 1944.

Decorated many times for his service by the end of the war, King became a trailblazing solo sailor.

At the age of 58, he was the oldest participant in The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race sailing Galway Blazer II, a junk-rigged schooner he designed himself.

After a number of abortive attempts, including an incident with "a large sea creature", he finally completed his solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1973.

Beyond his aquatic escapades, King settled with his wife Anita (who died in 1984, aged 70) at Oranmore Castle outside Galway after the war, where he later developed a pioneering organic farm and garden to help tackle his wife's asthma.

The round-the-world sailor and Galway native Bill King died on Friday, 21 September, 2012, aged 102.