Latest news with #InlandWaterwaysAssociation
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Foxton locks to host procession of historic boats
A procession of historic boats will descend Foxton Locks during an event to mark the 75th anniversary of a campaign to save the nation's inland waterways. The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) was set up to protect the nation's rivers and canals in 1946 and held a Festival of Boats and Arts in Market Harborough in 1950, which it says was the "tipping point of a waterways revival". To mark 75 years since the event, the Leicestershire IWA branch has organised an event on Saturday June 7 where a flotilla of historic working boats will descend Foxton Locks from 10:00 procession will then head to Union Wharf, which hosted the 1950 festival, before making its way back to Foxton. The event will continue from 10:00 BST until 16:00 on Sunday June 8, when a Sunday service will be held in the event field at Foxton. The Quorn Ukulele Orchestra will provide live music, while Alarum Productions will tell the stories of the women who worked on the waterways through story-telling theatre and there will also be live traders will be present at the event, while on dry land there will be activities, exhibitions and stalls. Foxton Locks is a Grade II listed site, is set in 34 acres (14 hectares) and is home to the longest staircase flight of locks in Britain. It attracts more than 400,000 visitors a year, according to Canal & River Beaumont, East Midlands director for Canal & River Trust, said: "There's nowhere better to watch boats than at Foxton Locks and we can't wait to welcome people to this fantastic celebration of Leicestershire's rich canal heritage."
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Cuts to England's canal network could put lives at risk, experts say
Lives may be at risk if ministers proceed with cuts to England's languishing canal network, experts have said. The climate crisis and a lack of funding means ageing assets could flood entire towns and villages, an investigation for the parliamentary magazine the House has found. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which provides a quarter of funding for the Canal and River Trust (CRT), is understood to be facing cuts at the June spending review. Government funding cuts of hundreds of millions of pounds to the CRT, which manages most of the UK's inland waterways, are already in the pipeline. This puts the future of the waterways, already underfunded, at risk. When they are properly looked after and restored, they can provide immense benefits for people and nature, supporting otters, kingfishers and dragonflies as well as barge users and walkers. A 2019 report, Waterways in Progress, published by the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), memorably describes Britain's canals as 'a linear national park'. The charity's 2023-24 annual report emphasised the 'continued effect of climate change taking its toll on our ageing canal infrastructure,' reflecting on how 'following prolonged hot dry weather the summer before, a succession of winter storms caused significant damage, with an aggregated impact of £9m in emergency works'. CRT is facing serious financial pressure. The report shows a shortfall in funding, with an income of £237,300,000, but a total expenditure of £252,400,000. The CRT does not only look after canals themselves, but weirs and reservoirs. There have already been problems with its ageing infrastructure; in Derbyshire in 2019 a dam at the Toddbrook reservoir nearly burst, leading to the town of Whaley Bridge being evacuated. About 1,500 people were instructed to leave their homes immediately after heavy rain caused a large section of a nearby dam spillway at the reservoir to fall away. Emergency crews pumped water away from the reservoir and sandbags were dropped from RAF helicopters. A worst-case scenario predicted that the whole structure could collapse, wiping out the town. Charlie Norman, the director of campaigns and public affairs at the Inland Waterways Association, told the House: 'It is quite terrifying how that incident could have ended: the sheer volumes of water contained in the reservoir presented an immediate danger to life. Our internal research suggests the volume of water was comparable to 551 Olympic pools, or equivalent to the daily water consumption of 8.6 million people. That volume of water is unimaginably powerful.' For the first time, the IWA has warned about the risk to life that can come from a lack of maintenance of canals: 'It is not an overstatement to marvel that so far there has been no loss of life – ageing infrastructure is expensive to maintain without anything going wrong, and that's the point: investment now will save money in the near and distant future … When adding up the costs, we should be thankful that those costs for the moment don't include loss of life'. Richard Parry, the chief executive of the Canal and River Trust, said without a funding solution, the canals could eventually dry up due to the climate crisis, and this poses safety issues too. He added: 'Who knows what the impact of that would be? I mean, our fear is not just the ecology would be irrevocably harmed, but you probably also get canal walls drying up and collapsing, there's the safety aspect too.' A Defra spokesperson said: 'Our canals provide a wide range of benefits, such as connecting people to nature. That is why we are providing more than £500m of grant funding to the Canal and River Trust between now and 2037.'
Times
29-04-2025
- Times
Seven of the UK's most idyllic canal boat holidays
There are more than 2,000 miles of waterways to navigate in the UK — equivalent to sailing from London to Lisbon and back again. Spending time out on the water is salve for the soul and Britain's rivers and canals occupy a special place in our national psyche, from stately rivers such as the Thames and the Avon to the web of canals built during the Industrial Revolution. Most choose to explore the water on a narrowboat, and while basic tuition is typically included at the start of a hire, first-timers should aim for a route that's light on locks and get up to speed on what's included; mooring fees and fuel may be extra, depending on where you go. The waterways are at their quietest in spring and autumn so we've chosen packages from reputable companies that operate in those seasons. For background and planning, there are two great organisations to consult: the Inland Waterways Association ( and the Canal & River Trust ( Happy boating. This pastoral corner of East Anglia is a maze of waterways bordered by reedbeds, fens, meadows and ponds, perfect for lazy days of picnics, puttering and paddling. Four nights is enough time to explore: from the base in Martham, you could sail up to Hickling Broad National Nature Reserve, renowned for its birdwatching, visit Horsey Mill and its National Trust-owned windpump, or head for the peaceful Bure Marshes, where you might spot great crested grebes, marsh harriers and many a wading bird. It's worth making time too for the less-frequented backwaters of the Great Ouse or the Nene, which receive much less boat traffic than the Broads. Martham Boats has a fleet of elegant, traditional motor launches, mostly built during the 1950s, which have between two and nine Four nights' self-catering for four from £788 ( • Seven of the best National Trust properties to visit Spanning southern England from the Bristol Channel to the Thames, the Kennet and Avon is one of England's most impressive feats of canal engineering. Boaters can look out for structures including the 459m-long Bruce Tunnel and the series of 29 locks at Caen Hill, which rise 72m over two miles. Classic English scenery unravels as you glide along: Georgian architecture around Bath, chalk plains and neolithic remains in Wiltshire, the medieval towns of Bradford-on-Avon and Pewsey –— with plenty of riverside pubs at which to stop along the way. You'd need a couple of weeks to navigate all 86 miles, but shorter journeys, Bath to Bradford-on-Avon say, or Reading to Newbury, are doable in a few days. Foxhangers in Devizes, a great midway base, has three classes of narrowboat, so you can choose your level of Four nights' self-catering for four from £1,095 ( First-time narrowboaters can enjoy 41 miles of lock-free cruising on the Lancaster between Preston and Kendal, the longest such stretch in the UK. It was once known as the Black and White Canal, a reference to the products it was built to transport — coal from Lancashire and limestone from Cumbria. Its most impressive piece of architecture is the five-arched Lune Aqueduct, a grade I listed masterpiece by the Scottish engineer John Rennie, which sails gracefully over the River Lune at a height of 18m. Garstang is the home base for Duck Island Boat Company, which steps up the swank level on its four boats, squeezing in a Chesterfield sofa, breakfast bar, wood-burner and proper showers. They look handsome too, in purple and cream livery, with traditional hand-painted signs. They're booked up for much of the summer, but have good availability from September onwards, perfect for autumn Seven nights' self-catering for two from £1,095 ( • Discover our full guide to the UK The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal slices through the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) from Brecon to the Five Locks in Cwmbran. Chug through the patchwork countryside of central Wales as the tawny slopes of the Brecon Beacons loom in the distance and while away days spotting kingfishers, exploring market towns such as Abergavenny and Crickhowell, or hopping off for hikes of Sugar Loaf or Pen Y Fan. You'll need a week to do it all, but with only six locks to navigate (five at Llangynidr and one at Brynich), it's a good bet for beginners. Unusually, it doesn't intersect with any other canal, so opt for a local company such as Brecon Park Boats, based near Crickhowell, which has a fleet of narrowboats named after birds. Go for Drake or Grouse for their luxurious dining rooms and wood-burners, or Coot, the company's first diesel-electric Seven nights' self-catering for four from £2,277 ( • 100 of the Best Places to Stay in the UK The UK has several canal rings, which enable you to make a loop without having to backtrack. The Cheshire Ring is a classic, traversing six canals on its 97-mile course: the Bridgewater, Macclesfield, Trent and Mersey, Rochdale, Peak Forest and Ashton canals. The route's blend of urban scenery, industrial history and wide-open views makes it a joy, travelling from the Peak District and the Pennines all the way into central Manchester. Several museums along the way explore England's industrial past, including Macclesfield's Silk Museum, Northwich's Lion Salt Works Museum, and Manchester's Science and Industry Museum. A week is enough and Floating Holidays, in Middlewich, north of Crewe, has some lovely canal boats to pick from: the crimson Casanova sleeps Seven nights' self-catering for four from £1,048 ( Officially the longest canal in the UK at 137 miles, the Grand Union runs all the way from Birmingham to London. The southern end of the canal links up with the Thames and Regent's Canal, offering capital views without an obscene price tag, while the starting point in the north, at Market Harborough, is close to the fabulous grade II listed Foxton Locks, overseen by friendly keepers who are a boon for beginners. The Leicestershire countryside rolls by, offering ample opportunities for biking and hiking, and there are plenty of waterside pubs at which to moor up en route. Boutique Narrowboats has traditional boats as well as three contemporary beauties, complete with rainfall showers, coffee machines, wine fridges and antique French Four nights' self-catering for two from £552 ( • 15 of the most beautiful places in England Running from Glasgow to Edinburgh, the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal — jointly known as the Scottish Lowland Canals — were restored at a cost of nearly £80 million in 2001, the largest project of its kind in the UK. They're now a brilliant way to explore Scotland's biggest cities, taking you past the 35m Falkirk Wheel, the world's first rotating boat lift, and the Kelpies, the striking 30m-high horse-head sculptures by Andy Scott. From its Falkirk base, Marine Cruises' boats look the part, and for added canal kudos, featured on Great Canal Journeys. Maia is its most affordable boat, painted in royal blue, and suitable for four: there's wi-fi for the kids, a proper shower and pocket-sprung beds for a good night's Seven nights' self-catering for two from £1,514 ( • I love Scotland more than anywhere else. These are my 25 top stays Have we missed your favourite waterway? Share your tips in the comments
