This month, the Canal & River Trust begin a £40,000 project to repair a lock near Thatcham on the Kennet & Avon Canal. Engineers will be painstakingly repairing Widmead Lock over the next five weeks, using over 3,000 bricks to rebuild the walls of the lock. This project is part of a £400,000 programme of works… Read More »
Fish who live in the Leeds & Liverpool Canal are being temporarily rehomed ahead of major repair work at Finsley Gate. A team of fisheries experts are currently braving the cold water to remove species such as roach, perch, eels, chub and bream. The fish will then be safely rehomed in another section of the… Read More »
Restoration of the Burslem Branch Canal in Stoke takes a giant leap forwards this month with the construction of a new branch canal footpath and publication of a new strategic action plan. Led by volunteers from the Burslem Port Trust, and backed by the Canal & River Trust, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Stoke & Staffordshire Local… Read More »
With Islington Council, the Canal & River Trust is creating an ‘eco-mooring zone’ for visiting boats between York Way and Danbury Street on the Regent’s Canal. This comes as the issue of air quality gains greater public attention, with both local and national government increasingly committed to measures to reduce air pollution in cities. Research… Read More »
The Canal & River Trust is planning to undertake extra maintenance work on the waterways that have been forced to close because of the drought this summer. They’ve been reviewing the works planned for the sections that are currently closed, particularly the Rochdale, Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union, and Leeds & Liverpool Canals. At… Read More »
The Canal & River Trust has secured an agreement with High Speed 2 which will significantly reduce the impact of the rail line on the Trent & Mersey Canal at Fradley Junction. Under HS2’s proposals, a permanent access road would have been built adjacent to the Trent & Mersey Canal at Pyford Brook, in the… Read More »
A Wigan masonry apprentice has built a solid foundation for her career by picking up a national award less than a year into her role at the Trust. Paula Baron, 26, won Apprentice of the Year at the Waterways Alive Awards. Having graduated with a history degree, Paula was passionate about the past, but with… Read More »
The Canal & River Trust have celebrated some of the fantastic work carried out by staff and volunteers over the past year with the presentation of their annual Waterways Alive Awards at the Anderton Boat Lift. The awards are open to staff and volunteers and the winners showcase the sheer variety of the work that… Read More »
A local Nordic walking group is using the canal towpath in Hemel Hempstead as a way to keep fit and help local people walk themselves back to health. The weekly sessions, which are run by occupational therapist and Nordic walking leader Jacqueline Smith and supported by the Trust, involve walking up to six miles along… Read More »
Staff and volunteers have undertaken a mammoth clear-up project in Melling and Bootle this week, removing several skip-loads of fly-tipped rubbish from the Leeds & Liverpool canal. They were making the most of the low water levels caused by a collapsed culvert earlier this month. With the waterway temporarily closed all sorts of rubbish was… Read More »