BW 2020 launch attracts cross-party support
No lesser place than the Terrace Pavilion of the House of Commons was chosen as the venue for the official launch of British Waterways ‘blueprint’ for the future, unveiled on 18 May. But will ‘2020’ succeed in attracting the interest of the general public? Keith Langston reports from Westminster.
Support from ‘vested interest’ user groups alone will not be sufficient to carry the navigation authority forward at the speed required to achieve self-sufficiency within the next 10 years. People need to be persuaded that the inland waterways are theirs to use and cherish...
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New lock is ‘jewel in the crown’
WORLD Environment Day on 5 June saw the first flotilla of boats travel through Three Mills Lock – the first new lock to be built in London in more than 20 years.
The state-of-the-art lock at Prescott Channel, Bromley-by-Bow, opens up the Bow Back Rivers, a network of waterways in and around the Olympic Park. Construction work on the project, which comprises twin water control gates, a 62m x 8m tidal lock, footbridge, lock control building, fish pass and fixed weir, has taken two years to complete.
It will provide access to the area for 350-tonne barges, taking hundreds of lorry journeys away...
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Editorial - Sarah Palmer
Shaping the future
IT’S such a British thing for the weather to make the headlines, but it did at this year’s Crick Boat Show for all the right reasons, the sun shone and helped to dispel the gloomy clouds of recession. I enjoyed my first chance to get out and meet some restoration groups and boaters and I hope to meet many more over the next few months.
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Heritage hike –
A walk along the Llangollen Canal
Highlights from Phillippa Greenwood and Martine O’Callaghan’s towpath walk from Cornwall to Scotland
It's only a short day's walk but take your toothbrush – you will want to stay. A handful of water miles between Llangollen and Trevor Basin packs enough excitement to fill a holiday.
Start in historic Llangollen and take a deep breath while you fit in Horseshoe Falls (created by Thomas Telford to provide water for the canal)...
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Stourbridge Canal reopens after remedial work
The Stourbridge Canal reopened last month following a four-week stoppage to allow remedial work to be carried out after what British Waterways described as ‘an error’ in reinstating the canal after it had breached last September, writes Bob Clarke.
After the initial £650,000 repairs to the breach – which drained almost three miles of canal between Stourbridge town...
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