INTRO: The devastating breach on the Llangollen Canal left boats destroyed, dozens stranded, and families displaced, but the generous response from the boating world and beyond has been heartwarming – as it is expected to take most of 2026 to reinstate the waterway.
MORE than £100,000 has been raised to support the three boaters whose homes were lost or severely damaged when a section of the Llangollen Canal at Whitchurch collapsed just before Christmas. What began as a modest fundraiser – with organisers Paul and Anthony Smith-Storey hoping for just £3000 – quickly grew into a global outpouring of support.
They have since been documenting progress of the appeal for Bob Wood, Anthony ‘Flek’ Fletcher and Paul Stowe on social media – a heartfelt response to the incident which has been so distressing for everyone involved.
Footage widely circulated online showed one boat sinking into a crater, capturing the sound of splintering wood. While the CRT continue to investigate the cause of the breach, it confirmed that the embankment at the centre of the catastrophe was recently inspected with no issues noted – and that it is expecting a “huge and likely lengthy task” to rebuild the damaged section, with costs running into several million pounds.
Despite the uncertainty, the Smith-Storeys – and many more commentators online – said the public response has brought out the best in people, with offers of help arriving from around the world.
Boaters’ ordeal
Accommodation for 13 individuals from eight households, including their pets, was arranged through hire boats or hotels in partnership with Shropshire Council in the immediate aftermath, while the Canal & River Trust’s licensing teams were also in contact with boaters in the area to identify and address any welfare needs.
Artist Paul Stowe, whose boat Pacemaker was left perched on the brink of the chasm before being winched to safety, escaped with his wife, son and two cats – and with only the clothes he was wearing. Several news outlets reported how he’d been overwhelmed by the kindness of local residents, businesses, and fellow boaters, with offers ranging from hampers and food to holiday accommodation and even cat toys. Pacemaker, the family’s full-time home, is currently uninhabitable.
“Something woke me about 4am – I don’t know what it was, but something wasn’t right,” he told the Shropshire Star. “I looked out of the window, and the most amazing torrent of water was flowing past the boat – it was equivalent to Niagara Falls.
“I rushed to the stern, opened the doors and I could see the boat behind me at 90 degrees where the embankment had gone.”
Mr Stowe – whose birthday is on Christmas Day – told the BBC that all of the family’s possessions were on Pacemaker, and that they escaped without phones or bank cards.
“I’ll be honest with you,” he told the reporter, “it’s very debatable [that] I’ll ever want to go on a boat again.”
Acts of kindness
The Smith-Storey’s Go Fund Me appeal was due to close on New Year’s Day, but they left it open a little longer due to the number of people still wishing to support the boaters. In total, £101,114 was raised.
“We never imagined it would reach anything like this amount,” said Paul, 58, to the Shropshire Star. He runs the popular YouTube channel Narrowboat Life Unlocked with partner Anthony, 53 (also see www.facebook.com/morningstar73). “The generosity has been phenomenal, and it’s given the boaters some hope at a really frightening time.”
Bob Wood, 75, whose houseboat Sefton was the first to be swallowed by the breach, cried with emotion when he discovered how strangers around the world had responded to their plight. He woke up to use the bathroom when he realised his vessel was listing and fled with his dog to warn other occupants.
He and his partner, Rosemary, had been living on Sefton full-time for eight years, and he told the BBC that he was resigned to not getting his boat back. His partner was not on board at the time, and at first, he thought there was a storm ongoing.
“When I opened the door there was no storm at all, just the terrific noise of water, and I realised the water was running really fast under the boat,” he told the reporter. He tried to step off but instead fell “full-length flat” on his face and “saw the back end of the boat eight or 10 feet in the air.”
Flek and his partner Anita have lived on the canals for two years, and it was a dream for them until the events of December 22. At the time of preparing this issue for print, their 52ft-long narrowboat, Ganymede, remained at the bottom of the crater. Flek spoke about what happened on film to Paul, which he said was one of the toughest videos he’s ever had to edit.
Flek explained how Bob banged on Ganymede’s roof, shouting ‘get out.’ “We could hear the alarm in his voice,” Flek told Paul. “When I looked outside, I could see Bob’s boat – it was right up in the air. I was still half asleep, so I wasn’t too sure what was going on.
“It was pitch-black. Then it twigged when I heard the noise of water gushing. I screamed at Anita… we stepped off the back of our boat just as Bob’s was sliding down the hole.
“The towpath felt like jelly. Luckily, my phone and wallet was in the jacket I grabbed. I couldn’t get anything on the phone gone, and then Nita grabbed me, started pulling me further away from the boat, and as I looked, the front end went up in the air, and it started sliding down the hole. I couldn’t look. That’s our home. Everything – everything we’ve got is in that boat. I’m never going to forget any of it. But that’s not going to stop us – this is where we are happy.”
The breach has also been documented by other content creators including The Narrowboat Pirate, Court Above the Cut, which features videos filmed by drone, and Taylor’s Aboard.
To the rescue
The incident proved traumatic for many more, including fundraiser Paul himself. He told of being woken by a crashing noise, followed by the doors of his vessel opening and belongings tumbling around, branding the experience like a disaster movie. It was only by chance, he said, that his boat wasn’t in the affected spot as he’d almost moved it there the day before.
Fellow narrowboat owner Phil Johnson described the moment he realised the canal was failing beneath him to Yahoo News: “I saw the water flying past the boat at horrendous speed. I could hear like a waterfall around the corner from my boat.”
The 56-year-old told of waking up to “cracking and banging” noises. He quickly dressed and left his boat. “I was greeted by the most horrendous sight of seeing this boat stuck in the breach at the bottom, being basically flooded,” he said. He then described seeing a second boat “teetering on the edge” of the chasm before it gradually fell in. “It reminded me of that horrible scene from the Titanic film, because that’s what it was like, when the back goes down and the bow comes up, and it finally just slid into the hole,” he continued. “It was probably one of the scariest things of my life.”
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service told how some quick-thinking boaters realised that water levels were dropping unusually and evacuated themselves. River Canal Rescue (RCR) was onsite to support the recovery effort. Managing director Stephanie Horton said: “We sent six engineers to ensure that 12 stranded and listing boats could easily refloat in line with the rising water. Many vessels were listing on concrete plinths with outlets that could easily be overwhelmed once water levels rose, so engineers got into the canal and sealed holes at risk of water ingress. They also used tirfors and ratchet straps to hold the boats steady, ensuring they floated upright.”
After six hours, RCR had stabilised and safely refloated all 12 vessels, resulting in minimum damage to them. Stephanie added: “Only then were they happy to leave and enjoy their Christmas. The team pulled out all the stops to ensure all affected boats were refloating before Christmas Day, which was no mean feat.”
The RCR team comprised Trevor Forman, Pete Barnett, Tushka Horton, Andy Spencer, Kerry Horton and PJ Rowntree; you can watch the refloat below:
Since, the CRT has refilled parts of the canal with water, refloated other stranded boats, and retrieved Pacemaker; it remains a priority to salvage Ganymede and Sefton.
But the incident has led to the question being asked if canal restoration is an act of folly. A Whitchurch Herald reader wrote: “On one hand, these waterways are part of British history. However, it is important to remember canals and barges were obsolete within a few decades of their construction due to the advent of rail travel. So now, in 2026, we find ourselves still trying to restore a mode of transport which only briefly existed anyway and went out of fashion as long ago as the canals were built.
“We must ask ourselves why bother? These canal networks were never going to be restored to their full glory. Perhaps we need to finally knock the canal restoration dreams on the head.”
Wider impact
Meanwhile, the consequences of the breach ripple far beyond the towpath. Boaters on the Llangollen side of the breach became trapped, while farmland flooded, and hire-boat companies and tourism businesses have also been affected. Campaigners argue that this wide-ranging impact highlights how Britain’s waterways are not a niche heritage interest, but essential national infrastructure.
Local businesses are also sounding the alarm. Paul Donnelly, operator of a canal hire company, warned the breach will severely damage livelihoods, telling Yahoo News Canada: “We have customers coming from all over the world… it’s going to have a large effect on our business and our future bookings.”
With recovery efforts continuing through early January, boaters and businesses remained hopeful that sections of the canal could be reopened and navigation restored.
The Whitchurch breach was the second major canal failure in less than a year. On January 1, 2025, the Bridgewater Canal was closed after part of its embankment collapsed into a culvert.
Taken together, the incidents have brought the waterways network to national and international attention. Fund Britain’s Waterways is urging the public to sign its petition calling for urgent ring-fenced funding for Britain’s waterways at www.change.org/p/fundbritainswaterways, arguing that continued inaction will lead to more breaches, higher repair costs, and growing danger to communities. It is also calling on voters to pressure their MPs directly, warning that canals run through dozens of parliamentary constituencies.
Llangollen Canal breach timeline
· Early morning (at about 4.14am, December 22): A major incident is declared after a section of the Llangollen Canal, near New Mills Lift Bridge, west of Whitchurch, collapses; on the raised embankment section of the canal before the junction with the Whitchurch Arm. Initial reports describe a 50m sinkhole appearing in the canal, draining water rapidly into adjacent fields and leaving the channel dry in places. It is later clarified to be a breach caused by the collapse of an embankment that had stood for more than 200 years.
· Two narrowboats have fallen into the collapsed section, another is left teetering at the edge, and others are stranded on exposed canal bed. Emergency services respond immediately, with firefighters, Canal & River Trust crews, and multi-agency coordination. Between 10 and 15 people are evacuated from boats and moorings on the affected stretch. Officials confirm it was ‘very fortunate’ that no one was injured.
· Daytime (December 22): The Canal & River Trust and emergency teams install temporary measures including dam boards, barriers, and safety sectors to reduce further water loss and make the site safe. The canal section between bridges 31A and 28 (lock six, Grindley Brook Locks) is closed. Water continues to escape and spread into surrounding land, causing local flooding concerns.
· December 23: The CRT releases statements describing efforts to secure the site, support affected boaters, and install temporary dams to isolate the breached section. Overnight, pumps are used to refill sections of the canal on either side of the breach to help refloat stranded vessels. Specialist winching operations move at least one boat to safety, away from the collapsed edge.
· December 24 and after: Crews begin refloating boats and undertaking further site works. The CRT say full investigation into the cause will continue, and that rebuilding the damaged embankment and canal will take months. Community fundraising and wider support efforts grow in the aftermath to support affected boaters.
