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WIN! A year’s RCR Gold Membership

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September 8, 2025

To celebrate River Canal Rescue’s 25th anniversary, managing director Stephanie Horton is giving away prizes every month, throughout the year. In September, Towpath Talk readers can win a gold membership worth £335. The breakdown assistance and recovery package includes: vessel covered for any user or member covered on any vessel; unlimited call-outs; recovery to your nearest…
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BIODIVERSITY AWARD: Testament to hard work of charity and partners

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September 6, 2025

A scheme in the West Midlands that is improving the habitat for wildlife along the region’s historic navigable canals has received a prestigious award. Lucy Wood reports… THE transformative Unlocking Biodiversity programme has been recognised by a Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management award. It has helped preserve and restore wildlife habitats in the…
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LEARN NEW SKILLS and refresh existing knowledge

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September 5, 2025

RIVER Canal Rescue has spaces on its two-day maintenance courses, running on October 1/2, 15/16 and 29/30, November 12/13 and 26/27 and December 10/11. Held at RCR’s Stafford headquarters near bridge 101 on the Staffs & Worcs Canal, the boat and engine maintenance course covers how to maintain diesel engines and a narrowboat’s systems, including propulsion,…
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CANAL ACCESS improved with new ramp

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September 3, 2025

A brand-new mobility ramp for Grand Union Canal at Radford Semele is providing greatly improved access to the canal in Warwickshire for walkers, cyclists, wheelchair users and people with limited mobility. LOCATED at Bridge 35, the ramp connects the local community directly with the towpath and the National Cycle Network and will make it easier…
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BOAT NAMING HONOUR for outgoing boss

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September 2, 2025

AHEAD of his final week as chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, volunteers and colleagues at the charity’s base on the Grand Union’s Hatton lock flight surprised Richard Parry by naming a new workboat in his honour. The 30ft work boat and hopper will be used for operational maintenance including brickwork repairs, litter-picking…
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BRIDGE REFURB set to improve towpath

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September 1, 2025

STOKE City Council and the Canal & River Trust are working together on a project which includes removing and replacing the Whieldon Road towpath bridge deck as it has now reached the end of its serviceable life. To carry out the work safely, the towpath and bridge between Whieldon Road and the incinerator has been…
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MONTH LONG Totally Thames festival returns

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August 30, 2025

The Totally Thames festival is celebrating the world-famous River Thames’ past, present and future. Lucy Wood reports… RUNNING throughout September, the festival features arts events, active adventures, environmental initiatives and more. First held in 1997, it is organised by the Thames Festival Trust, a charity which also works year-round to deliver a programme of heritage…
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ULTRAMARATHON challenge inspired by salmon migration set to raise vital funds

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August 29, 2025

To raise awareness of the plight of salmon and raise funds for the vital work of The Rivers Trust, the organisation’s CEO, Mark Lloyd, is taking part in the Salmon Run this September – a 43-mile ultramarathon challenge along the River Exe, following the species’ migration route upstream – and will be joined by Olympian…
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FUTURE SECURED for old Cornish lugger

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August 28, 2025

A historic Cornish lugger has been saved from destruction following a complex rescue and 12-month search for a new owner. Lucy Wood reports… WHITE Heather, a wooden-hulled sailboat, was originally built in 1926 for fishing off the Cornish coast and later became a popular passenger boat in Fowey during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2003 it…
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RESTORATION WORK DONE on historic lifting bridge

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August 27, 2025

A LIFTING bridge designed by Robert Stephenson and built in 1834 to carry a railway line over the Grand Union Canal has been restored. Robin Jones reports… The bridge is one of the few remaining examples of Victorian engineer Stephenson’s early work near the dawn of the steam age so is of immense historic importance.…
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BOATER SATISFACTION UP but still work to do

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August 26, 2025

The results of the Canal & River Trust’s Annual Boaters’ Survey have been released. CARRIED out in November and March, the survey showed that boater satisfaction has increased to 55%, up from 46% in 2024. The charity said this follows the introduction of its Better Boating Plan, which was developed in partnership with boaters and…
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MON & BREC: Brighter Future?

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August 25, 2025

THE Welsh Government’s commitment to finding a solution for the future of the threatened Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal has been welcomed by waterways bodies. Lucy Wood reports… The Mon & Brec, as previously reported, has suffered from water supply issues due to legislative changes imposed on the Canal & River Trust, which manages the canal,…
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THE FORTH & CLYDE canal

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August 23, 2025

SOMETHING remarkable has been quietly unfolding north of the border, and the vital player at its centre? The Forth & Clyde Canal. Once a throbbing artery of trade and profit before its decline and closure in 1963, it is once again helping to shape the future of Glasgow. Helen Gazeley reports… The Forth & Clyde is…
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OUTDOOR EXERCISE classes in heart of the capital

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August 22, 2025

This summer, the much-loved morning classes on the canalside steps at King’s Cross, London, are back, so fitness fans can take in some vitamin D while they exercise. The classes run every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until August 28. Londoners are celebrating the warmer months by starting their day on the grassy steps in Granary…
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