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Busy opening session at new compound

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March 13, 2023

ANOTHER spectacularly productive work party saw Shropshire Union Canal Society volunteers able to settle into and enjoy their new compound south of Crickheath Bridge on the Montgomery Canal. A wide variety of preparatory tasks were completed ready for machine plant operations to start. Thanks to favourable weather conditions, vegetation clearance continued apace in the dry…
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Canal improvements in Braunston following generous legacy

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March 11, 2023

The Canal & River Trust has started a series of improvements to the canal through Braunston, putting to good use a generous legacy of around £165,000 from the late waterways supporter and local resident Peter Andrews. While it was not a specified condition in the will, the indication was that it was Mr Andrews’ wish…
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Waterways vital to Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan

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March 9, 2023

BOTH the Canal & River Trust and Inland Waterways Association have welcomed the Government’s recent announcement about its Environmental Improvement Plan 2023. The waterways network has been described as ‘ready-made to provide a vital role’ in meeting the target of having everyone living within 15 minutes’ walk of a blue or green space. Both organisations…
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Mooring rings removed from East London towpath

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March 8, 2023

HISTORIC bollards and mooring rings have suddenly been removed from a strip of towpath at Marshgate Bridge 15, near Homerton, according to the National Bargee Travellers Association. It claims that at 9am on Thursday February 2, the Canal & River Trust began removing them even though some were still in use at the time. Boaters…
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Words used on the cut – where do they come from?

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March 7, 2023

John Souter continues his series exploring the origins of commonly used boating terms. MANY of you may be familiar with what a lot of the words that boaters use mean but have you ever stopped to wonder where the words we are all too familiar with actually originated from? Here are more examples of words…
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Canal & River Trust carries out work to protect Manchester’s city centre canal

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March 6, 2023

The Canal & River Trust, the national waterways and wellbeing charity, is carrying out important repairs to keep the Rochdale Canal through in Manchester city centre flowing. The works to the Grade II Listed Lock 85 near Canal Street are costing £150,000 and include replacing the old-time expired lock gates with new handcrafted gates made in…
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Volunteer crew members wanted on the Forth & Clyde Canal

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March 4, 2023

THE Forth & Clyde Canal Society is looking for volunteers and new members to help crew and maintain the society’s boats. These include two passenger vessels, Voyager and Gypsy Princess, and Maryhill, a two-thirds scale replica of a puffer moored in Southbank Marina in Kirkintilloch. Training is offered in boat maintenance, engineering, boat handling and…
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Protect our waterways!

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March 3, 2023

The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is today launching a major campaign to Protect Our Waterways. Here’s their message: IWA is deeply concerned about the threat to our waterways posed by funding cuts, with for example Canal & River Trust and Scottish Canals financial situations being especially critical. Despite being recognised in the government’s Environmental Improvement Plan, the condition of…
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Take a Friend Fishing – more opportunity than ever for angling success.

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March 2, 2023

Take a Friend Fishing Easter runs from Saturday 1st of April to Sunday 16th of April 2023 (inclusive) Take a Friend Fishing with National Fishing Month runs from Saturday 29th of July to Sunday 3rd of September 2023 (inclusive) With the pressures of modern life, physical health and mental wellbeing are more important than ever.…
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Fire and tragedy on the Shropshire Union Canal

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February 27, 2023

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The boat’s ‘smallest room’

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February 27, 2023

Helen Gazeley catches up with composting toilet experts Circular Revolution IF KATE Saffin were to choose her Mastermind specialist subject it would, undoubtedly, be composting toilets, more accurately described as separators, as they separate liquids from solids. Not only has she had one for a number of years, is an administrator of the Facebook group…
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Spotlight on the Caledonian Canal

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February 25, 2023

AS SCOTTISH Canals recruits seasonal waterways operatives around the canal network, we focus on the Caledonian, almost 60 miles of natural loch and man-made canal running through the Scottish Highlands. Douglas Gordon is Middle District supervisor on the Caledonian – his patch being the often-remote section of the canal between Laggan Locks and Fort Augustus.…
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Clean air, water and fuel – the impact on our waterways

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February 24, 2023

NABO general secretary Peter Braybrook comments on some more topical issues. IT LOOKS as if 2023 will be the start of a period of environmental challenge. Everybody knows that the planet is dying because we cannot take care of it properly. Every indicator is that we are heading toward a disaster with carbon becoming a…
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Magnet fishers find rudder after plea on social media

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February 23, 2023

WHEN the rudder fell off Sinead and Matthew Hands’ narrowboat Recalcitrant, they set about trying to find it in the icy water of the Grand Union Canal. Sinead takes up the story… “The rudder fell off, we think because it banged on the sill a month or so prior to this. A mistake we made…
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