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  • Help stop the spread of invasive species

    Help stop the spread of invasive species

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    Do you know the three simple actions that can help reduce the spread of non-native invasive species?  Check, Clean, Dry. Some non-native species are completely harmless, but others, known as invasive species, have the ability to cause damage to the environment, the economy and our health. What is Invasive Species Week? Invasive Species Week (ISW) is…

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  • Seeing red at historic Camden landmark

    Seeing red at historic Camden landmark

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    THE Canal & River Trust has completed a £533,000 10-week project to repair the Grade II Listed Interchange Basin Towpath Bridge on the Regent’s Canal in Camden and has repainted the bridge Indian Red. Built in 1846, the historic bridge, known locally as ‘Dead Dog Bridge’, is an important local landmark carrying the Regent’s Canal…

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  • Continued calls for government to offer energy support to all liveaboard boaters

    Continued calls for government to offer energy support to all liveaboard boaters

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    The Canal & River Trust is continuing to lobby the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), making the case that the Energy Bill Support Scheme needs to include all those living on boats. Together with the Inland Waterways Association, National Association of Boat Owners, Residential Boat Owners’ Association, Association of Waterway Cruising Clubs…

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  • Charities acquire narrowboat, volunteer skippers needed

    Charities acquire narrowboat, volunteer skippers needed

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    Two London charities, The Angel Community Canal Boat Trust, better known as Angel Boat, and the London Canal Museum (LCM), have joined together to buy and operate a 45’ narrow boat Long Tom.  The boat will run trips on the Regent’s Canal for the London Canal Museum 3 days a week from Battlebridge Bain and…

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  • National Boat Count 2023

    National Boat Count 2023

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    The Canal & River Trust’s annual National Boat Count has shown a 1.9% rise in boat numbers on its network across England and Wales and that external economic factors may be affecting boaters, with licence compliance now standing at 93%, down from 94.1% last year. The national licence compliance picture is impacted by boats in…

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  • Caldon Canal has re-opened to boats while the Hazelhurst Bridge rebuild continues

    Caldon Canal has re-opened to boats while the Hazelhurst Bridge rebuild continues

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    Canal & River Trust, the national waterways and wellbeing charity, has re-opened the Caldon Canal to boats. At the same time, the £2 million project to rebuild the Grade II Listed Hazelhurst Bridge on the Caldon Canal near Endon in Staffordshire continues. The 12-month project, enabled by an award from the Postcode Earth Trust, thanks…

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  • Coronation Award Canal & River Trust Volunteer From Cheshire

    Coronation Award Canal & River Trust Volunteer From Cheshire

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    Trevor Dobson is one of 500 outstanding volunteers to be chosen as the nation’s Coronation Champions A canal volunteer from Nantwich, Cheshire, has been recognised by Their Majesties, The King and The Queen Consort as part of the official Coronation celebrations in conjunction with Royal Voluntary Service. Trevor Dobson, who has been volunteering for six…

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  • Applying for energy payments in Buckinghamshire

    Applying for energy payments in Buckinghamshire

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    LIVEABOARD boaters in the Buckinghamshire Council area have until May 31 to apply for a £400 non-repayable energy payment through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. Residents on the following moorings can apply: Aylesbury; Soulbury Three Locks (Leisure); Marsworth (Towpath); Cooks Wharf (Pitstone); Seabrook Lock Leisure (Cheddington); Circus Field Basin (Aylesbury); College Road (Aston Clinton); Marlow…

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  • Canal volunteers improve popular path to Lacock

    Canal volunteers improve popular path to Lacock

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    A COUNTRYSIDE walk between Chippenham and Lacock has been made much easier following repairs to a former towpath. The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust has already restored a significant stretch of the waterway from Pewsham Locks to Double Bridge, making it a popular spot for walkers, runners and cyclists. However, the public right of way…

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  • Take part in the canalathon

    Take part in the canalathon

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    Charity challenges people inspired by London Marathon to run the capital’s towpaths and help save our wildlife-rich canals People inspired by the 48,000 participants who took to the streets of London for the marathon yesterday are being Challenged to run or walk the capital’s famous canal towpaths this June to raise money to protect the nation’s…

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  • Essential read: Managing lock cills  

    Essential read: Managing lock cills  

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    Every year, lock cills catch boaters unaware, no matter how experienced they are. Once a vessel’s caught on a cill, it causes the rudder to pop out of the cup, which is quickly resolved. However, in many cases, it results in damage to the skeg, rudder and bearings, and the boat needs to be towed…

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  • Heritage Under The Hammer

    Heritage Under The Hammer

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    A cast iron registration plate and a guide to the Norfolk Broads dating back at least 100 years are two items that make the headlines in Geoff Courtney’s bi-monthly round-up of canalia sold at auction in recent months. THE registration plate was BCN1461, which sold for £70 in a live online Great Central Railwayana auction…

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  • Trust funds five benches for elderly and disabled

    Trust funds five benches for elderly and disabled

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    THE Dulverton Trust Fund, managed by the Heart of England Community Foundation, has generously awarded a grant to fund benches for elderly and disabled people to sit and relax by water at Whitehouse Wharf in Selly Oak, in the West Midlands. An independent grant-making charity, it supports UK charities tackling a range of social issues,…

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  • Canal-bank seats for the passer-by

    Canal-bank seats for the passer-by

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    Words and photos: Tim Coghlan TWO benches have been installed beside the Grand Union Canal at Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire, to commemorate the lives of two of its well-known canal and community activists, David Blagrove (1937-2016) and Roy Sears (1945-2018). The funds to purchase the benches and pay for their installation came from the David Blagrove…

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