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  • Friends of Cromford Canal: Birdswood is stuck

    Friends of Cromford Canal: Birdswood is stuck

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    Birdswood, the trip boat of the Friends of Cromford Canal, the trading arm of the charity, based at Cromford, is at the time of writing (end of September), stuck at its mooring due to low water levels. All booked journeys for the next couple of weeks, at least, have had to be cancelled. In addition…

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  • Pets afloat! 🐶 😸For the love of dogs – and cats..

    Pets afloat! 🐶 😸For the love of dogs – and cats..

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    By Alison Wilkerson I LOVE craft fayres and markets, especially floating ones, where you discover a plethora of goods created on boats by their artistic, and sometimes famous, owners.  At one such floating market which I had seen advertised by the Roving Canal Traders Association (RCTA) www.rcta.org.uk, on the Grand Union Canal in Milton Keynes,…

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  • Characters of the Cut: Nancy Campbell, writer

    Characters of the Cut: Nancy Campbell, writer

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    Alice Griffin caught up with writer Nancy Campbell: DESPITE growing up in the Scottish Borders and Northumberland – a part of the UK sparse on canals – writer Nancy Campbell has developed a deep love for our inland waters. Moving south to university she encountered her first human-made waterway, the South Oxford Canal, and it…

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  • Planning inquiry ‘misled’ over assessment into boaters’ needs, claims NBTA

    Planning inquiry ‘misled’ over assessment into boaters’ needs, claims NBTA

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    ELMBRIDGE Borough Council did not reveal that it had carried out a Boat Dweller Accommodation Needs Assessment almost six weeks before it reported to a planning inquiry on March 15, 2022 according to the National Bargee Travellers Association. NBTA claims that the council stated that its study had just begun in order to boost its…

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  • WATERWAYS’ WINTER WORK PROGRAMME FOR 2022-23 ANNOUNCED

    WATERWAYS’ WINTER WORK PROGRAMME FOR 2022-23 ANNOUNCED

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    The Canal & River Trust has announced its winter works programme 2022-23, providing details of the major repairs and canal improvements the charity will be carrying out between November and March. 48 waterways will benefit from 172 large-scale works to repair masonry and brickwork, fix leaks, update and install hydraulics and electrics at mechanised structures,…

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  • IWA Launches Comprehensive Resource for Waterways Organisations Seeking Funding 

    IWA Launches Comprehensive Resource for Waterways Organisations Seeking Funding 

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    Taking advantage of its unique position as the only independent, national charity dedicated to supporting and regenerating all of Britain’s navigable rivers and canals, the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) has produced a new report, Waterways for Today, which can be used by waterways organisations to highlight the value and importance of the waterways network. This is particularly relevant for anyone…

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  • Servicing reminder!

    Servicing reminder!

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     River Canal Rescue is reminding boat owners to book a service so they’re cruising-ready for next year.  RCR engineers are available up until mid-March, at set times, to undertake engine servicing and inspections, and prices start at £150. By ensuring everything is in working order now, the breakdown and assistance firm says it will reduce…

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  • CONSTRUCTION PROJECT STARTS TO RESTORE TODDBROOK RESERVOIR

    CONSTRUCTION PROJECT STARTS TO RESTORE TODDBROOK RESERVOIR

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    Major construction work has now started to restore Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge. The project is likely to cost around £15 million and take around two years to complete, with the reservoir due to reopen in late 2024. The Canal & River Trust charity which cares for the reservoir and 2,000 miles of waterways across…

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  • Book and music shop opens in Stonehouse

    Book and music shop opens in Stonehouse

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    WHETHER it’s a classic vinyl album you’ve been searching for or that rare cookery book from another century you are sure to find it at one of the largest book and music shops in the area. On the back of a very successful first year in Brimscombe, the Cotswold Canals Trust has just opened its…

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  • Towpath ‘ton-up boys’ and Crickheath South project starts

    Towpath ‘ton-up boys’ and Crickheath South project starts

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    THE second August work party was well attended by Shropshire Union Canal volunteers despite being in the middle of the holiday season. The weather again was very kind, which resulted in another very productive three days. Its principal aim was to develop as much of the towpath reconstruction as possible. The complete 330m length has…

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  • Lock gate project shortlisted for technical innovation award

    Lock gate project shortlisted for technical innovation award

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    AN INNOVATIVE fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) lock gate project carried out by ECS Engineering Services has been shortlisted for Technical Innovation of the Year at The London Construction Awards. Installed at Sunbury Dry Dock on the River Thames for the Environment Agency, the lock gates are the first set constructed from moulded FRP in the UK.…

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  • Riverside Museum, Reading!

    Riverside Museum, Reading!

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    Nicola Lisle continues her museum series with a visit to this delightful museum on the River Kennet. THE Riverside Museum in Reading is one of the town’s unexpected delights. A branch of Reading Museum, it is housed in a Victorian sewage pumping station at Blake’s Lock, just outside the town centre and close to the…

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  • Annual Balsam Bashing!

    Annual Balsam Bashing!

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    NINETEEN volunteers recently turned up at Haslam Park, Preston, for what has become an annual event – the Balsam Bash.  It was a record turnout with members of IWA Lancashire & Cumbria Branch, Lancaster Canal Trust and Friends of Haslam Park taking part. The Lancaster Canal borders the park and so far, not a lot…

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  • Campaigners win battle to protect boaters’ facilities

    Campaigners win battle to protect boaters’ facilities

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    THANKS to campaigning from IWA, Fox Boats and the Middle Level Commissioners, Fenland District Council has reversed its decision to remove the important boaters’ facilities block on March Riverside. When local IWA members first learned about the March Future High Street Fund, they were delighted that it recognised the potential of the waterway passing through…

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