News

TIMOTHY WEST: Starring role on Shakespeare’s Avon

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August 21, 2024

Veteran stage and screen actor Timothy West CBE is making a world debut… as Avon Navigation Trust’s river trip star. TIMOTHY West, whose thespian heart is anchored in Shakespeare’s Avon, made special time to record a commentary that’s enthralling passengers aboard trip-boat Corsair and raising funds for the charitable Avon Navigation Trust (ANT). Timothy, an…
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ROBBIE CUMMING: Opens towpath upgrade

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August 20, 2024

Walkers, cyclists, canoeists and schoolchildren joined TV presenter and Wendover Canal Trust patron Robbie Cumming at the official opening of the Wendover to Halton towpath upgrade. THE improvement, which cost £750,000 and runs for 1.7 miles, took six months to complete. It is part of a joint ambition of the Wendover Canal Trust (WCT) and…
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FOXTON LOCKS: Car park improvements

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August 19, 2024

THE Canal & River Trust has been improving car parking at Foxton Locks in Leicestershire, making it easier for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year to visit the historic site. As part of the proposed upgrade, the charity is installing an ANPR system, which will enable people to park their vehicles and pay when…
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DANGEROUS TOWPATH: Canal festival cancelled

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August 17, 2024

THE popular Boat Canal Festival, run by the Inland Waterways Association’s Lee & Stort Branch to coincide with the Ware Festival, was cancelled due to the last-minute closure of a dangerous towpath. Hertfordshire County Council issued a prohibition order for a large section of the towpath on the River Lee through Ware, including the site…
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DIARY DATE: Saltisford Canal

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August 16, 2024

Come explore the Saltisford Canal Arm and discover life on the canals, past and present on Sunday 8th September. Home to permanent residents and travelling boats all year round, this is an opportunity to discover this hidden gem of Warwick. Visitors can meet a traditional fender maker and see his working home, watch a traditional…
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WHAT’S ON: Kirkintilloch Canal Festival

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August 15, 2024

FROM canoeing and classic cars to a flight simulator and a real aircraft, Kirkintilloch Canal Festival is shaping up to be a soaraway success. East Dunbartonshire Council is working with a range of partners, including Kirkintilloch Baptist Church and Police Scotland, to make it a weekend to remember. The Saturday evening (August 31, 5-10pm) will…
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RNLI CREW: World record challenge

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August 14, 2024

Wick RNLI crew on 2000-mile world record challenge TWO crew members from Wick RNLI, Allan Lipp and Mhairi Ross, are attempting to be the first mixed pair to circumnavigate the mainland UK unsupported, while raising funds for the RNLI and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance. Allan and Mhairi, who between them have more than 35 years…
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Princess Anne: Takes the helm

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August 13, 2024

A charity providing boat trips and residentials for the community and charitable organisations has been given the royal seal of approval. Sally Clifford went aboard to find out more. THE innate stillness of the surroundings evokes an immediate sense of calm. Even the lone duck waddling beside the water at Staniland Marina in Thorne, Doncaster,…
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WIGAN FLIGHT: Complex repairs

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August 12, 2024

A 200-year-old lock which is part of the famous Wigan Flight has undergone complex repairs so that boaters can continue to use the canal. BUILT in 1816, Wigan Flight is one of the most distinctive features on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. The flight of 21 locks raises the canal more than 200ft over two-and-a-half…
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FREIGHT WATCH: Shades of grey

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August 10, 2024

Jonathan Mosse’s monthly look at freight development on the inland waterways. ON THE face of it, the general election we’ve just had appears to represent massive change at the political level, but that is to ignore those who beaver away behind the scenes, providing consistency in the application of policy and its detailed content. It…
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CANAL ANCESTRY: Friends of the canal families

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August 9, 2024

Nicola Lisle continues her family history series with a look at the canal boatmen’s missions, chapels and institutes, which offered much-needed support to the floating population BY THE 19th century canal boatmen and their families were well-established fixtures on the watery highways of Britain, many working long hours to keep essential goods moving around the…
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PLASTIC FANTASTIC: Revolutionary new boat

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August 8, 2024

New plastic vessel heralds revolution in canal boat construction The eagerly anticipated launch of a world-first canal boat crafted from plastic has been announced by a groundbreaking Bradford company navigating the way to the vessels of the future. FORMATION Plastics Ltd is the innovator of this state-of-the-art canal barge, meticulously crafted from high-density polyethylene (HDPE).…
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EXHIBITION: Shipyard Social

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August 7, 2024

THE Scottish Maritime Museum is showcasing a very different take on the history of shipbuilding by delving into the social archives of famous Clydeside shipbuilders, Alexander Stephen & Sons of Govan, and William Denny & Sons of Dumbarton. Dubbed Shipyard Social, the exhibition delves into the Denny Arckivz, a collection of pictures, brochures, tickets and…
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MBE for Maid of the Loch stalwart

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August 6, 2024

JOHN Beveridge, founder of the Loch Lomond Steamship Company which is working to return PS Maid of the Loch, built for British Railways in 1953, to sailing on Loch Lomond, has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the King’s Birthday Honours List. Seventy-one-year-old John, who hails from Helensburgh, says…
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