News
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RETURNS: Historic Lighter
THE beautiful Susan is the only surviving timber-built lighter from the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation. Susan was built in 1953 by R J Prior of Burnham on Crouch for Brown & Son timber merchants in Chelmsford to carry timber from Heybridge Basin to Chelmsford. Based on the design of the earlier horse-drawn lighters which from…
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CHARACTERS OF THE CUT: Stuart Fenwick
Alice Elgie caught up with Stuart aboard The Briarose… AFTER sofa surfing for a number of years, florist and fiddle player Stuart Fenwick was finally introduced to the idea of a narrowboat named The Briarose by a work colleague. A 42ft semi-trad built in 1984 as a holiday boat, for the past seven years she…
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TRIP BOAT: ‘Heel Test’ conducted
VOLUNTEERS from IWA Manchester Branch, WRG (North West), CRT and Tameside Canal Boat Trust took on the job of helping to load, distribute and then unload 153 bags of sand, each weighing 25kg. This was carried out on Friday, July 5 as part of the ‘heel test’ required by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency before…
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OFFICIALLY OPEN: Schoolhouse Bridge
By Phil Pickin SHROPSHIRE’S Lord-Lieutenant, Anna Turner JP, has officially opened bridge 86, Schoolhouse Bridge, on the Montgomery Canal. The ceremony took place in front of a large crowd of supporters and representatives of the many individuals and organisations that helped with the project. John Dodwell, chairman of the Montgomery Canal Partnership, thanked many local…
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FLY TIPPING: Scouts & volunteers sort it…
SCOUTS came to the aid of other volunteers cleaning up an area close to New Cut Canal that has become one of the worst spots in Warrington for fly tipping. Twenty-four scouts turned out with three leaders to give Woolston Park South a thorough litter pick. They were accompanied by experienced volunteers from the New…
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MON & BREC CANAL: Safety Inspections
SPECIALIST divers have been carrying out inspections on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal ahead of the manufacture of new safety gates. Glandwr Cymru, the Canal & River Trust in Wales, carried out the work at Llanfoist Embankment. The embankment, which is located between the picturesque Llanfoist Wharf and Govilon Wharf, features two sets of safety…
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REPLACED: Ageing safety gate
A £50,000 project has seen a deteriorating safety gate on the Shropshire Union Canal at Knighton make way for a handcrafted replacement. The Canal & River Trust carried out the work at the historic wharf in June, replacing the ageing gate with one made in the charity’s specialist workshop. Between 1911 and 1961, Cadbury’s used…
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CRT: Revamp on the cards after survey
THE Canal & River Trust has pledged to ‘redouble’ its efforts and ‘do things differently’ following a ‘disappointing’ annual boaters’ survey. Overall satisfaction among respondents to the survey, which provides an important snapshot of boaters’ views, has dropped to 46% from 54% a year ago – falling from a peak of 76% in 2017. A…
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TOP TIPS: For a perfect pic
How do you capture the best of our waterways? Tipton festival’s organiser, Kev Maslin, a photographer for many years, offers his top five tips for taking that perfect photograph… • Visit a variety of locations and make use of different subjects within those areas to increase your chances of grabbing some eye-catching imagery. Each will…
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TIPTON FESTIVAL: Invite to budding snappers
Talented photographers are invited to celebrate ‘the Venice of the Midlands’ in memory of a larger-than-life waterway trader. THE Ray Jordan Memorial Photo Challenge is part of the Tipton Canal and Community Festival, being held on September 21-22, and promises a raft of great prizes for the winners. The competition is free to enter now…
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CHARACTERS OF THE CUT: Paul & Anthony Smith-Storey
Alice Elgie caught up with Paul & Anthony… AFTER 13 years of hiring a small day boat from Ellerbeck Narrowboats in Chorley, and multiple walks along the towpath with their dog Dexter, it was a chance meeting that finally propelled Paul and Anthony Smith-Storey towards living aboard. Paul explained: “We bumped into a lady who…
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RECOVERED: Museum’s stolen Tilley lamps
THREE Tilley lamps stolen from the National Waterway Museum Ellesmere Port have been recovered thanks to the keen eye of a Canal & River Trust volunteer who spotted them for sale on a well-known internet auction site. The trust’s museums team alerted the police, who recovered the items; the seller is now assisting police. CRT…
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ULSTER CANAL: Phase 2 officially opened
By Alison Alderton TAOISEACH (Irish Prime Minister) Simon Harris and Tánaiste (Irish Deputy Prime Minister) Micheál Martin, alongside Waterways Ireland (WI), have officially opened Phase 2 of the Ulster Canal redevelopment project following an investment of more than €20 million. The redevelopment project was carried out by WI, the navigation authority for the inland navigable…
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EASENHALL CUTTING: Now open
EASENHALL Cutting on the Oxford Canal has reopened to navigation while a major repair project by the Canal & River Trust continues. After a period of intense rainfall in early February an estimated 4000 tonnes of the 18m cutting slipped into the canal. Trust teams worked through difficult conditions, with continued wet weather saturating the…
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