News
-
Canal Charity Warns of Increasing Battle Against Aquatic Weeds
The Canal & River Trust – the national charity working to protect the nation’s historic canals – predicts that warmer, wetter summers brought about by climate change are challenging the fight to stop Britain’s canals from becoming choked by invasive weeds. The Trust’s annual summer programme to tackle the weed across its 2,000 miles of…
-
See Foxton Locks from a different perspective this summer
The Canal & River Trust is inviting visitors to see Foxton Locks from a different perspective this summer as it announces a new programme of events and activities. The charity, which cares for the popular landmark as part of its 2,000-mile canal network across England and Wales, is holding a series of activities enabling people…
-
Pack a picnic and enjoy a free summer day out at Stockingfield Bridge
In celebration of the newly installed community artworks at the award-winning site, Scottish Canals will host an afternoon of storytelling, art and entertainment on Sunday, August 20th. Scottish Canals invite you to pack a picnic and head to Stockingfield Bridge in Glasgow next month to enjoy a free summer day out. In celebration of the…
-
Flagship award for floating bookshop
A floating bookshop has received recognition for its historical importance. Sally Clifford finds out more. “I PLAYED cricket where we are stood when it was empty without coal.” For Peter Claxton, stepping aboard the former coal barge his father Norman skippered for a decade or so evoked fond memories of school holidays spent on the…
-
Family photographs recall bygone days
BOATER and wildlife photographer Grant Hebblewhite, who was featured recently in Towpath Talk (Character, Issue 212, June 2023) writes: “I found these lovely old photos of my Nan and Grandpa taken in the 50s, I expect at Stoke Bruerne. The butty is still around, apparently. “It used to carry the two different names Northolt and…
-
Have you HERD about this?
Sally Clifford finds out how the canal – with a little help from some fleecy friends – played a part in a unique music celebration in West Yorkshire. Textiles have played an integral part in Yorkshire’s history so it was fitting for some fleecy friends to be part of a unique celebration. HERD, described as…
-
Tapton Lock Festival Returns Next Month!
Now in its eleventh year, organisers have confirmed that the popular Tapton Lock Festival will return this September with a host of new activities and entertainment for families to enjoy. The free annual event is organised by Junction Arts and Derbyshire County Council to bring families and friends together to enjoy the outdoors, promoting better health…
-
Work starts on Cromford Canal extension at Langley Mill
THE much-anticipated start on the extension of the Cromford Canal at Beggarlee, Langley Mill, has begun, with preparatory work to pipe two gullies. One of these will pass underneath and across the new canal extension which has been one of the principal objectives of the Friends of Cromford Canal which was established in 2002. Connecting…
-
Up for the challenge on the Chesterfield Canal
Report & photos: Janet Richardson EXCITING plans for the Staveley Town Basin were unveiled at a business event hosted by the Chesterfield Canal Society on the eve of its recent canal festival. A new hub – Staveley Waterside – is to be created for start-up and existing businesses, building on the success of the Markham…
-
Wet weather as Wigan Flight reopens
THE Wigan flight of 21 locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal has reopened following repairs to Locks 68 and 69.. But although the day dawned wet and miserable the boaters whose journeys had been stalled for nearly six weeks were going locking whatever the weather. One said: “We’ve been stuck here at the top…
-
Innovation at lock gate workshops
THE Canal & River Trust’s lock gate workshops, at Bradley in the West Midlands and Stanley Ferry in Yorkshire, are bringing forward several small changes to lock gate production to increase speed and efficiency. With over 1500 locks across the trust’s canal network, and a working life of typically 25 years, there is a constant…
-
More good news for the Monty Canal!
THE Shropshire Union Canal Society has received a £14,600 restoration grant from the Association for Industrial Archaeology towards the cost of restoring the historic tramway wharf on the Montgomery Canal at Crickheath. It was the terminus of a 2½ mile horse-drawn tramway from the limestone quarry at Porth-y-waen. Built by navvies during the construction of…
-
NBTA plans ballot on resistance to licence changes
AS BOATERS anxiously await an update from the Canal & River Trust (CRT) on their new licensing structure, the National Bargee Travellers Association (NBTA) is gearing up to ballot its members on what actions they are willing to take to oppose any attack on the itinerant liveaboard community. CRT carried out a ‘consultation survey’ between…
-
Cost of living petition presented at No 10
Boaters joined a flotilla to take their Energy Bills Support Scheme plight to the capital. Sally Clifford finds out more. SLOW cruisers took their campaign to the doorstep of Britain’s political power. The boaters travelled to London to protest the continued exclusion of itinerant boat dwellers and others without a fixed address from receiving the…
Free Digital Issue
Search
Tags
anderton boat lift Canal & River Trust Canal and River Trust canal heritage canal restoration Characters of the cut Chesterfield Canal Chesterfield Canal Trust CRT Environment Agency Freight Grand Union Canal inland waterways Inland Waterways Association IWA montgomery canal NBTA News RCR River Canal Rescue shropshire union canal Sponsored Content The Canal & River Trust Towpath Talk TPT April 2025 TPT August 2024 TPT December 2024 TPT February 2025 TPT Jan 2026 TPT January 2022 tpt January 2023 TPT January 2024 TPT January 2025 TPT July 2025 TPT June 2025 tpt March 2022 TPT March 2025 TPT May 2025 TPT November 2024 TPT November 2025 tpt October 2023 TPT October 2024 TPT October 2025 TPT September 2024 TPT September 2025
















