A campaign cruise intended to highlight the value of Britain’s inland waterways has itself been repeatedly disrupted by lock failures, low water levels and continuing closures across the North West.
Fund Britain’s Waterways has warned that Britain risks developing a fragmented canal and river network after its 2026 campaign flotilla was forced to abandon plans to reach Liverpool and the Lancaster Canal.
The cruise had been due to culminate in Liverpool Docks, with some boats continuing through the Liverpool Canal Link, across the Ribble Link and onto the Lancaster Canal. North West England was chosen as the campaign’s focus because of the number and impact of waterway closures across the region.
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The boats successfully gathered at the National Waterways Museum in Ellesmere Port in early July, having attended events along the way to raise awareness of the economic, environmental and social value of Britain’s inland waterways, and the threat posed by inadequate funding.
However, the planned crossing of the tidal Mersey became impossible at the last minute because of a fault at Brunswick Lock, which connects the river with Liverpool Docks.
Even without that failure, the onward journey towards the Ribble Link would not have been possible because the Liverpool Canal Link remained closed for third-party works.
Organisers then changed their plans and proposed travelling along the Manchester Ship Canal from Ellesmere Port to Salford Quays, before passing through Pomona Lock onto the Bridgewater Canal.
That alternative was also abandoned at the last minute because low water levels on the Bridgewater Canal prevented passage through Pomona Lock. This removed the final opportunity for the boats to reach the Ribble Link and Lancaster Canal as originally intended.
The only viable route was therefore along the Manchester Ship Canal to Marsh Lock, before joining the River Weaver. The revised journey also allowed Fund Britain’s Waterways to add its support to the campaign for the reopening of the Anderton Boat Lift.
Nine campaign boats left the basins at Ellesmere Port early on Friday, July 10, passing the Stanlow Oil Refinery before travelling through Marsh Lock and onto the River Weaver.
On reaching the Anderton Boat Lift, the flotilla was welcomed by the site team. Fund Britain’s Waterways also praised staff and volunteers from the Canal & River Trust and the Manchester Ship Canal Company for helping to facilitate the revised cruise.
The boaters are due to attend the Northwich River Festival on Saturday, July 18, before returning along the Manchester Ship Canal to Ellesmere Port on Monday, July 20.
However, their journeys home are expected to be affected by further waterway closures caused by low water levels during the continuing hot, dry weather, as well as additional infrastructure failures.
Hazel Owen, chair of Fund Britain’s Waterways, said: “The Fund Britain’s Waterways Flotilla will not be beaten. The closure of Brunswick Lock meant we could not leave the River Mersey, and the lack of water at Pomona Lock meant we could not leave the Manchester Ship Canal.
“Determined to continue, we headed from Ellesmere Port to Marsh Lock on the River Weaver and the Anderton Boat Lift, which is currently closed for renovation work.
“The Anderton Boat Lift is an iconic part of the canal network. We cannot afford to lose something so important. But it is of little use if boats cannot travel between the Trent & Mersey Canal and the River Weaver because of stoppages across adjoining waterways.
“This highlights the urgent need for adequate, long-term funding to maintain and protect Britain’s waterways for boaters, communities and future generations.
“Without adequate funding, we risk creating a fragmented waterways system, with depleted cruising areas and broken cruising rings. That would not only limit where boaters can travel, but also have a serious impact on hire boat businesses whose customers depend on being able to enjoy connected, accessible routes.”
Jim Forkin, chair of the Chester & Merseyside Branch of the Inland Waterways Association, said the long-term closure of the Anderton Boat Lift was having a negative effect on the River Weaver, its boating activity and leisure facilities.
He said the Canal & River Trust had stated its intention to return one of the lift’s two caissons to service by May 2027, but added that further information supporting that target had not been provided despite requests from the Inland Waterways Association.
Jim Mole, chair of the River Weaver Navigation Society, described the Anderton Boat Lift as the “Cathedral of the Waterways” and said it had remained closed since a lifting-gate wire broke during a routine test in January 2025.
He said plans were being considered to replace all six lifting gates at an estimated cost of about £2 million, but warned that the continued closure was damaging businesses along the Weaver and placing the future use of the navigation at risk.
Fund Britain’s Waterways was established in June 2023 and brings together more than 160 organisations campaigning collectively for increased government funding to protect Britain’s inland waterways from decline.
