News

Canal Boat Diaries moors up for a new series

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April 22, 2024

STARTING weeknights in June there are 10 new one-hour episodes of the popular Canal Boat Diaries with Robbie Cumming, as he offers a personal take on life aboard his narrowboat home the Naughty Lass. The filmmaker and waterways enthusiast explores the landscapes, towns and cities of the Midlands before heading south down the Grand Union…
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Boat owners warned: pay up or face a fine

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April 19, 2024

A READING-based boat owner has been convicted and fined for failing to register his cruiser for use on the River Thames. Environment Agency officers discovered the unnamed boat moored opposite Reading Marine Services during routine checks last year, Reading magistrates were told. The owner Michael Toner did not attend the hearing. As the boat was…
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Getting set for lining and blocking

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April 12, 2024

DELIVERY of building blocks and various liner materials will signal the start of work on the next section of the Montgomery Canal south of Crickheath Tramway. The second Shropshire Union Canal Society work party of the year saw a variety of activities including channel profiling and hedge laying in readiness for the resumption of work…
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Birmingham moorings trial prompts boater stay time changes

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April 8, 2024

AFTER a successful six-month trial, the Canal & River Trust is implementing changes to the mooring stay times along the canals in Birmingham city centre. The new times, which were put out to consultation and trialled between July and December 2023, will standardise the stay times at popular mooring spots across the city centre and take…
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Upgrade for sliding canal bridge

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April 5, 2024

ENGINEERS from Network Rail recently completed nine days working on the UK’s only sliding canal bridge at Keadby. Keadby Canal’s walls and remove rails and track equipment that had been in place for many years, to install new replacements. Scheme project manager Sean Ellerby said: “The last nine days have seen an incredible amount of…
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IWA campaigns to save Welsh aqueduct

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April 1, 2024

A MOVE to demolish Aberdulais Aqueduct, which carries the Tennant Canal over the River Neath, has prompted an angry reaction from the Inland Waterways Association. It has sharply criticised what it calls ‘a lazy proposal’ by Welsh Government quango Natural Resources Wales (NRW) that says it is considering demolishing the scheduled ancient monument. It described…
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Dunsfold Park desilting extends navigable canal

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March 29, 2024

THE Wey & Arun Canal Trust has started the year with the completion of desilting work on the Dunsfold section. This has resulted in a fully navigable unobstructed wide and deep channel for nearly 2km from Fast Bridge in Surrey down to Tickner’s Heath and a canalside path. Trust chairman Sally Schupke said: “We are…
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Work set to start on new canal bridge

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March 27, 2024

CHESTERFIELD Canal Trust has appointed O’Brien Contractors Ltd to build and install a new bridge over the soon-to-be-restored route of the canal at Staveley, Derbyshire. This will be the first stage of a £6 million restoration project, the bulk of the money coming from the Staveley Town Deal, a government levelling-up project. Describing it as…
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Lock closure cuts off boaters’ link to national canal network

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March 25, 2024

BOATERS have been left on the wrong side of access to 130 miles of navigable waterways in the Anglian region due to a failure to remove a build-up of tidal silt. Navigation authority Middle Level Commissioners is responsible for the Fen waterways between Stanground Lock in Peterborough and Salter’s Lode Lock near Downham Market in…
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Flood defence gates out of action

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March 22, 2024

THE sluice mechanism which helps prevent flooding along the Rivers Wissey and Little Ouse in Norfolk and Suffolk is currently not working to full capacity. Levels in the relief channel are remaining higher than usual due to reduced discharge into the tidal river at Tail Sluice. In a recent briefing, the Environment Agency acknowledged that…
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Volunteers needed for Cotswold Canals project

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March 19, 2024

RESTORATION of the ‘Missing Mile’ of the western section of the Stroudwater Navigation has been given the thumbs up by Stroud District Council planners. Securing planning permission was a critical step in the Cotswold Canals Connected Phase 1B Project plan to restore the Stroudwater Canal linking the Cotswold Canals to the national waterways at Saul…
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Tickets now on sale for Crick Boat Show

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March 8, 2024

ADVANCE tickets are now on sale for the 2024 Crick Boat Show which begins with a Trade & Preview Day sponsored by Haven Knox-Johnston on Friday May 24. Showcasing the inland waterways industry with over 200 exhibitors, there will be more than 30 new boats to view. Show director Peter Johns said: “Our ‘Trade &…
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Rising costs contribute to canal charity’s £5m deficit forecast…

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February 26, 2024

INCREASED costs are among the factors leading the Canal & River Trust to forecast a deficit of around £5 million for the current financial year. With an £87 million spend on infrastructure and weaker investment markets yielding a reduced income, work is also ongoing to mitigate the impact of cost inflation. Chief executive Richard Parry…
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National group campaigns to win energy justice for liveaboard boaters

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February 21, 2024

THE newly-named campaign group, UK Boaters for Energy Justice, are continuing their campaign to make sure all boating households get historical energy bill support worth £600, which other households received in 2022/23. This campaign has been ongoing since a meeting with the MP for Devizes, Danny Kruger, at Caen Hill Marina in June 2023. Mr Kruger…
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