The Canal & River Trust

  • Fund Britain’s Waterways flotilla heading for Westminster!

    Fund Britain’s Waterways flotilla heading for Westminster!

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    A FLOTILLA of boats will navigate the tidal River Thames to Westminster in November to support the campaign for better funding of Britain’s waterways. This cruise past the Houses of Parliament follows the successful event held in Birmingham in August when between 40 and 50 boats filled the canal outside the Mailbox. Action group Fund…

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  • Characters of the Cut – Giles Williams!

    Characters of the Cut – Giles Williams!

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    Alice Griffin caught up with Giles Williams – your helmsman! WHEN Giles Williams found himself recovering from illness in early 2016 and looking for work that would take him into the open air, he could not have foreseen that an initial job as towpath ranger for the Canal & River Trust would lead him on…

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  • Day in the life of a licence ranger

    Day in the life of a licence ranger

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    llegally moored boats, boats without licences and even a boat sinking – it’s all in a day’s work for one of the Canal & River Trust’s licensing rangers, as author Andy Griffee discovered when he went out on towpath patrol with one of them. ONE of the first things I notice about Steve Broad’s ranger…

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  • ‘Towards Accessible Waterways’ event

    ‘Towards Accessible Waterways’ event

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    From organiser, Tim Clarke: The Accessible Waterways Association is celebrating the International Day of People with Disabilities by holding a conference and social event in Birmingham on Saturday 2 December 2023, in conjunction with the Canal & River Trust. This will be a special time for like-minded people to get together. There will be stands…

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  • Innovation at lock gate workshops

    Innovation at lock gate workshops

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    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 more than 1500 locks across the trust’s canal network, and a working life of typically 25 years, there is a…

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  • Government Energy Support Now Available to Continuous Cruisers

    Government Energy Support Now Available to Continuous Cruisers

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    People living on boats without home moorings on Canal & River Trust navigations will be entitled to payments from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero from the Energy Bill Support Scheme, following months of lobbying from the Canal & River Trust. This support will be provided in the form of a single £600…

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  • Opening the way for boats and tourism benefits

    Opening the way for boats and tourism benefits

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    Volunteers are the lifeblood of many organisations. Sally Clifford chats to members of Pocklington Canal Amenity Society about their ambitious plans for the future. THEY are the silent workforce. Without volunteers, many organisations throughout the country would struggle to survive or, at least, get anything done. Canals and towpaths are just some of the places…

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  • Canal Charity Warns of Increasing Battle Against Aquatic Weeds

    Canal Charity Warns of Increasing Battle Against Aquatic Weeds

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    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…

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  • See Foxton Locks from a different perspective this summer

    See Foxton Locks from a different perspective this summer

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    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…

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  • Green Flags for Almost 600 Miles of Waterways!

    Green Flags for Almost 600 Miles of Waterways!

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    The Canal & River Trust is announcing that Keep Britain Tidy has awarded 50* of its canal and river navigations with prestigious Green Flag status.   The nation’s canal charity has secured a further 53.5 miles of Green Flag waterways across England and Wales, with 592* miles now holding the international quality mark for parks and…

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  • Canal Charity Announces Programme of Work to Help Protect Nation’s Historic Waterways

    Canal Charity Announces Programme of Work to Help Protect Nation’s Historic Waterways

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    The Canal & River Trust has announced an £89m programme of engineering work, illustrating the scale of the resource required to protect and preserve the nation’s 250-year-old canal network. Against a backdrop of the government announced sweeping cuts to the future funding of canals, in the current financial year, the Trust will complete more than…

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  • Hazlehurst Bridge restoration complete

    Hazlehurst Bridge restoration complete

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    Canal & River Trust, the national canal charity, has completed the project to rebuild the Grade II Listed Hazlehurst Bridge on the Caldon Canal near Endon in Staffordshire.   The 12-month project, costing £2 million, was enabled by an award from the Postcode Earth Trust, thanks to funds raised by People’s Postcode Lottery players.  It has…

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  • Latest Stoppage on the Leeds & Liverpool

    Latest Stoppage on the Leeds & Liverpool

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    A leak had been detected either from damage to a culvert that carries a field drainage ditch under the canal or the canal wash wall with the canal flowing into an adjacent farm field.  Attempts were made to stop the water flowing through the wash wall with a plastic fibre sheet, but this didn’t stem…

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  • Have your say on canal charity’s proposals for new fishing platforms

    Have your say on canal charity’s proposals for new fishing platforms

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    Public Consultation: 7 July – 3 August 2023 Canal & River Trust, the waterways charity that looks after Harthill Reservoir, is inviting people to have their say on proposals for new fishing platforms as part of the Trust’s upgrade project. The Trust is planning to replace the existing fishing platforms, which are no longer fit…

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