Towpath Talk

IWA Calls on Government to Back Green Future for Britain’s Leisure Boaters

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September 23, 2025

The Inland Waterways Association (IWA), through its Sustainable Boating Group, has made a Submission to the Department for Transport’s (DfT’s) Call for Evidence on Decarbonising Smaller Vessels. It has looked at propulsion and the use of domestic energy on leisure boats. The Group has a clear strategy to decarbonise this sector, so a submission has…
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DRAMA ON THE THAMES: Mikron Theatre’s Narrowboat Crane-Lifted for First Time in Nearly 50 Years

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September 22, 2025

MIKRON Theatre Company, which specialises in performance art by canal, river and road, was forced to crane its narrowboat Tyseley onto land for the first time since 1976 because it was unable to continue travelling on the drought-stricken River Thames. A crane was hired to winch the vessel out of the river at Reading and…
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FUNDING BOOST to care for Montgomery Canal

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September 20, 2025

A RESTORED stretch of the Montgomery Canal, near Welshpool, will be maintained thanks to a £250,000 grant from the Nature Networks Fund. It will help Glandŵr Cymru, the Canal & River Trust in Wales, to protect rare plant and animal species by removing areas of silt and dense vegetation growing over the channel, improving water…
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ROCK LEGEND reopens canal centre

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September 19, 2025

TAPTON Lock Visitor Centre has been officially reopened by renowned musician Dave Berry. The centre is owned by Derbyshire County Council and was previously run by its Countryside Service. Much to the dismay of many canal towpath users, it was closed in May after many months of only opening for a few days a week…
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HANDLESS Tug Skipper…

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September 18, 2025

Jonathan Mosse talks ‘Johnny-no-hands’… FROM early childhood I clearly remember the overwhelming feeling of wonder, in the run up to Christmas, when a packet of festive greetings cards would arrive in the post. Nothing out of the ordinary there… except that the card designs had all been painted by either the artist’s mouth or one…
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CHARACTERS OF THE CUT: Just Us Wandering

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September 16, 2025

A FAMILY of five who were looking to buy a house in 2019 unexpectedly had their heads turned by a fellow boat blogger and never looked back. Alice Elgie reports Mum Annabel told me: “We fell in love with the tiny lifestyle, slower pace of life, more freedom and closer connection to nature, all of…
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TOP SIX leafy canals to cruise this autumn

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September 16, 2025

BRITAIN’S 3000-mile network of inland waterways winds through some of the nation’s best-loved countryside, including beautiful stretches of woodland and tree-lined embankments. Drifters Waterways Holidays (drifters.co.uk) offers more than 500 boats for hire from 40 locations across England, Scotland and Wales. To celebrate the autumn colours in the trees and hedgerows that line Britain’s canals, Drifters…
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STARLINK Alternative?

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September 15, 2025

VISITORS to this year’s Crick Boat Show may well have seen one of the most interesting new products to appear on the market for boat owners for some time, and one that is particularly apt given the show’s notoriously bad mobile data connections. Phil Pickin reports… The company in question is Oyster Sat-Tech Limited, which…
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PARRY HONOURED after 12 years at the tiller

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September 13, 2025

OUTGOING Canal & River Trust chief executive Richard Parry has hinted he will keep his ties with the waterways after a presentation at Braunston Marina in Northamptonshire. Before the formal opening of this year’s Braunston Historic Boat Rally, Tim Coghlan of Braunston Marina asked Sir David and Lady Suchet to jointly present Richard with a…
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HOT WEATHER takes its toll on Irish Waterways

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September 12, 2025

IRELAND, renowned for its damp weather and lush countryside, has struggled in the recent heatwaves that have swept across the northern hemisphere. The first marine notices warning of low water levels were issued as early as March this year and with no major rainfall forecast for the foreseeable future boaters have and continue to be…
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HULL: Bridge work begins

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September 11, 2025

HULL City Council has confirmed that repair and strengthening works on the iconic Drypool Bridge over the River Hull have begun with Esh Construction and Mason Clark Associates leading the project, reports Alison Alderton. Following the receipt of a Marine Management Organisation (MMO) licence, the contractors started setting up the works compound on the former…
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MUSEUM FOCUS: End of en era as much-loved museum closes

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September 10, 2025

Nicola Lisle bids a sad farewell to the River and Rowing Museum in Henley, Oxfordshire. IF YOU want to visit the River and Rowing Museum in Henley you’ll have to be quick, because sadly this popular riverside attraction is closing in September after 27 years. The award-winning museum’s final hurrah will coincide with this year’s…
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STEPPING OUT for a good cause

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September 9, 2025

THE Clifton Suspension Bridge, spanning the Avon, is one of the locations in a much-loved fundraising sculpture trail this summer. Bristol-based animator Nick Park’s Academy Award-winning character, Gromit, was first unleashed on the streets of the city way back in 2013 to raise money for sick children. Now, more than 500 sculptures, four trails and…
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WIN! A year’s RCR Gold Membership

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September 8, 2025

To celebrate River Canal Rescue’s 25th anniversary, managing director Stephanie Horton is giving away prizes every month, throughout the year. In September, Towpath Talk readers can win a gold membership worth £335. The breakdown assistance and recovery package includes: vessel covered for any user or member covered on any vessel; unlimited call-outs; recovery to your nearest…
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