Towpath Talk

30 YEAR CELEBRATION for Maritime Voluteer Service

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January 16, 2025

THE Maritime Volunteer Service marked three decades of help to communities and vital training with a celebration in London. More than 100 MVS guests and members gathered at All Hallows by the Tower, the oldest church in the City of London, for a special thanksgiving service. The service, which brought together more than 100 distinguished guests from…
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RIVER CANAL RESCUE: maintenance course dates

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January 15, 2025

River Canal Rescue is now taking bookings for its two-day maintenance courses, running at its Stafford HQ on: 18/19 February, 4/5 and 26/27 March, 10/11 and 23/24 April, 7/8 and 21/22 May and 11/12 and 25/26 June. The boat and engine maintenance course covers how to maintain diesel engines and the systems within a narrowboat,…
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ARTS BARGE ‘built with kindness’ takes shape

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January 14, 2025

Plans to transform a former grain barge into an arts venue are well under way. Sally Clifford popped by to check progress on the historic Selby Tony. Body text: THE deluge from the previous days’ downpours has to be dealt with before tools can be turned to the jobs in hand. Removing water from the…
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MUSEUM FOCUS: Essex quayside historic steam tug

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January 13, 2025

Nicola Lisle visits the 80-year-old steam tug Brent, currently moored on the River Blackwater in Maldon, Essex, and finds out about ambitious restoration plans… MALDON’S quay, The Hythe, was once a busy industrial port, home to thriving boatyards and a fleet of barges transporting goods to Chelmsford and London. Today the remaining barges are an…
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GERRY HEWARD: Moving forward

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January 11, 2025

Jonathan Mosse reports… ONCE raised, the two pans – mentioned at the conclusion of last month’s Part 1 introduction to Gerry’s colourful and varied waterways career – were soon mustered behind his girlfriend’s narrowboat that was conveniently passing downstream. The tow, soon opposite Brentford and the Grand Union, was taken up by a surprisingly co-operative…
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£1.1M UPGRADE for Towpath

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January 10, 2025

Work is under way on a project to improve a four-mile stretch of towpath on the northern reaches of the Lancaster Canal and make it more accessible for residents and visitors. Lucy Wood reports… THE Canal & River Trust worked with the Lancaster Canal Regeneration Partnership and Westmorland and Furness Council to secure funding for…
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CANAL BOAT ARTIST transforms Tuk-Tuk

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January 9, 2025

RENOWNED canal boat artist Alan Baillie rose to a new challenge when he was asked to paint a tuk-tuk. A chance meeting on the Coventry Canal between tuk-tuk owner Gary Cross and Mr Baillie led to him taking on the unusual job of painting the Indian Bajaj auto rickshaw. After a conversation, Gary gave the…
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MULTI-MILLION UPGRADE for reservoir

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January 8, 2025

Lucy Wood reports… HILL Top Reservoir, known locally as Slaithwaite Reservoir, is being upgraded by the Canal & River Trust to meet safety standards and withstand climate change. Situated in the village of Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, the reservoir was opened 225 years ago. Renowned engineer Benjamin Outram built it to supply water…
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DEAL PENNED: Poet and canal trust

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January 7, 2025

CANAL Laureate Roy McFarlane has become an ambassador for Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust (LHCRT). Birmingham-born Roy, known for his evocative poetry and dedication to exploring the cultural and historical significance of Britain’s waterways, will help the trust raise funds and awareness of its projects. The trust hopes his profile will help bring in…
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LAND GIFT to speed up canal restoration

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January 6, 2025

A DEVELOPER has donated a parcel of land in Lichfield which will speed up canal restoration. The land – owned by Persimmon Homes, which is creating its St John’s Grange community in the Staffordshire city – will now belong to Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust to manage, enabling it to restore a key junction…
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COMPLETED EARLY: Canal restoration work

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January 4, 2025

DEDICATED and hardworking volunteers from the Shropshire Union Canal Society have finished more vital work on the Montgomery Canal – months ahead of schedule. Using funding from the Rural Prosperity Fund grant, they completed a towpath, canal channel and hedge-laying. Working near the Crickheath and Schoolhouse Bridges, the volunteers completed the towpath and bank, channel…
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PARLIAMENT LOBBIED in campaign against surcharge

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January 3, 2025

BOATERS worried about a rise in costs have taken their case to Westminster. The National Bargee Travellers’ Association (NBTA), which represents 2000 boaters, is angry that boaters without a home mooring pay higher licence fees and claims that the Canal and River Trust discriminates against continuous cruisers. The NBTA held a drop-in session at the…
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CANAL EMBANKMENT COLLAPSES

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January 2, 2025

Heavy rainfall has caused a significant collapse of the Bridgewater Canal embankment near Dunham Massey, creating concerns for local residents, businesses, and canal users. The collapse, which occurred following days of relentless downpours, has left a section of the canal damaged, disrupting navigation and raising questions about the stability of the historic waterway. The affected…
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SAVED: ‘At risk’ Aqueduct

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December 31, 2024

AN AT-RISK aqueduct has been saved from falling into disrepair after Glandŵr Cymru, the Canal and River Trust in Wales, stepped in. The Grade-II Listed Aberbechan Aqueduct on the Montgomery Canal has had extensive repairs which should ensure its survival for the next 200 years. The aqueduct carries the canal over Bechan Brook, a tributary…
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