Towpath Talk

DEVASTATING. Three weeks on from canal bank collapse

by

Web Editor

–

January 25, 2025

ENGINEERS are still assessing the damage and extent of repairs needed at the Bridgewater Canal in Greater Manchester. A section of the Bridgewater Canal embankment near Dunham Massey in Greater Manchester collapsed on New Year’s Day after sustained heavy rainfall, resulting in water pouring into neighbouring fields and flooding a sewage works. It also left…
Continue reading »
CREDIBLE? Canal restoration study called into question

by

Web Editor

–

January 24, 2025

THE Neath and Tennant Canals Trust has hit out after a key element in plans to restore the waterways to full navigation was deleted from a consultation exercise. The trust has registered a formal complaint with Neath Port Talbot Council about the way the consultation was conducted, stating that the omission of the commitment to…
Continue reading »
£55K FINES for unregistered boats

by

Web Editor

–

January 23, 2025

A COURT crackdown on unregistered boats moored on the River Thames has seen 40 owners fined a total of £55,000. And the Environment Agency warned more patrols are planned to track down non-payers. On the River Thames alone, the agency recorded more than 10,000 boats during a census. The Environment Agency brought the latest round…
Continue reading »
February 2025

by

Alex Bestwick

–

January 23, 2025

Towpath Talk features everything you need to know about boats, marinas, wildlife, conservation, heritage and superb days out.
Continue reading »
WINTER on the cut

by

Web Editor

–

January 22, 2025

Kevin Thomas reports… SOMETIMES you know when winter announces its arrival before you have even stepped off your boat. Perhaps it’s an early morning dusting of frost or a gossamer curtain of fog over the water and, although barely discernible, the silhouettes of moored boats. Out on the water, a lone black-headed gull floats patiently,…
Continue reading »
UNDER DEVELOPMENT: More efficient solar panels

by

Web Editor

–

January 21, 2025

Phil Pickin reports… THERE are a number of obstacles to overcome if boat owners want to be more independent when it comes to generating their own electricity. The UK’s lack of sunshine is certainly a major problem, as is a lack of space on the roof of their boats, so to optimise the space available,…
Continue reading »
ENERGISING Britain’s waterways

by

Web Editor

–

January 20, 2025

Phil Pickin attended an interesting and occasionally entertaining British Marine Midlands annual meeting. WORCESTERSHIRE County Cricket Club once again played host to the British Marine Inland Conference in mid-November. The annual event was sponsored by Haven Knox-Johnston, Barrus, Hoseasons, ProMarine Finance, Aqueduct Marina, Waterways Holidays and Inland and Coastal Marina Systems with the aim of…
Continue reading »
30 YEARS IN BUSINESS for leading brokerage

by

Mark Lancaster

–

January 18, 2025

ABNB Boat Brokerage, one of the UK’s leading inland waterways brokers, is celebrating 30 years in business this year. Since its founding in 1995, ABNB has offered brokerage services to buyers and sellers alike from its base at North Kilworth Marina in Leicestershire. Emma Green, managing director and co-owner, said: “Reaching 30 years is a…
Continue reading »
AWARD for Aquavista

by

Web Editor

–

January 17, 2025

THE UK’s largest marina operator Aquavista won the Lloyds Small to Medium Sized Business of the Year Award at the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards. The LBBE Awards is the UK’s largest and most prestigious business awards programme that celebrates the cream of the crop in British business. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for…
Continue reading »
30 YEAR CELEBRATION for Maritime Voluteer Service

by

Web Editor

–

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…
Continue reading »
RIVER CANAL RESCUE: maintenance course dates

by

Web Editor

–

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,…
Continue reading »
ARTS BARGE ‘built with kindness’ takes shape

by

Web Editor

–

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…
Continue reading »
MUSEUM FOCUS: Essex quayside historic steam tug

by

Web Editor

–

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…
Continue reading »
GERRY HEWARD: Moving forward

by

Web Editor

–

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…
Continue reading »

Towpath Talk

Latest Issue

Free Digital Issue

Search

Tags