Towpath Talk

CLOSER LINKS: IWA and LCA

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September 23, 2024

Cicely Oliver reports… THE Lowland Canals Association (LCA) is exploring corporate Inland Waterways Association membership after a decision to form an alliance with the IWA. This will benefit the LCA by giving it access to the IWA’s experience, campaigning and commercial expertise. The LCA’s Neil Kitchener will be joining IWA’s lead in Scotland, Jonathan Mosse,…
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LEEDS & LIVERPOOL CANAL: History in Felt!

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September 21, 2024

The history of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal is the focus of West Yorkshire felt artist Janine Jacques’ latest exhibition. Sally Clifford finds out more. BUILT 200 years ago, the Leeds & Liverpool Canal was one of the most important waterway trade routes through the region. Coal and textiles were among the important cargo carried…
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PRACTICALITY FROM PERRYDALE: Fairweather’s Folly

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September 20, 2024

Phil Pickin went to see Perrydale Narrowboats’ latest new build on the day it first entered the water and found another high-quality boat from this popular boat builder. IT ISN’T often that you get to see a business grow and thrive, especially in the waterways sector, so for me, it has been interesting to watch…
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BEST IN THE UK! For Family-run canal boat hire business

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September 19, 2024

A FAMILY-RUN canal boat hire business in the Midlands has been crowned the best in the UK – by its customers. Union Canal Carriers, based in Braunston, Northamptonshire, topped the poll after achieving more than 1000 5-star reviews of its canal boat holidays. The business, which started in 1968, is still run by the Hewitt…
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150 YEAR CELEBRATION: Sharpness New Docks

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September 18, 2024

Tony Aldridge reports… JULY saw an event based around the Dockers Club, Sharpness as part of the programme of celebrations of 150 years since the opening of the Sharpness New Docks. When the Gloucester Sharpness Canal was completed in 1827 there was a smaller entrance lock to the River Severn but as trade boomed and…
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LLANGOLEN CANAL: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct

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September 17, 2024

Nicola Lisle continues her museum series with a visit to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the local heritage centre IT WAS Sir Walter Scott who described the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct as ‘the most impressive work of art I have ever seen’, a tribute both to its structural magnificence and its harmonious relationship with the surrounding landscape. This…
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HULL, HELL & HALIFAX: Freight watch

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September 16, 2024

Jonathan Mosse takes a look at freight development on the inland waterways… JOHN Taylor, also known – appropriately, it transpires – as the ‘water poet’, once wrote: ‘From Hull, Hell and Halifax may the Good Lord deliver us’. I am not qualified to speak of Halifax, nor yet of Hell, but I have sailed aboard…
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NEW FOCUS: For old firm…

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September 14, 2024

AN ESTABLISHED boat hire company is using its years of experience to refocus on engineering and helping customers maintain their boats. Family-owned Kate Boats is known for its fleet of self-drive narrowboats, and for 24 years the firm worked out of two yards in Warwickshire. Now, having earlier this year sold its base in Warwick…
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DONATION: For Restore the Montgomery Canal! group

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September 13, 2024

Phil Pickin reports… HOT on the heels of the recent official opening of the Schoolhouse Bridge on the Montgomery Canal, the Restore the Montgomery Canal! group has announced a charity donation from the Weeping Cross Fund, which was set up in the will of David Tomlinson, a pioneer of the movement to restore neglected waterways.…
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RIBBLE LINK: Undergoing maintenance

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September 12, 2024

LANCASHIRE’S Ribble Link, which connects the Lancaster Canal to the national waterways network, is undergoing vital maintenance to allow it to reopen for boats. Engineers from the Canal & River Trust discovered that a seal around the Sea Lock Gate at the entrance to the link, which should be watertight, was causing too much water…
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CHARACTERS OF THE CUT: A narrowboat family

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September 11, 2024

Alice Elgie reports… WHEN Dawn Rooney and Ben Pearson’s first child, Willow, was born, the family were living happily in Cornwall with dreams of eventually owning their own smallholding. However, with the steep increase in rural house prices and the arrival of their second child, Harley, the desire to be closer to extended family strengthened.…
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AWARDS: For green-fingered marinas

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September 10, 2024

Aquavista has announced Cropredy Waterside & Marina as its winner of the ‘Outstanding Overall Site’ of its Aquavista in Bloom 2024 awards, sponsored by Towergate Insurance. The moorers at Cropredy came up with a creative idea for an outdoor living room adorned with an array of plants and flowers and a working lock, aptly named…
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MBE for canal craftsman

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September 9, 2024

Lucy Wood reports… FOR more than 30 years, Phil Speight has perfected his skills as a traditional canal craftsman – and now, having been made an MBE by King Charles in this year’s Birthday Honours, he hopes the honour will help increase awareness of heritage crafts. The recognition, he said, is a lovely acknowledgement’ of…
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MASS OBE AWARD: Sort of…

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September 7, 2024

WHILE some people are awarded an OBE by King Charles, a group of National Waterways Museum volunteers have been given an honorary title of their own – they are now members of the Octogenarian Boating Ensemble. The idea came when Jeff Fairweather turned 80 on New Year’s Eve last year and discovered that nearly 20…
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