Towpath Talk

BRING BACK the boats!

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October 27, 2025

For almost three years, visiting boats have been unable to moor at Trevor Basin, near Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, on the Llangollen Canal. The Inland Waterways Association’s Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch have been campaigning to correct this. “WE have been in the ridiculous situation where visiting boats cannot moor at Trevor Basin, in the heart…
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10TH ANNIVERSARY for waterways calendar

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October 25, 2025

BLACK Country-based waterways photographer Kev Maslin is determined that the current water crisis will not curtail his activities any time soon. He has been busy on our waterways taking images for his next calendar, which features familiar locations up and down the country. “I really feel for boaters and, in particular, waterside businesses that rely…
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SPOOKTACULAR Halloween events to scare your socks off

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October 24, 2025

Things are getting very spooky around Halloween on Canal & River Trust’s canals in Yorkshire, with frightening family-fun Halloween events to scare even the most intrepid ghost hunter. The waterways charity, in association with Huddersfield Canal Society and the North of England Centre for Music & Arts, is inviting brave souls to discover the spookier side of…
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UK’S BIGGEST-EVER river pollution legal claim filed at High Court

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October 23, 2025

A LEGAL claim challenging river pollution in the Wye and Usk catchment areas has been filed at the High Court. Almost 4000 people have joined the action, making it the UK’s biggest-ever environmental pollution lawsuit. The court action is against industrial chicken production firms Avara Foods Limited and Freemans of Newent Limited, as well as…
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WATER in the publishing spotlight

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October 22, 2025

THERE’S plenty of fresh material on offer for avid readers at the moment, as new publications join the growing library of waterways books available for those who love to read. The UK’s inaugural Canal Laureate, Jo Bell, has written Boater – A Life on England’s Waterways. After decades of calm aboard England’s historic canals, a…
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GEORGIAN TOWN at heart of canal-connected county

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October 21, 2025

LINCOLNSHIRE historian Stuart Sizer, an expert on the county’s canal network, has published his latest book. Louth Ships – The Story of Louth Navigation offers insight into the variety of cargoes brought into and out of the Georgian market town’s canal from 1770 up to its demise. Bulk goods ranged from iron, coal and building…
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FREIGHT: A wee spark of an idea

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October 20, 2025

When an immaculate, one-third scale Clyde Puffer showed up on the moorings beside me at Bowling, on Scotland’s Forth & Clyde Canal, I’m afraid I just couldn’t help myself! Jonathan Mosse reports… AS commercial carriers, Puffers have undoubtedly had their day – and then some – but the presence of this perfect replica was more…
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WHERE THE DEAD STILL WALK: Halloween on the Thames

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October 18, 2025

As the nights draw in and the mellow days of autumn usher in Halloween, it is the ideal time for storytelling. Former university lecturer Pete Smith is a qualified and experienced City of London and City of Westminster guide – and knows a thing or two about supernatural waterways. He has a plethora of haunting…
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PILLBOXES join listed structures

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October 16, 2025

EIGHT First World War pillboxes in Norfolk have also been Grade II-listed. The concrete fortifications, built along the River Ant and North Walsham and Dilham Canal between 1916 and 1918, formed part of Britain’s defence system against a potential German seaborne invasion on the vulnerable east coast. Each pillbox exhibits the innovative concrete block construction…
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ELECTRIC BOATING on the inland waterways

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October 15, 2025

Bowman Bradley, chair of the Inland Waterways Association’s Sustainable Boating Group, discusses what’s probably the greatest technological change on the inland waterways since the introduction of the motorboat about 100 years ago. THE IWA Sustainable Boating Group has been monitoring the development of electric drive for narrowboats since the group’s inception in 2019. We recognise…
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GRANTED LISTED STATUS:

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October 14, 2025

A boathouse built for 19th century pioneer Samuel Saunders, one of England’s leading boat builders and engineers, has been listed as Grade II in recognition of its historic and architectural interest. Lucy Wood reports… THE structure, in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, is noted as a rare surviving example of a late Victorian commercial boathouse on the non-tidal…
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COSTING TOURISM THOUSANDS! Rotting waterway infrastructure

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October 13, 2025

Waterways infrastructure is being left to rot as custodians struggle to fund repairs and maintenance, according to Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW) – as one mayor proposes a £500,000 spend to protect the River Cam. Tim Greenfield reports… Under-funding of the inland waterways, it says, means some rivers and canals are closed to traffic, with tourism…
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SMOKE CONTROL ORDER not applied

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October 11, 2025

IN a victory for the bargee traveller community, Hackney Council will not apply its proposed Smoke Control Order to moored boats. Following representations from the National Bargee Travellers’ Association (NBTA) and its members in the council’s consultation in 2024, the authority decided not to apply the controls to boats. A key reason was “greater recognition…
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IMPROVED TOWPATH to create greener route to town’s train station

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October 10, 2025

Residents and commuters in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, are benefiting from a resurfaced towpath and upgraded footpath, offering a greener, easier, safer and more accessible route to the town’s train station. The recent official opening marked the fourth completed First and Last Mile project delivered by the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU), Kirklees Council and the Canal & River Trust,…
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