TPT September 2025

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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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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BIODIVERSITY AWARD: Testament to hard work of charity and partners

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September 6, 2025

A scheme in the West Midlands that is improving the habitat for wildlife along the region’s historic navigable canals has received a prestigious award. Lucy Wood reports… THE transformative Unlocking Biodiversity programme has been recognised by a Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management award. It has helped preserve and restore wildlife habitats in the…
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BOAT NAMING HONOUR for outgoing boss

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September 2, 2025

AHEAD of his final week as chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, volunteers and colleagues at the charity’s base on the Grand Union’s Hatton lock flight surprised Richard Parry by naming a new workboat in his honour. The 30ft work boat and hopper will be used for operational maintenance including brickwork repairs, litter-picking…
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BRIDGE REFURB set to improve towpath

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September 1, 2025

STOKE City Council and the Canal & River Trust are working together on a project which includes removing and replacing the Whieldon Road towpath bridge deck as it has now reached the end of its serviceable life. To carry out the work safely, the towpath and bridge between Whieldon Road and the incinerator has been…
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FUTURE SECURED for old Cornish lugger

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August 28, 2025

A historic Cornish lugger has been saved from destruction following a complex rescue and 12-month search for a new owner. Lucy Wood reports… WHITE Heather, a wooden-hulled sailboat, was originally built in 1926 for fishing off the Cornish coast and later became a popular passenger boat in Fowey during the 1980s and 1990s. In 2003 it…
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RESTORATION WORK DONE on historic lifting bridge

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August 27, 2025

A LIFTING bridge designed by Robert Stephenson and built in 1834 to carry a railway line over the Grand Union Canal has been restored. Robin Jones reports… The bridge is one of the few remaining examples of Victorian engineer Stephenson’s early work near the dawn of the steam age so is of immense historic importance.…
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BOATER SATISFACTION UP but still work to do

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August 26, 2025

The results of the Canal & River Trust’s Annual Boaters’ Survey have been released. CARRIED out in November and March, the survey showed that boater satisfaction has increased to 55%, up from 46% in 2024. The charity said this follows the introduction of its Better Boating Plan, which was developed in partnership with boaters and…
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