This edition covers drought mitigation efforts, Better Boating Plan progress, licensing updates, Heritage Open Days, and tunnel engineering work.
This edition brings together some of the biggest stories affecting boaters right now. Despite some very welcome rain falling recently, we look at the unprecedented ongoing effort being made to protect navigation during the continuing drought and we share progress against our Better Boating Plan to address the things that you’ve told us matter the most whilst out on the cut.
There is an update on our response to the recommendations made by the independent commission into boat licensing, plus details of upcoming Heritage Open Days, and reports from the 250-year-old Preston Brook Tunnel where a nighttime engineering inspection of this fascinating structure has been taking place. As usual, there’s also details of maintenance work that may affect cruising this weekend:
Drought response: the unseen effort keeping boats moving
A few months ago, the network had a similar amount of water available to it as it had in 2022 and 2023, with the outlook for navigation looking reasonably healthy. Then, within a matter of weeks, conditions changed dramatically.
The rapid onset of what the Environment Agency labelled a "flash drought" saw rainfall stop and UK temperatures rise in an almost unprecedented way. On our network this meant demand on our reservoirs, pumps and water supplies increased significantly with water reserves dropping faster than historic records projected.
The effort from boaters, colleagues and volunteers right across the network has been substantial. For our part, teams have been reprioritised to focus on directing maintenance and responding to emerging issues with a view to maintaining navigation for as long as possible. On the towpath and at the waterside, operational colleagues have been working seven days a week to manage water levels, monitor restricted sites, maintain temporary lock seals and respond when unexpected events threaten navigation.
In many areas, resources have been redirected to drought response meaning some planned work and non-urgent maintenance have had to take a temporary back seat.
Gloucester Lock top gate leak repairs
Protecting key routes
Throughout the summer, our aim has been to maintain as many through-routes as possible, particularly important north-south and east-west links across the network.
On the Birmingham Canal Network, we took some difficult decisions to proactively close certain navigations while alternative routes remained available. This allowed key water resources to be conserved and transferred to neighbouring canals - building on a successful approach used during previous drought conditions.
Elsewhere, routes have remained open thanks to intensive local effort. On the Leicester Line, teams have worked tirelessly alongside hydrologists to keep key locations such as Watford and Foxton operating for as long as possible through careful water management and targeted repairs.
On the Kennet & Avon Canal, we've undertaken an unprecedented programme of water transfers, pumping water through the Bradford on Avon system and onwards to support navigation on the summit and eastern sections of the canal.
Difficult decisions for the greater good
Restrictions and closures are deeply frustrating. But they have been necessary to protect the wider network and help keep more routes available for longer.
In some instances, the measures that have made a difference are largely invisible to boaters. From repairing leaks in hidden locations and managing pumping operations to monitoring closed locks and controlling invasive pennywort growth on quiet stretches of canal, there's been a huge amount of work taking place behind the scenes.
A little relief, but not out of the woods yet
The more changeable weather we've seen in late August and early September has provided some welcome respite. Water levels have recovered in a number of locations and the recent rainfall has helped slow the depletion that many waterways were experiencing earlier in the summer.
We've removed/eased restrictions and closures on some of our canals. Earlier this week the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, Brades Lock Flight, Spon Lane Lock Flight and Walsall Lock Flight reopened to boating. The Wolverhampton Lock Flight will remain subject to restrictions and will be open on Saturdays and Sundays only.
However, with the ground so dry and acting like a giant sponge, the recent rainfall has not been sufficient to fully replenish reservoirs or guarantee a return to normal operations. Some rivers and feeder streams respond quickly to rain only to fall back again within days. At present, the improved weather is helping us avoid further restrictions rather than allowing widespread reopenings.
Lets hope for continued steady rain (perhaps at night!) so that we can get the network fully back open as quickly as possible.
Thank you for playing your part out on the cut.
Our progress on the independent Commission into boat licensing recommendations
Since the independent Commission into boat licensing reported in late 2025, relevant teams across the Trust have thoroughly reviewed each of the 36 recommendations to identify immediate actions, long-term projects, and areas needing further consultation. The recommendations cover our licensing system, our management of the waterways, and our relationship with boaters.
Our priority is getting this right for the boating community, and we’re developing a new way of working with boaters, including designing the next stage of consultation together. We’re taking the time to build informed, well-thought-out, lasting solutions that work on the water, rather than rushing into implementation. We’ve been doing a great deal of preparatory work, and we hope that you’ll begin to see improvements in the coming months.
What’s happening now?
Some of the recommendations don’t need consultation. You told us that we needed to change the way we communicate, so an independent agency has carried out a review of our extensive boater communications, including our licensing and enforcement templates, stoppage notices, website content, Boaters’ Update, and social media channels. We’ve taken this guidance on board and are now beginning the practical work of making our communications clearer, friendlier and more informative. This involves multiple teams, systems and processes behind the scenes, and you can expect a gradual shift across the different types of communications you receive.
We’ve provided more funding support for the Waterways Chaplaincy, and we continue to work with national charities and organisations who provide extra support to boaters. Many of these charities are not aware of, or may not be set up to support, liveaboard boaters, so we aim to work with them so they can offer appropriate help and advice. For example, we’ve been working with the Department for Work and Pensions’ Hemel Hempstead office, providing drop-in sessions at Cowroast Marina on the Grand Union Canal to help people find out about and access the benefits they’re entitled to, and we want to build similar connections with other regional DWP offices.
The recommendations highlighted improvements that can be made with the data we hold on boat sightings. We’re carrying out an annual audit of our boat sighting data to make sure it is accurate and robust. We expect to publish the results of the first audit next spring, after the national boat count in March has been completed and reviewed.
The recommendations encompass a huge amount of work, with projects involving teams from right across the Trust, as well as those needing further consultation with you. Alice Hamilton, formerly a liveaboard boater and now a leisure cruiser, joined us three months ago as programme manager to pull all these strands into a coherent programme, to begin implementing changes, and crucially, to bring the principles of community co-design into the next phase of consultation. This means that boaters will help us design the upcoming consultation, deciding what needs to be covered and what questions we need to ask.
Portland Basin, Ashton Canal
Recommendations requiring consultation
Between July and November, we’re taking the proposals that require further consultation to the boating community. Working alongside national boating organisations, boater representatives, and a diverse 40-person volunteer Citizens’ Boater Panel, we will:
Review our initial proposals and project timelines.
Ensure ideas are fair, practical, and based on everyday boating life.
Shape the key questions and data needed for wider consultation.
From December, we will run the 14-week consultation which we’ve designed together. We won’t know exactly which of the recommendations are going to be in the consultation, or what other actions we might take, until we’ve had these discussions.
The same boaters who helped design the consultation will then review its outcomes, to make sure any changes will work for those on the water. Once agreed, we’d expect to put these into practice in the second half of 2027.
After that, we’ll consider the recommendations that require legislative change. This is of course if, after taking on board all your feedback and insight, we decide to move ahead with them.
This collaborative approach ensures our final action plan responds directly to the 2025 report while being genuinely shaped by the people who live and cruise on the waterways.
Better Boating Plan update
Last year, we launched the Better Boating Plan to address the issues that matter most to boaters. Everything we're doing through the plan is shaped by your feedback, helping us focus our time and investment on the improvements that make the biggest difference to your boating experience.
The plan is built around four priorities you've told us are most important:
Keeping canals open for navigation
Addressing the basics
Improving boater facilities
Better communication and customer service
Over the past year, we've shared monthly progress updates through our online dashboards, covering areas such as paddle repairs, lock and bridge maintenance, customer facility repairs, fallen tree clearance and grass cutting.
The plan has now evolved into a rolling three-year programme, allowing us to continue responding to your feedback. For example, we've recently added a commitment to identify and remove sunken boats more quickly.
This summer has brought significant challenges. Ongoing drought conditions have placed additional pressure on the network and affected how quickly we've been able to deliver some of our commitments, as teams have focused on vital water-saving measures.
We know we haven't achieved everything we hoped to, but we're committed to being open about our progress and continuing to focus on the things that matter most to boaters.
Despite these challenges, we've continued to make progress. Since 1 April 2026, we have:
Repaired 138 paddle faults
Completed 2,710 planned maintenance visits to locks and moving bridges
Cut 8,408km of towpath grass
Resolved 77% of essential customer facility faults on the first visit
Grass cutting at Foxton Locks
We're also continuing to deliver our £4.5 million investment programme to improve essential customer facilities across the network, making them more reliable and helping us fix problems more quickly when they occur.
New Boater App in development
One of the clearest messages we've heard is that we need to communicate better and make it easier for boaters to report issues on the network.
That's why we're developing a new Boater App in partnership with SocietyWorks, the organisation behind the widely used FixMyStreet platform.
The first phase of the app will enable boaters to:
Report issues directly from the network
View issues already reported by others
Track the progress of their reports
See what we're already aware of and working to resolve
By making reporting simpler and providing greater visibility of what's happening across the network, we hope the app will make it easier for boaters to access information and help us respond more effectively when issues arise.
Development is progressing well, with user testing taking place throughout September and an initial launch planned later this year. We'll continue listening to your feedback as the app develops and share further updates as the project progresses.
We'll provide a more detailed update on the Boater App in the next edition of Boater's Update.
Behind the locks and legends
Heritage Open Days are all about celebrating the stories behind our waterways. From free museum entry and boat trips to guided walks, blacksmithing demonstrations and behind-the-scenes tours of working canal sites, there are opportunities across the country to explore the people, places and skills that have shaped our waterways for more than 250 years.
This weekend, visitors can enjoy free entry to the National Waterways Museum Gloucester, including heritage craft demonstrations, volunteer-led tours and the chance to explore the museum's historic docks, locks and waterside buildings. Over at Anderton Boat Lift, free boat trips on the Weaver Navigation offer a unique view of the iconic "Cathedral of the Canals".
Later in the month, you can watch traditional blacksmithing in action at Dobson Locks Forge in Yorkshire, join volunteer-led history walks in Sheffield and at Tardebigge, take a rare behind-the-scenes tour of the historic Ellesmere Yard, or enjoy a free discovery boat trip into the remarkable Standedge Tunnel.
Blacksmith’s forge demonstrations
Rounding off the celebrations, Bradley Workshop in the West Midlands will open its doors for a special event showcasing how we craft the lock gates that keep the network moving, with family activities and heritage displays throughout the day.
Whether you're interested in engineering, industrial history, traditional crafts or simply discovering somewhere new, there's something for everyone during Heritage Month.
Many of the sites featured in our Heritage Open Days remain working parts of the network today. The next article takes a look at how we're caring for one of the oldest of them all, Preston Brook Tunnel.
Health check for one of the world’s oldest canal tunnels
Boaters travelling through Preston Brook Tunnel, on the Trent & Mersey Canal, over the last week may not have noticed anything unusual but, behind the scenes, one of the world's oldest canal tunnels is undergoing a thorough health check.
Our engineers are carrying out a detailed inspection of the 1,138-metre-long tunnel near Dutton, Cheshire, combining traditional surveying techniques with cutting-edge technology to assess its condition and help plan for its future care.
Built more than 250 years ago, Preston Brook Tunnel dates from a remarkable period of engineering innovation. Construction began in 1766 under canal pioneer James Brindley and was completed by fellow engineer Hugh Henshall in 1775. Today, the tunnel remains a vital link on the network and a lasting reminder of the extraordinary engineering achievements that helped power the Industrial Revolution.
To minimise disruption to boaters, inspection work is being carried out overnight, allowing navigation through the tunnel to remain open during the day.
Engineers will travel through the tunnel by boat, checking for any signs of movement, cracking or deterioration in the brickwork. Specialist structural engineers will also carry out rope-access inspections of the tunnel's four air shafts and construction shaft, some reaching depths of up to 17 metres.
Alongside traditional hands-on inspection methods using poles, hammers and spikes, the team will use drone fly-throughs and advanced 3D mapping technology to build a detailed picture of the tunnel's condition. The findings will help determine whether any repair work is needed and ensure the structure remains safe and operational for years to come.
Preston Brook Tunnel inspection
Peter Simpson, our Principal Engineer (Tunnels & Culverts), said: "A trip through Preston Brook Tunnel is like stepping back in time. It's amazing to think this tunnel was built by hand using pickaxes and shovels more than 250 years ago.
"Not many people get to experience the tunnel because there is no towpath, so it can only really be seen from a boat. It remains one of the most atmospheric and historically significant structures anywhere on the network.
"The Trent & Mersey Canal is arguably more popular than ever before, and this inspection is an important example of the work our charity carries out to protect and preserve the nation's waterways. Looking after structures like Preston Brook Tunnel requires significant expertise and investment, but it helps ensure they remain part of our living waterways for generations to come."
Today, Preston Brook Tunnel has Grade II-listed portals and two Grade II-listed air shafts, recognising its importance as part of the nation's industrial heritage.
As a charity, we care for 2,000 miles of historic canals and rivers across England and Wales. Regular inspections such as this help us understand the condition of our ageing infrastructure, identify any repairs that may be needed and safeguard these remarkable structures for boaters, local communities and future generations.
Maintenance this weekend that may affect cruising
As we continue to manage a network low on water, planned and unplanned works may affect cruising this weekend. As you’ll know only too well, keeping a 250-year-old canal network open and navigable means carrying out repairs and maintenance year-round, whether that's addressing ageing locks and bridges, responding to asset failures, or carrying out essential engineering work before problems become more significant.
While we're doing everything possible to minimise disruption, some works will inevitably require navigation restrictions or temporary closures. Before setting off, it's worth checking the latest stoppage notices for your route and surrounding waterways. You can view all current notices for this weekend on our interactive map and sign up for personalised alerts, helping you stay informed about any issues that may affect your cruising plans.
If you’ve got a question about a specific closure, or you spot something that doesn’t look quite right, just get in touch — we’re happy to help.
Last Edited: 11 September 2026
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