Boaters' Update 25 April 2025

Enjoy next week's mini heatwave (and conserve water on the cut whenever you can)!

Damian

Investing in boaters’ facilities

Elsan points, pump out facilities and water points that we manage are set to get a boost over the next five years with an additional investment of £4.5 million to standardise and upgrade boaters’ facilities across the charity’s canal network.

Over the coming months we will be developing detailed plans for where the additional investment will be used, ahead of the five-year upgrade programme beginning this winter.

The investment in boaters’ facilities is in addition to the annual cost of maintaining and looking after them. The money needed to upgrade the boaters’ facilities will come from the sale of investment assets that we own. Our charity’s investment assets are a vital pillar in generating a sustainable annual income each year for waterways maintenance. This sale is exceptional, and has been agreed as the charity expects that providing more resilient services for boaters will deliver cost savings which offset any income lost from the sale of the investments in the longer-term.

The investment comes as we continue to focus on improving navigation and the services provided for boaters through its Better Boating Plan.

Matthew Symonds, head of boating, said: “Boater facilities are vital for those living on and cruising around our network. Those owned by the Trust have been operated and managed locally, which has resulted in a wide range of components and arrangements which can be expensive and complex to repair when things go wrong. With this £4.5 million investment, we are spending now to be more efficient in the long term. By upgrading and standardising the facilities, we expect to see some cost savings for our charity in the longer term, while aiming for boaters to receive a more consistent service.”

Details of how the £4.5m will be invested to deliver improved facilities will be shared in due course.

Share the space, your boating wisdom, respect each other

We're on the verge of warmer months where holiday-makers join the boating community in greater numbers. For some, it’ll be their first time on the network as they start the journey to perhaps also becoming a boat owner. In the interests of a harmonious time afloat, please have patience and offer advice to make sure their (and your) time afloat is a positive experience all round.  

Hire boats provide vital income for waterways maintenance, and the lucky people holidaying on them are given comprehensive handovers by the hire boat base, including instructions to slow down when passing moored boats, guidance on using a lock, mooring up etc. However, it can be a lot to take in, so if you’re on hand to respectfully provide some pointers, it can help everyone have a good time and helps 'the system' work better.

Sadly, just as there are bad drivers on the road, there are also bad boat drivers. Any incidents involving a hire boat reported to us will be taken up with the operator if there are persistent offenders.

Talking of supporting other boaters…

Time to show support for 'stunning' Welsh canal

The Trust’s call for canal-lovers to show their support for the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal will be well received by this Boaters' Update readership. The call follows the positive news that we've been able to secure an emergency supply of water this summer to keep the canal topped up for boats and for the benefit of local people and wildlife. This is after restrictions to the canal’s historic water supply from the River Usk came into force at the end of last year, exacerbated by the unseasonably dry start to 2025.

Mark Evans, our director at Glandŵr Cymru, explains: “The Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal is still navigated by boats just as it has been for hundreds of years. It remains one of the most popular canals for holidaying – whether on foot, by bike, or aboard one of the many holiday hire boats which accommodate visitors from all over the world.

“This year, more than ever before, we want people to show their support for the canal – both by visiting to experience the unique character of the waterway and by joining the campaign to ensure that the canal has a sustainable long-term water supply.”

Keep the 'Mon & Brec' alive

The campaign to keep the ‘Mon & Brec’ alive has already gained support as people found out about the threat to the canal. Mark continues: “Our charity acted to safeguard the much-loved canal over the summer months, with additional water purchased from Welsh Water. This is whilst an affordable long-term solution is found – which will need the collective help of Welsh Water, the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales. 

“As an emergency measure we have diverted money away from planned maintenance and repairs across our canal network to secure a water supply this summer. However, it isn’t sustainable for our charity to bear this cost alone. 

“This summer, we’d love people to come along and experience the canal in all its glory, so they can see why we – and they – are fighting to ensure the future of this jewel in the Welsh countryside’s crown.

“We must keep the momentum behind the campaign to keep the canal alive. We’re asking people to sign the petition calling upon the Welsh Government to help find a sustainable future for the canal which, in the last few weeks, has already reached over 13,350 signatories. This helps illustrate the strength of public support for the canal and we thank everyone who has signed it.”

Tardebigge update

In the last edition, we shared an update about the stoppage at Tardebigge Top Lock on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal. Since then, work has continued, including creating a temporary footpath along the offside of the lock meaning the towpath is now back open.

We have started to take down the chamber brick wall after numbering, and removing, all the coping stones. We are intending to clean and re-use as many bricks as possible. So far we have reached a depth of one metre bellowing the coping stones.

Good progress has been made with the access track to the compound and both are now virtually complete. Before the next edition, I’ll be visiting the works and talking to project manager, Emily Harris, about the progress so far.

Works on Lancaster Canal and Ribble Link complete

When you’re out on the water there’ll be occasions when you come across us mending a balance beam, greasing paddle gear or reseating dislodged gates. If you’re hardy enough to be cruising during the winter months, then you’ll be treated to the spectacle of two- or three-tonne handmade oak lock gates being replaced.

We carry out preventative maintenance and frequent inspections but as our canals and rivers are open for everyone to enjoy, wear and tear is inevitable. Also, given that we’re caring for a 200+ year old network that rarely comes with schematics or engineering plans (at least not original ones!), faults do unexpectedly develop.

This has been the case on the Lancaster Canal and Ribble Link. There are reams of updates on the relevant stoppage notices (Ribble here and Lancaster here and here) but the takeaway positive news is that work on both has now completed (or will be finished within the next week). As a reminder we’ve:

• Repaired a damaged seal on the Tidal Stop Gate Lock on the Ribble Link. Because of complex tidal considerations, the repair was especially complicated to design, including creating a temporary barrier that could hold back tidal waters while the entire gate was sent to a specialist workshop for repair.
• The breach at Hollowforth Aqueduct, which required extensive engineering works, has been repaired and navigation resumed.  
• A mechanical fault with the winding drum on Lock 7 of the Glasson Branch, which is used to operate the lock, has been repaired and the gate is now fully operational with final testing underway before reopening navigation.

So, as you can see, autumn and winter have been a long, hard, slog for teams in the north west but, just as the weather starts to make boating irresistible, it looks like it has all paid off.

Macclesfield Canal breach update

Since our last update contractors have been working closely with neighbouring landowners to secure safe access to the breach location, and we are hopeful that agreements will soon be in place. This will allow us to progress with the main repair works.

In the meantime, we have made a start on some early tasks, including removing vegetation in the affected area and carrying out repairs to the canal walls while the canal remains without water.

Temporary dams have been installed near the breach site, with the ability to transfer water between them. The canal has also been refilled up to the dams. This is a key milestone, as it will help us better manage water resources from Bosley, Sutton and Combs reservoirs as we head into the summer months. Stop planks will remain in place at both bridge holes to protect the work area and the temporary dams.

Initial surveys of the culvert have returned positive news, suggesting it has remained intact following the breach. This is encouraging, as this will minimise the time needed to carry out the repairs.

Our teams are now working on developing a detailed repair plan, and we hope this will put us in a good position to soon indicate when navigation can safely resume.

Working for boaters – in numbers

With over 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, a list of all the things we’ve been doing over the last fortnight to keep navigations open would be unfeasibly long to collate, but a scan of our stoppage notifications shows that we’ve…

The above list doesn’t include any work conducted purely on towpaths, water management (which there’s always a lot of!), major reservoir projects and so on – it’s just a flavour of what we’ve been doing to help boaters keep moving on the cut!         

Maintenance, repair and restoration work this weekend

As the articles above demonstrate, there are times when parts of such an old network need unscheduled work to keep them open and navigable. It’s a 200+ year old living, breathing national treasure that takes a lot of TLC. This is why, when something is damaged or breaks, we set about getting it repaired and operational as soon as we can. This means that from time to time we have to carry out repairs outside of our major winter stoppage programme. So below, you’ll find a list of navigations that have ongoing restrictions that may affect you if you’re planning to get out on the water this weekend:

• Bridgwater & Taunton Canal 
• Grand Union Canal
• Huddersfield Broad Canal
• Huddersfield Narrow Canal
• Lancaster Canal
• Leeds & Liverpool Canal
• Macclesfield Canal
• Oxford Canal
• River Ouse
• Rochdale Canal
• South Stratford Canal
• Walsall Canal
• Weaver Navigation
• Worcester & Birmingham Canal

When restrictions to navigation happen, we get them up on to our website as soon as we can – always best to have a scan before you set off. You can find out how to get stoppage notification alerts on your smartphone in this article.

If you have any questions about a specific closure, or spot an error in our system, please get in touch.

Improving your stoppage notifications

Our stoppage notices are essential to keep you informed when something happens that may affect your cruising. However, the system it runs on is old and at risk of failing. To bring the technology up to date we will be moving the stoppage notices to a new system on Tuesday 6 May. Initially you won't see much change, but later this year we'll be introducing new features such as:

• Adding photographs showing the cause of the stoppage.
• Look out for new notice types – particularly navigation only, and navigation and towpath closures which will help us give better, more straight forward information.  We are introducing colour too to help tracking.
• We are adding a new notice type specifically for our service facilities to make these easier to identify and track.
• Events are now a reason for a notice, not a notice type. This means that events will now be highlighted through their navigation or towpath effects. If you have signed up to be alerted specifically about events you will need to review your preferences after 6 May.
• We have reviewed the descriptive reasons that indicate the nature of the notice to make these more straightforward and have less duplication – for example rather than ‘water resources’ we will identify ‘high water’ or ‘low water’.
• Over the winter, we’ve been moving our booking and opening times information onto individual canal pages (such as here for the Grand Union). These won’t be included on stoppage notices in the future following feedback about reducing clutter and volume. 

If you have signed up for preferences for the types of notices that you want to be alerted about, these should automatically carry forward. However, we’d encourage you to review these after 6 May just to make sure that you continue to get what you need.

Top 10 things to do at Crick Boat Show

The 2025 Crick Boat Show, sponsored by Haven Knox-Johnston and held across the late May Bank Holiday Weekend 24-26 May at Crick Marina, near Daventry in Northamptonshire, is the UK’s biggest inland waterways festival and offers a fantastic family day out by the water, with free entry for kids under 16, dogs welcome and free parking.

The annual event, organised by Waterways World in partnership with our charity and Crick Waterside & Marina, is expected to attract over 26,000 visitors. As well as being the canal world’s biggest marketplace, showcasing the inland waterways industry with over 200 exhibitors, Crick Boat Show offers visitors dozens of boats to view, free boat trips, live music, children’s activities, a real ale bar, and a wide variety of food and drink stalls.

Here are the top 10 things to do at this year’s show:

1. Enjoy a free trip on an electric boat

Visitors to Crick can take a free boat trip along the Grand Union Canal aboard ABC Boat Hire’s electrically-powered day boat ‘Day Break’. The half-hour trips run every 10 minutes from 10.10am each day of the show. Visitors can book their free trip at the Trip Boats Marquee on the Quayside when they arrive at the show.

2. Listen to live music

Fifteen live bands will be performing throughout the show in the Crick Tavern, for the show’s Music Festival sponsored by Aquavista. ABBA Revival will headline on the Saturday evening (24 May), and Dann Budd as Robbie Williams will headline on the Sunday night (25 May). Evening entertainment, which is included in the price of the same day ticket to the show, runs from 7.30pm to 11.30pm.

3. Sample Real Ale & Cider

Choose from over 50 cask ales, 20 ciders and perries, and 20 gins at the Real Ale & Cider Festival in the Crick Tavern Marquee, sponsored by Lee Sanitation.

4. Find out what it takes to keep canals alive

We’re hosting a series of afternoon Spotlight Talks in the Canal & River Trust Marquee where visitors can find out more about the amazing 2,000 mile network of canals and rivers in our care. Topics will include: ‘How locks are kept topped up with water’; and ‘Volunteering with the Trust’. We will also be hosting a Boater’s Forum on Saturday 24 May, and Disabled Boaters Forum on Sunday 25 May, where people can ask our boating team questions and find out more about our Better Boating Plan.

5. View the latest new boats from the UK’s top builders of canal boats

More new canal boats will be on display in one place than at any other time anywhere in the country, showcasing all the latest lifestyle extras, space-saving ideas and green technology.  From king-sized-beds, mood lighting and solid oak kitchens, to underfloor heating, electric engines and solar panels, the best of canal boat building industry will be on show.

6. Step back in time

Thanks to sponsorship from Norton Canes, the Historic Narrow Boat Club (HNBC) will be displaying nine historic working boats at the show, including the Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne’s cargo carrying ‘Sculptor’, the tug/icebreaker ‘Sandbach’ and Wonka movie star ‘Renfrew’. 

7. Enjoy some retail therapy

With over 200 exhibitors from across the canal world, Crick offers shoppers the very latest in boating products and services, as well as crafts, gifts, clothing, jewellery, hats and award-winning foods. 

8. Vote for your favourite boat

Visitors to the show can vote for their favourite narrowboat and widebeam boat at the Haven-Knox Johnston Marquee on the Quayside.  Everyone who votes is entered into a prize draw to win a £100 Marks & Spencer voucher and voters can also enter a draw to win a year’s free boat insurance from Haven-Knox Johnston. The result will be announced mid-afternoon on Monday 26 May.

9. Grab a bite to eat and watch the world go by

During the day, the show’s Food Court will offer a range of options, including fish & chips, baguettes, pizza, pasties and doughnuts. Visitors to the show can head down to the marina for a waterside picnic and watch the world go by.

10. Get expert advice on boating

The Show’s free Boat Ownership Seminar programme features advice from Waterways World’s Technical Editor Mark Langley for both new and experienced boaters.  Seminars include advice on buying a new or second-hand boat, living afloat, boat maintenance and greener boating. 

The Show will open from 10am until 6pm on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 May. And until 5pm on Monday 26 May. On Trade & Preview Day (Friday 23 May), the Show will be open from 10am until 6pm for advance ticket holders only.

Simpler Recycling bin rollout update

Deliveries of the new Simpler Recycling bins to our refuse sites are continuing. The last update from our waste contractors, dated 11 April, shows around 50% of our sites have had new bins, with a smaller number including food waste. We knew that there was going to be a delay with food waste bins though and are expecting a (insert the collective noun for a lorry load of bins here) of these in during May.

As you can see below, hire boat company Beacon Park Boats, has nailed how to sort waste to fit with the new regulations already!

Talking of hire boaters…

Holiday helpers

The Hire Boat Survey is open for holiday boaters to share their views and experiences of the waterways this year. So, if you get chatting to hire boaters this year, you can help by encouraging them to do the survey and sharing this link. The information we collect provides helpful evidence to show our key partners just how much a thriving canal network contributes to the local economy and community.  You can see last year’s results here.