Regional Round-up North - August 2025

This time, we’re looking at towpath improvements, a wellbeing initiative, and a vibrant canal festival.

Improving accessibility in Huddersfield

An ambitious three-million-pound project is underway in Huddersfield to improve the towpath along two of the region’s canals, encouraging more people to walk, wheel, scoot and cycle.

Work began in June to improve the towpath on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, between Marsden and Slaithwaite, which is in the final stage of a five-year project to improve the whole of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal’s towpath.

At the end of July, work will begin on the Huddersfield Broad Canal towpath between Aspley Basin and Cooper Bridge.

The two schemes, part of a wider vision to promote active travel across West Yorkshire, will provide better access for wheelchair and pushchair users, make the route easier for walkers and cyclists, give access to employment opportunities and help people live healthier lives. The projects will include repairs to canal walls and other features that will help maintain the canals themselves.

“This project is a fantastic example of how we can work together to make canals more welcoming and attractive,” says enterprise manager, Mark Robinson, “ensuring they remain navigable for boats, and safe and accessible for the local community and support our wildlife.”

The routes are being resurfaced with durable, all-weather material and, where possible widened. New mooring bollards are also being installed.

It’s hoped the improvements, due to be completed in the new year, will make it easier and safer for everyone to enjoy these vital green spaces and beautiful, historic routes all year round.

Breaking down barriers in Rochdale

An initiative in Rochdale is helping young South Asian girls and women improve their physical and mental wellbeing by identifying and overcoming the barriers that prevent participation in physical activity.

Funded by Sport England, the project contributes to the ambitions of Uniting the Movement, a 10-year strategy to tackle inequalities in sport and physical activity. The programme is supporting members of Neeli Mosque youth club to access their local canal and take part in fun, confidence-building water-based activities including essential water safety.

Girls aged 10–14 are taking part in a ten-week programme that includes canoeing, paddle-boarding, walking, and other fun activities such as scavenger hunts along the Rochdale Canal. Sessions are currently led by qualified female paddlesport instructors, including Engagement Coordinator Sara Ponting, whose presence has been key to engaging girls and addressing cultural barriers.

As part of the longer-term vision, women from Neeli Mosque are now being supported to train as paddlesport instructors themselves, enabling the group to run their own sessions in future and ensuring lasting impact.

Being #ActiveByWater creates inclusive blue and green spaces. In Rochdale, a new pontoon and storage facility at Lock 50 — built with accessibility and safety in mind — has been approved to remove practical barriers to watersports. It also supports wider engagement with the canal, with participants contributing to litter picks and learning about caring for their local environment.

One participant described the experience as transformative: “It made me realise I’m not afraid of water… it was so much fun to be out there, and it gave us a different way of connecting with each other.”

This partnership-led approach is making a lasting difference in communities improving the health and wellbeing of those who have the most to gain.

Celebrating a special anniversary in Leicestershire

In June, a flotilla of colourful boats made its way down Foxton’s famous flight of locks on the Grand Union Canal. Part of a special anniversary weekend, the event brought together historic working boats and floating traders from across the country.

The event celebrated the pivotal role Leicestershire’s waterways played in the renaissance of our canal network, marking 75 years since the Inland Waterways Association’s famous ‘Festival and Rally of Boats’ at Market Harborough.

In 1950, with the future of our canals hanging in the balance, the festival helped to turn the tide of popular opinion, sowing the seeds of revival and igniting the volunteering spirit that is still alive on our canals today.

To mark the occasion, a cavalcade of colourful boats negotiated Foxton’s iconic flight of locks as onlookers cheered the convoy off as it made its way along the canal to Union Wharf in Market Harborough, scene of that momentous event 75 years ago.

Over the course of the weekend, visitors enjoyed a variety of exciting activities with exhibitions, live music, and floating stalls selling everything from cakes and cookies to candles, gifts and traditional canalware. A lively tribute to the pioneers who helped to save our historic network and a celebration of the role they continue to play 200 years after they were built.