Regional Round-up North - November 2025

Celebrating our history in Yorkshire and the North East

In September, visitors got a rare glimpse of some of our historic premises, as we opened our doors to the public across Yorkshire and the North East.

At Stanley Ferry near Wakefield, visitors enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of our lock gate workshop; in Stockton-on-Tees, they got unprecedented access to the control room at Tees Barrage, and at Dobson’s Lock at Apperley Bridge, they were treated to a demonstration of a working blacksmith’s forge.

We’ve also been encouraging people with an interest in the history of our waterways to help us map and record the heritage of Yorkshire’s 250-year-old canals. The volunteer-led survey will chart the ways in which the region’s canals have changed over the past 30 years, building on a project by British Waterways and Historic England, which was completed in the 1990s.

A pilot scheme, launched earlier this year on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, proved a huge success, and the project is now being rolled out across the Yorkshire.

“We’re now looking for volunteers to survey the navigations across the country,” says heritage adviser Simon Hinchliffe. “With the support of our amazing volunteers, the project will celebrate the wonderful legacy of our industrial past and help us preserve it for the future.”

Made possible thanks to funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the survey which will eventually cover our 2,000-mile network is expected to take around four years.

Going behind the scenes at Toddbrook Reservoir

A major construction project at Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire is nearing its conclusion, with a new dam overflow spillway expected to be completed by Christmas. In September, we invited visitors along for a sneak peek at our progress across two public open days.

The three-year project is vital to getting the reservoir up and running again after the previous dam wall was damaged in 2019, following excessive rainfall.

Over the two days, visitors got their first glimpse of the new structure, as our contractor, Kier, puts the final touches to the new waterside weir, tumble bay, stepped spillway and stilling basin, which will provide a new route for excess water to reach the River Goyt. During the summer, they also removed some 460 bags of aggregate, dropped by RAF Chinook helicopters to shore up the dam wall after it was damaged in the storm.

Early next year, work will begin on a replacement sailing club and children’s playground. Artwork will be applied to the new concrete turrets and the local park re-landscaped with new trees, footpaths, and wildlife habitats.

“Once the work is finished, the reservoir will again be capable of performing its vital role of supplying water to the Macclesfield and Peak Forest canals,” says project manager Dilwyn Parry. “It will be restocked with fish, and hopefully by the summer, it will be fully restored as a community resource for sailing, angling and swimming.”

Taking positive steps in Leicestershire

This summer, we took advantage of the unprecedented dry weather to carry out vital repairs at Foxton Locks in Leicestershire – the longest, steepest flight of staircase locks in the country.

Foxton Locks, on the Grand Union Canal, is one of the most breathtaking sights on our network, carrying more than 5,000 boats a year up and down a steep 75-foot incline, surrounded by 34 acres of rolling countryside.

This summer, with temperatures soaring and the locks temporarily closed to traffic due to drought, we brought forward essential repairs with a view to minimising disruption for boaters and local businesses.

The works involved replacing some of the paddles that regulate water levels in the lock chambers. The paddles, at locks 10 and 17, open and close to release water from special side ponds to improve the flow as boats make their way through the flight.

In addition to the paddle works, we also repointed historic brickwork within the 200-year-old flight of locks, filling in gaps in the canal wall with grout to prevent leaks.

One of the hottest, driest summers on record has taken a heavy toll on our ageing network, with wooden structures shrinking and swelling, bricks cracking, and reservoirs dwindling. The difficult decision to temporarily close Foxton Locks helped to save water to keep boats afloat, protected local wildlife, and safeguarded our precious infrastructure.