Regional Round-up South - May 2025

Sharing stories in the West Midlands 

In March, we launched an exciting new oral history project in the West Midlands, to honour the unsung heroes who helped to restore and revitalise the region’s canals between the 1960s and 1990s.

As part of the ambitious project, made possible by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, we’ll be collecting first-hand accounts from the men and women who helped save the canals and preserve them for future generations. 

Once the lifeblood of industry, by the end of the Second World War, many West Midlands canals had fallen into disuse and disrepair. Yet, in the 1960s, people from across the region, from fundraisers and volunteers to engineers and labourers, banded together to breathe new life into these neglected waterways. Sadly, over the years, their stories have been largely forgotten.  

Kate Langley, our heritage team manager, explains: “Many of these individuals have never had their voices heard. This is our chance to ensure their remarkable contributions are celebrated, shared with the wider community, and preserved for posterity.” 

The project will create a lasting archive of memories, photographs, and personal stories, helping to keep these important histories alive for years to come. If you were involved in restoring these vital waterways, watch this space, as we’ll be sending out invitations to participate soon. 

Show your support for the Mon & Brec Canal

After securing an emergency supply of water for the beautiful Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal in Wales, please show your support for this historic canal this summer.  

New legislation has thrown the canal's future into doubt by restricting how much water can be taken from the nearby River Usk – the principal source of the canal’s water for over 200 years. The water supply restriction has been exacerbated by the unseasonably dry start to 2025. 

Mark Evans, director at Glandŵr Cymru, the Canal & Trust in Wales, explains: “We have safeguarded the much-loved canal over the summer months, with additional water which we have had to purchase from Welsh Water. However, it isn’t sustainable for our charity to bear this cost alone. An affordable long-term solution is still needed with the collective help of Welsh Water, the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales.  

“In the meantime, this summer, we’d love people to visit 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. To keep the canal alive, we are asking people to sign our petition calling on the Welsh Government to help find a sustainable future for the canal. With over 12,500 signatories already, the strength of public support is clear.” 

A royal seal of approval in London

In March, HRH The Princess Royal, Patron of the London Canal Museum in King’s Cross, officially opened the Museum’s new ‘Building Britain’s Canals’ exhibition. It celebrates the work of the surveyors and engineers who designed Britain’s canals, and the thousands of unnamed labourers, ‘the navvies’, who worked in difficult and dangerous conditions to build them. 

Martin Sach, Chair of the Museum says: “We were delighted to welcome our Patron HRH The Princess Royal to the London Canal Museum to officially open our new exhibition. Canals became the transport arteries of the Industrial Revolution, carrying goods of all sorts between manufacturing centres and ports. At its peak, the canal system in the UK stretched for nearly 4,000 miles.” 

“The canal engineers were the celebrities of their time, designing and building groundbreaking structures and incredible feats of engineering that would become world famous. This new exhibition celebrates their achievements, which led to the creation of the profession of civil engineering and that of ‘the navvies’, who constructed the canals using picks, shovels and wheelbarrows.” 

The London Canal Museum’s ‘Building Britain’s Canals’ exhibition runs from 11 March 2025, for the remainder of the year. The museum also offers Regent's Canal narrowboat trips on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays & Sundays.