As we come to the end of 2024, we’re looking back at the work we’ve done to keep canals alive over the past year.
Anniversary celebrations at Bingley Five Rise Locks
We're the UK’s largest canal charity and our role in protecting and revitalising our nation’s canals never stops. 2024 was an especially busy year which saw the election of a new UK government and the confirmation of King Charles III as our patron. Here’s a small selection of the projects our teams have delivered during the last 12 months.
Looking after our canals and rivers
As the new year began, Storms Gerrit and Henk brought widespread damage and disruption to our historic canals. The worst-hit areas were in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, where we suffered flooding, fallen trees and landslides. At Easenhall Cutting, an estimated 4,000 tonnes of mud slipped into the Grand Union Canal. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our specialist teams, we were able to re-open the canal to navigation in May.
Work to restore Easenhall Cutting
In July, divers carried out inspections of safety gates at Llanfoist Embankment on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. This resulted in new safety gates being manufactured at our workshop, ready to be installed during our winter works programme.
Summer 2024 also saw us drain part of the well-loved Wigan Flight on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, for what turned out to be a complex set of repairs. Our teams prioritised the works to ensure the lock remained safe and available to boaters.
Wigan Flight on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
In September, we completed vital repairs to a canal bank near Blue Bank Lock in Leicester, which had been washed away in the winter floods. And in November, works got underway on a £1.1m project to improve a four-mile stretch of towpath on the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal.
Providing places for people
Back in March, we introduced MPs to our new Impact Report during an event at Parliament. Our first Impact Report of 2024 showcased the profound significance our unique network of canals has in people’s lives today and how it can shape our futures.
Minister for Water & Rural Affairs, Robbie Moore, with Richard Parry
Throughout this year, our Let’s Fish! Programme has reeled in thousands of young people to take part in our national fishing programme, and many visitors have discovered the delights of the canals during events such as Crick Boat Show and Hayes Canal Festival.
This summer, we were thrilled to see almost 750 miles of waterways awarded prestigious Green Flag status by Keep Britain Tidy. And for the first time, people were invited to ‘Paddle under the Pennines’ as we offered three long weekends of guided canoe trips through Standedge Tunnel – the longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel in the UK.
Canoeing through Standedge Tunnel
In September, we unveiled a major new artwork on the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal. The Looping Canal Boat Artwork, by Alex Chinneck, takes the form of a full-size canal boat whose body behaves in an extraordinary way - performing a six metre-high, gravity-defying, loop-the-loop.
Alex Chinneck - The Looping Boat
Keeping history alive
In March, thousands joined us in celebrating the 250th anniversary of Bingley Five Rise Locks on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Two months later, we marked the successful restoration of the Diglis Island crane as part of a long-term project to conserve this magnificent example of our industrial heritage.
In June we called for drivers to slow down at historic canal bridges after we completed a £100,000 project to repair the latest damaged bridge. Barrow Bridge on the Trent & Mersey Canal was built centuries ago to allow horses and carts to cross the canal. Still in use today, it has been hit 16 times in 20 years.
New Knighton safety gate being positioned, Shropshire Union Canal
We also handcrafted a new gate for a site on the Shropshire Union Canal which has a special place in the nation’s heart. Between 1911 and 1961, Cadbury’s used Knighton Wharf and associated buildings to process local milk into ‘chocolate crumb’, which was then transported by boat to Cadbury’s in Bournville along the canal.
In September, we threw open our doors and invited everyone to look behind the scenes of canal history as part of Heritage Open Days. Our Open Days included blacksmith’s forge demonstrations at Dobson Locks in Apperley Bridge.
Blacksmith’s forge demonstrations
Helping nature thrive
Every summer we fight a battle against invasive weeds and 2024 proved especially problematic. Growing rapidly in the summer and able to quickly cover the surface of canals, weeds such as duckweed, floating pennywort and azolla pose a serious threat to canal wildlife.
Weed boat removing floating pennywort
In August, we were devastated by news of a toxic chemical spillage in Walsall. Our colleagues formed part of a multi-agency response and worked around the clock with lead agencies to secure the canal and stop the contamination spreading further. We launched a fundraiser to help save affected wildlife, successfully raising nearly £25,000 to go towards nature recovery in the area.
Soon after, September saw the launch of our Big Plastic Pick Up, encouraging everyone to clear wildlife-rich canals of harmful plastic waste.
Plastics Challenge campaign manager, Nicky, with volunteers at Camden Locks
Delivering through partnership
For over a decade, we’ve been receiving support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery which has allowed us to implement a range of impactful projects across England and Wales. Most recently, this support has enabled essential maintenance work at Brent Reservoir – a Site of Special Scientific Interest and valuable green space for local residents in North London.
In 2024, we were thrilled to receive a grant of £409,933 from the Heritage Lottery Fund alongside funding from Historic England and Shropshire Council’s Shared Prosperity Fund to go towards the historic Ellesmere Yard on the Llangollen Canal.
Works at Brent Reservoir
In September, we joined forces with Severn Trent and Affinity Water on an exciting project to use our canals to help solve some of the most pressing problems communities face today. The Grand Union Canal Transfer scheme will see canals in the Midlands used to move water to the southeast, providing thousands of homes and businesses with a reliable supply of drinking water.
A few weeks later, we announced a new partnership with Rightmove, the UK’s largest property platform. Rightmove has pledged £50,000 to our Environmental Fund, ensuring cleaner, greener spaces for people and nature. As part of the partnership, Rightmove employees will also be active in their own communities by volunteering with us.
National Lottery funding boosted the restoration of the Kennet & Avon Canal
In November, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the National Lottery – and the ‘game-changing’ canal improvement projects made possible through funding from the National Lottery. We also announced that wildlife-rich hedgerows along historic canals in Northamptonshire are set to be improved thanks to our partnership project with the Drax Foundation, the charitable entity of renewable energy company Drax Group.
Threats to canals and rivers
Our most recent Annual Report & Accounts highlights the impact of climate change on our canal network, the rising cost of maintenance and the significance of future funding cuts.
Canal flooding at Barrow Upon Soar
On the cusp of our annual winter repair and restoration works, we launched an appeal in November asking our supporters to help our canals hold strong this winter – against a perfect storm of extreme weather, rising repair costs and shrinking government support.
Our canal network needs constant care and attention. Without it, canals face decline and closure, and we risk losing the incredible benefits they bring.
Our planned repair and restoration works for winter 2024/25 are already underway, with an extensive programme of engineering works illustrating the scale of the resource required to protect and preserve the canals of England and Wales.
Engineers hard at work
In 2025, we will be shaping our plans for the vital restoration of Anderton Boat Lift to ensure it remains operational for future generations. The boat lift and visitor centre will remain open for the summer season but are likely to close from autumn 2025 for 12-18 months.
