National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, celebrates Golden Anniversary Year
The National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port, home to the largest collection of historic boats, celebrates its golden anniversary in 2026 with a host of exciting events and new restoration projects.
The museum started life in the 1970s as an amazing volunteer regeneration effort led by a group of canal enthusiasts determined to preserve the derelict port buildings and working boats fast disappearing from Britain’s canal network.
Fast forward half a century we will lead on its 50th birthday celebrations with a special annual Easter Historic Boat Gathering (April 3-6) and a weekend of anniversary festivities starting on Friday 12 June.
On offer will be new exhibitions, a family-friendly museum trail and exclusive behind-the-scenes tours of the museum as a location for TV blockbusters such as ‘Peaky Blinders’ and the new Netflix ‘House of Guinness’ series.
The anniversary is also being marked by several restoration projects, including a Historic England-funded renovation of the site’s Grade II Listed Pumphouse, which houses an impressive Victorian steam engine that once powered dock machinery for more than 100 years.
Preservation work will also be taking place on two important National Historic Fleet registered boats - ‘Basuto’, the oldest surviving Clyde puffer boat (named due to the puffing sound of her steam engine), and repainting of ‘Gifford’, a rare 100-year-old horse-drawn narrowboat.
Playing an important role
Our North West director Jon Horsfall said: “The National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port plays an important role in preserving some of our nation’s key historic boats and explaining the fascinating story of how our canals made a vital contribution to Britain’s Industrial Revolution.
“We owe an immense debt of gratitude to those early volunteers, whose inspired determination to preserve the past resulted in the restoration of some of the wonderful port buildings and canal features we enjoy today.
“Now in 2026, volunteers still make a valuable contribution to the running of the seven-acre site, working alongside our staff to welcome more than 20,000 visitors a year. During our special anniversary it would be great to see even more people enjoying a fantastic visit to our superb waterside museum.”
Queen Elizabeth II being shown narrowboats at the Boat Museum Ellesmere Port by Dr David Owen 2 November 1979
A brief history
The idea for a new boat museum was first floated at a meeting of passionate canal enthusiasts in September 1970. The ‘North Western Museum of Inland Navigation’ group was launched a year later. Volunteer work parties began to restore the site at the junction of the Shropshire Union Canal and the Manchester Ship Canal/River Mersey, and in June 1976, the new ‘Boat Museum’ was officially opened to the public by canal campaigner and author, Sonia Rolt.
Since then, the museum has hosted over a million visitors and highlights have included a visit by HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1979, and a ‘Museum of the Year’ award from the Council of Europe in 1985.
In 1999, The Waterways Trust, a charitable arm of British Waterways, was invited to step in to manage the museum, linking it with similar museums at Gloucester Docks and Stoke Bruerne to become a new ‘National Waterways Museum’. In 2012 the Canal & River Trust charity took over responsibility for the museum, along with 2,000 miles of inland waterways in England and Wales.
Still volunteering half a century on are Hoylake couple Mike and Cath Turpin. Now in their early eighties, they regularly devote two or three days a week to the museum.
Proud to be part of something special
Former teacher, Cath said: “I’ve been proud to be part of something very special that continues to have relevance. Our early tasks included securing the decaying buildings against vandalism and looking after the increasing number of boats being acquired by the museum. We also got involved in fundraising. It was the industrial heritage that drew us in. This museum tells the stories of working boats and people that so often go unmentioned.
“I am still involved in the hands-on work, helping to look after the tar boat Gifford and Mike volunteers with the collections team and the boat activity group. I also volunteer in the archive, give talks and take visitors on guided tours. There’s always something to do!”
We would be delighted to hear from anyone wishing to support the charity by donating or joining the enthusiastic volunteering team at the museum.
Museum key dates
1970
Creation of a new waterway museum discussed at a meeting of canal enthusiasts in the Ring O’Bells pub in nearby Daresbury on 29 September.
1971
Inaugural meeting of the ‘North Western Museum of Inland Navigation’ (NWMIN) at Manchester University.
1974
First working party at Ellesmere Port site, led by Tony Hirst.
1976
Boat Museum officially opened by canal campaigner Sonia Rolt, wife of Tom Rolt, founder of the modern canal restoration movement. Staffed entirely by volunteers.
1977
First Easter Gathering of historic boats.
1979
Visit of HM Queen Elizabeth II and Duke of Edinburgh to Museum on 2 November.
1981
Creation of the Boat Museum Trust to run the museum. Financial support from Ellesmere Port and Neston BC, Cheshire County Council and NWMIN.
1981
NWMIN buys 10 Porters Row. Derelict land grant finances the restoration of the Island Warehouse and a new exhibition.
1981/82
Toxteth riots in Liverpool prompt the creation of a new Merseyside Taskforce, which leads to Government funding for the restoration of the remaining dock buildings. Visits from Michael Heseltine and PM Margaret Thatcher.
1985
The Museum is awarded the Council of Europe ‘Museum of the Year’.
1987
Opening of the Porters Row houses to the public.
1990
Opening of the David Owen Archive on the ground floor of the restored slipway workshops by the Duke of Westminster.
2000
The Museum is rescued by The Waterways Trust, a charitable arm of British Waterways, after it experiences financial problems. It joins with waterways museums in Gloucester and Stoke Bruerne to become the National Waterways Museum.
2003
Heritage Lottery Funding is secured to revamp the Island Warehouse exhibition, shop and café.
2009
The Heritage Boatyard is opened.
2012
The British Waterways Archive collection is moved from Gloucester to an expanded archive facility at Ellesmere Port.
The Canal & River Trust charity is created from British Waterways and The Waterways Trust and takes over management of the National Waterways Museum and Archive.
2017
The Big Lift. Many sunken boats from around the port were craned out and moved to a warehouse on nearby Rossfield Industrial Estate.
2023
Museum trip boat refurbished and run by volunteers.
