Costing £10.1 million, the charity carries out a range of important and complex heritage and conservation tasks during the ‘quieter’ winter months to minimise disruption to canal and towpath visitors, as the nation’s waterways boost more visitors now than at the height of the industrial revolution (1.5 million unique visits per fortnight to our Yorkshire waterways).
The repairs
Repairs include replacing worn-out lock gates, repairing historic bridges, inspecting tunnels and dredging canals, to keep this important part of the country’s infrastructure available for local people.
Still navigated by boats as they have been for hundreds of years, and acting as linear parks benefiting people and wildlife, the canals in Yorkshire are as important now as they were at the height of the Industrial Revolution, when they were the freight ‘motorways’ of their day.
But age and the extreme weather that is becoming more common due to climate change mean the year-round work we do, including the support we are given by thousands of volunteers, is vital in looking after the network.
The winter schedule of works will continue until March 2024, with our expert teams working on 18 sites, across 11 waterways.
Conservation works to the Bingley section of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal have recently completed. These works involved restoring a 50-metre stretch of washwall, situated just upstream of Grade I* listed Bingley 3 Rise Locks, which had been leaning into the canal significantly, affecting boater mooring posts and causing potholes to form in the towpath.
Using reclaimed masonry and traditional lime mortar techniques where possible during the repairs at this important heritage site, works also included re-grouting a wall at Grade I listed Bingley Five Rise Locks to minimise leakage along this historic structure which celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2024.
