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The charity making life better by water

Between Lock 41 & Lock 71

Type: Navigation Closure

Waterway(s): Trent & Mersey Canal

From: 19 May 2025, 3:02pm

To: 23 May 2025, 9am inclusive

Region: North West

Reason: Low Water Levels

Location

Closest waterwayTrent & Mersey Canal
Starts atLock 71
Ends atLock 41, Plants Lock - Off Side

Descriptions

Update 22 May 2025, 4:38pm

We're pleased to confirm that our teams will have the water levels restored in time for the weekend, and the canal between Lock 41 and Lock 71 on the Trent & Mersey Canal will reopen tomorrow, Friday 23rd May at 9am.

We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused to your boating plans.  

Update 20 May 2025, 3:48pm

Our local team has been busy working to refill the locks and pounds, and we're making steady progress. It's really important that we do this carefully to avoid putting any strain on the available water resources or causing any damage to our infrastructure and property. It'll take a few days for the water levels to return to normal, and we really appreciate your patience while we get things back on track.

As part of this work, padlocks will be installed this evening at Locks 41 and 71 to temporarily restrict access to the lock flights. This is just a precaution while we manage the water levels. The locks will be reopened tomorrow to allow the remaining boats to come off the flights.

Please do not enter the lock flights between Locks 41 and 71 without permission until navigation has resumed. This is for everyone's safety while our team work to get the levels back to normal.

We'll share another update with you on Thursday 22 May.

Original 19 May 2025, 3:05pm

Despite all efforts to conserve water, the continuing lack of rainfall continues to cause challenges for navigation. As a consequence, the section of the Trent & Mersey Canal between Lock 41 and 71 is affected by low water levels and is currently closed to navigation.

Our local team are on site today to support any boaters that are stuck within this closure to help relocate to a place where they will continue to have access to customer services, facilities, and support.

Our next update will be on Tuesday 20 May 2025.

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