A devastating breach occurred in the early hours of 22 December on the Llangollen Canal. Now, we need your help to support our long-term response to protect and restore our precious canals.
What's happened?
A major canal breach on the Llangollen Canal near Whitchurch, Shropshire, caused a large part of the embankment to collapse, creating an emergency that washed two narrowboats into the breach hole, stranded six others and left another boat hanging precariously over the edge. The incident has been highly distressing, particularly for the boat owners and local community affected.
Our response
Our specialist teams responded immediately and have been working tirelessly to make the site safe, install dams, refloat stranded vessels and restore water flow.
But there is much more to be done. The repairs needed will take much of this year and will cost several million pounds.
Engineers have started investigations into the likely cause of the breach, but the cause of earth embankment failures is not always clear - they are complex structures and it is still too early to be certain.
How you can help
We are incredibly grateful for the support we have already received from the boating community, local people and our other supporters as we respond to this breach. Without your donations, we wouldn't be able to continue our work to maintain and protect our canals.
These are major works and they weren't in our plans. This rare but catastrophic breach will cost our charity several million to restore the historic infrastructure and public access to the towpath.
Please donate today to support our vital work in protecting and restoring canals.
Your support will help us to make the canals and rivers you love stronger and more resilient.
Together we can make Llangollen stronger.
Last Edited: 14 January 2026
