When there’s a major incident on our canals, your support makes an immediate impact. Day or night, you help our response teams on the ground to keep people safe, contain the damage, and protect our canals.
The aftermath of the breach at Whitchurch on the Llangollen Canal in Shropshire
That’s the difference your support made over Christmas and New Year on the Llangollen Canal. But this wasn’t the only major incident we’ve faced on the network over the last year.
In 2024/25 alone, you helped us respond to 15 emergency incidents requiring immediate attention and repair. Few have had quite the same impact on boats and boaters as the Llangollen incident, but all restrict navigation, close towpaths and cost huge amounts of time and money to repair. Which is why your continued support is critical and needed more than ever.
Here’s just two examples of other major incidents we have urgently responded to over the last year. They might not have hit the headlines in the same way, but they underline how frequently emergencies arise on our vulnerable 250-year-old canals, how swiftly you help us to respond and the huge cost and effort that goes into emergency repairs.
Knolls Bridge, Shropshire Union Canal
Work gets underway to repair a breach on the Shropshire Union Canal
Last summer there was a major incident in Cheshire after an old culvert carrying a stream under the Shropshire Union Canal collapsed. Before repairs could begin, temporary tracks had to be installed at the site, just north of Chester, to provide safe access for vehicles and machinery. Our team then got to work, clearing the debris and excavating the towpath, embankment and canal bed.
More than 120 tonnes of clay were brought in to reline the canal and make it watertight, the towpath was resurfaced and the bank was reinforced to guard against future incidents.
In all, repairs took nearly five months and cost around £850,000, and in early December, the canal, affectionately known as the ‘Shroppie’, was reopened to boat traffic. Lisa Shaw, project manager at Canal & River Trust, explains just how much this work means to everyone involved: “It has been a massive team effort to repair the canal and get it back open for boaters and towpath users as quickly as possible.
Thankfully, all that hard work has paid off. We know how important the Shropshire Union Canal is to so many people and we would like to thank everyone, especially boaters and the local community, and our Friends and supporters for their generosity and patience.”
Rivington Aqueduct, Leigh Branch
Burst water main repairs on the Leigh branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal
It was a similar story on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in August. We were called in after a large water main burst at Rivington Aqueduct near Wigan, which feeds some 29,000 local properties. Acting quickly to secure the site, we closed the Leigh branch of the canal to boat traffic – a seven-mile stretch running from the main line at Wigan all the way to Leigh, where it joins the Bridgewater Canal.
Working with United Utilities, our engineers excavated the embankment and the canal bed to isolate the burst water main, before rebuilding the canal bed and relined it using 300 tonnes of clay to ensure it was completely watertight.
Finally, metal trench sheeting was installed along a 20-metre stretch of the canal wash wall to shore up the site and prevent future breaches. Just like on the ‘Shroppie’, the work involved our skilled teams and took several months to complete.
Gareth Taylor, an engineer at Canal & River Trust, said: “We’re delighted that the Leigh branch has reopened to boaters. It’s a short but mighty local treasure and is highly valued by boaters and local people for its nature, heritage, and, of course, for navigation. Thank you to everyone for your patience and support whilst this work was carried out.”
As with these two incidents, plans will soon be drawn up for a major repair project on the Llangollen Canal. While it may cost millions of pounds and take months to complete, we will repair the damage and restore navigation as soon as possible.
But we can only be on the ground to respond to emergencies thanks to you. It’s your support that helps ensure our teams are there around the clock, 365 days of the year to protect and preserve our historic network and keep our canals safe and open to all.
