Stories about boats and waterways
At 220 years old, the world-famous Pontcysyllte aqueduct in north Wales is doing very well for its age but it does need a lot of care and maintenance. Every 20 years it’s drained of water for a full inspection and I’ve been along to see what the Canal & River Trust’s engineers have found this time around.
Continue readingAccording to the Canal & River Trust, the charitable organisation tasked by the UK government with managing most (but not all) of the canals in the country as well as some
Continue readingIf you wish to live aboard but have no ties binding you to a specific location then you are absolutely in the best world of all. The entire canal network
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The Canal & River Trust, the charitable organisation tasked with maintaining the navigations of England & Wales, gets a quarter of its budget from a government grant. It’s just been announced that grant is going to be cut from 2027 onwards, leaving the CRT with a huge hole in its finances, that needs to be plugged. I sat down with the boss of the CRT and asked what the practical effects of the cut will be and what they – and we – can do to stave it off.
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London’s canals and rivers are becoming ever more crowded with boaters as people flock to the capitals waterways, drawn by the lure of a seemingly idyllic and possibly cheaper lifestyle. But is the dream for real or is reality not quite as rosy? I went down to the big smoke to find out.
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Every year, the Canal & River Trust replace a load of worn-out lock gates across the 200+ year-old canals of England and Wales. But how do you lift a 4-tonne chunk of wood out of its bindings, on waterway, often with limited room to manoeuvre? With a crane on a boat, that’s how.
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This is a long sit-down interview I did with the Chief Executive of the Canal & River Trust, Richard Parry (two videos)
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Whether you’re a solo narrowboater or have plenty of crew aboard, there’s no doubt that at busy and long canal lock flights, a team of helpful volunteer lock-keepers can be a blessing to help you through. I spent a couple of days at Fradley Junction near Lichfield, talking to the volunteers as they prepare for the new boating season, and they explained what they do and why they do it.
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Every winter the Canal & River Trust shut parts of the network down for a time in order to do maintenance which often includes taking out broken or old lock gates and replacing them. New lock gates are not something you can just order in from Amazon however, so the CRT have to make their own and in this video I visited their Birmingham workshop to see how the process works.
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