The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
. Launched on 12 July 2012, the Trust took over the responsibilities of the state-owned
British Waterways
British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...
in those two places.
History
The concept of a National Waterways Conservancy was first championed and articulated in the 1960s by
Robert Aickman
Robert Fordyce Aickman (27 June 1914 – 26 February 1981) was an English writer and conservationist. As a conservationist, he co-founded the Inland Waterways Association, a group which has preserved from destruction and restored England's inl ...
, the co-founder of the
Inland Waterways Association
The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations.
No ...
, as a way to secure the future of Britain's threatened inland waterways network.
The idea was revived by the management of
British Waterways
British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...
in 2008 in response to increasing cuts in
grant-in-aid
A grant-in-aid is money coming from a central government for a specific project. Such funding is usually used when the government and the legislature decide that the recipient should be publicly funded but operate with reasonable independence ...
funding, a drop in commercial income after the
financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
and growing calls by waterway users for a greater say in the running of the waterways.
On 18 May 2009, launching 'Twenty Twenty – a vision for the future of our canals and rivers' on the terrace of the House of Commons, British Waterways proposed a radical overhaul of waterway management and a transfer from public corporation to not-for-profit organisation. The event was supported by speakers from each of the three main parties:
Charlotte Atkins
Charlotte Jean Scott Atkins (born 24 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Staffordshire Moorlands from 1997 until 2010.
Early life
Atkins is the daughter of Ron Atkins, the left wing ...
MP,
Peter Ainsworth
Peter Michael Ainsworth (16 November 1956 – 6 April 2021) was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for East Surrey from 1992 to 2010.
Following his retirement from politics, Ainsworth was appointed UK ch ...
MP and
Lembit Opik
Lembit is an Estonian masculine given name. A variant is Lembitu. It sometimes also may be a surname. Lembit may refer to:
*Lembitu (died 1217), Estonian elder and military leader from Sakala County
*Lembit Arro (born 1930), Estonian politician ...
MP. British Waterways chairman, Tony Hales said: "The private sector built the canals, the public sector rescued them and I believe the third sector can be their future".
In November 2009, British Waterways published another paper 'Setting a New Course: Britain's Inland Waterways in the Third Sector'. This promoted the original suggestion by British Waterways, that it should become a private company, inheriting all of the property and other waterway assets held in public ownership by British Waterways.
On 24 March 2010, the Labour government announced its decision to mutualise British Waterways, a commitment which was repeated in Labour's 2010 manifesto: "To give more people a stake in a highly valued national asset, British Waterways will be turned into a mutually owned co-operative".
Following the
2010 general election, the incoming
coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
reaffirmed its support for status change on the waterways, as an example of the Conservative Party's commitment to the so-called
Big Society. Waterways Minister
Richard Benyon
Richard Henry Ronald Benyon, Baron Benyon (born 21 October 1960) is a British politician who has served as Minister of State for Biosecurity, Marine and Rural Affairs since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament ...
MP stated on 21 June 2010 the government's "intention to move British Waterways to the civil society, subject to the outcome of the spending review."
Between March and June 2011,
Defra DEFRA may refer to:
* Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, United States law
* Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom government department
{{Disambiguation ...
ran a public consultation 'A New Era for the Waterways' on the overall structure of the proposed new body, the potential inclusion of the river navigations under the management of the
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
(another public body), and the abolition of the Inland Waterways Advisory Council.
In October 2011, British Waterways announced a name and logo for a charitable trust which would inherit its English and Welsh operations: the Canal & River Trust, branded in Wales as Glandŵr Cymru (meaning Waterside Wales) — the Canal & River Trust in Wales. The Trust received charitable status in April and received parliamentary approval in June.
![Canal River Trust Boat Peak Forest Canal Furness Vale Derbyshire](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Canal_River_Trust_Boat_Peak_Forest_Canal_Furness_Vale_Derbyshire.jpg)
In July 2012, all British Waterways' assets, liabilities and responsibilities in England and Wales were transferred to the Canal & River Trust, which was launched officially on 12 July. At the same time, the Canal & River Trust merged with the English and Welsh operations of
The Waterways Trust
The Waterways Trust was an independent registered charity, established in 1999, that worked with partners to see the waterway network in England, Wales and Scotland supported, valued and enjoyed by a wide audience. The Trust was formerly registe ...
, a charity previously affiliated to British Waterways, to avoid confusion and as both charities had similar aims.
BWML, a private company limited by guarantee, was formerly owned
by the Canal & River Trust and managed some 20 marinas. It was sold in December 2018 and subsequently rebranded Aquavista.
Scotland
In
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, British Waterways continues to operate as a stand-alone public corporation under the trading name
Scottish Canals
Scottish Canals is the Scottish Government body responsible for managing the country's inland waterways. Formerly a division of British Waterways, it became a stand-alone executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government on 2 J ...
.
Access to waterways and towpaths
![Pontcysyllte Aqueduct from the south end](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Pontcysyllte_Aqueduct_from_the_south_end.jpg)
Waterways in the care of the Canal & River Trust are accessible for use by boats, canoeists,
paddleboard
Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. This article refers to traditional prone or kneel ...
ers and other
watercraft
Any vehicle used in or on water as well as underwater, including boats, ships, hovercraft and submarines, is a watercraft, also known as a water vessel or waterborne vessel. A watercraft usually has a propulsive capability (whether by sail, ...
upon payment of an appropriate licence fee.
Walkers and cyclists can use the extensive network of
towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...
s that run alongside the canals and rivers without payment of a fee. Horses may not be ridden or walked on a towpath unless it has been formally designated as a
bridleway
A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...
. Access by motorbikes and other motorised vehicles is not permitted.
Structure
The trust is headed by a board of 10 appointed and unelected trustees with a chairman, which is legally responsible for overseeing the work towards the Trust's charitable objectives and sets strategy for the trust. The trust has a 28-member council which referees the business of the trust and whose construction reflects the range of waterway users, from boating and angling through to walking and conservation. Finally, an executive team and six regional directors are collectively concerned with the ordinary running of the trust.
Council
The Canal & River Trust has a governing council of 28 members. Members of the first council included a mix of nominated and elected individuals. Council advises on shaping policy, raising and debating issues, providing guidance, perspective and a sounding board for the trustees.
Partnerships
For each of the trust's waterway areas there is a regional partnership drawn from local communities. In addition an all-Wales partnership considers issues relating to Welsh waterways and a separate partnership exists for the trust's museums and attractions.
Trustees
The trustees are legally responsible for ensuring that the trust meets its charitable objectives. Trustees are the unpaid board directors of the trust, taking collective decisions on policy and overarching strategy and providing oversight of the executive directors.
Management
Executive directors manage the everyday operation of the trust and develop policy and strategy for approval by the trustees.
Committees
The trust is supported through a number of advisory committees covering a range of different areas from freight and navigation to volunteering and heritage. These groups provide advice direct to the management of the trust.
The trust's head office is in
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
. It operates 11 local offices that deal with the general maintenance of the waterways in their area. These offices are based on the Waterways Partnership regions which are:
*East Midlands region, based at
Newark
Newark most commonly refers to:
* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
Newark may also refer to:
Places Canada
* Niagara-on-the ...
, Nottinghamshire
*Kennet & Avon region, based in
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...
, Wiltshire
*London
*Manchester and Pennine region, based in
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
;
Stalybridge
Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census.
Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and no ...
, Greater Manchester and
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
, West Yorkshire
*North East region, based in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
*North Wales and Borders region, based at
Northwich
{{Infobox UK place
, static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg
, static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church
, official_name = Northwich
, country ...
, Cheshire
*North West region, based at
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
, Greater Manchester and at
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, West Yorkshire
*South East region, based at Milton Keynes and at
Braunston
Braunston is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, next to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,759. Braunston is situated just off the A45 main road and lies between the to ...
, Northamptonshire
*South Wales and Severn region, based in
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
*West Midlands region, based at
Fazeley
Fazeley is an industrial town and civil parish in the Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Fazeley is located on the outskirts of Tamworth and the civil parish of Fazeley also in ...
and in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
Finance
The Trust receives a fixed grant from the
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Ki ...
over the 15 years commencing 2012. Its major other sources of income are from utilities (including fibre optic data connections and water sales) and property rentals from a £500 million property endowment granted by the government. It also receives an income from issuing licences for boats using and mooring on the waterways; this is one of the largest income streams that Canal and River Trust Limited has, after the government grant and has been given a funding pledge by the
People's Postcode Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...
of over £1 million.
Supporters and corporate partners
The Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers o ...
is the patron of the Canal & River Trust and the actor
Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer.
Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of ''I, Claudius'', King Richard IV i ...
supports the trust's volunteer appeal.
In June 2012 the trust announced three major corporate partners to support the Canal & River Trust:
*
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
partnered with the Canal & River Trust to include the UK's
towpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mode of transport ...
s on
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
. This includes highlighting access points, bridges, locks and tunnels. Once the project is complete, members of the public will have the ability to plan journeys that include canal and river towpaths as well as roads.
*The
People's Postcode Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...
pledged to support the Canal & River Trust with £1m of funding. The charity lottery promised to support the restoration and conservation work of the Canal & River Trust over the next decade through the Postcode Green Trust.
*
The Co-operative Bank
The Co-operative Bank plc is a retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom, with its headquarters in Balloon Street, Manchester.
The Co-operative Bank is the only UK high street bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy which is incorporat ...
and the Canal & River Trust work together to provide financial products that allow people to support the work of the Trust.
Waterways operated
The Canal & River Trust is the owner or
navigation authority A navigation authority is a company or statutory body which is concerned with the management of a navigable canal or river.
Rights of a navigation authority
Whilst the rights of individual authorities vary, a navigation authority will typically ha ...
for over 2,000 miles of waterways.
These are:
*
Aire and Calder Navigation
The Aire and Calder Navigation is the canalised section of the Rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the ...
**Wakefield Branch
*
Ashby Canal
The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a long canal in England which connected the mining district around Moira, just outside the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth in Warwickshire. It was opened in 1804, ...
*
Ashton Canal
The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne.
Route
The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18 locks, passing thro ...
*
Birmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country. The BCN is connected to the rest of the English canal system at several junctions. It was owned and oper ...
**Old and New Main Lines
**
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxford ...
**
Dudley Canal
The Dudley Canal is a canal passing through Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat ...
s No. 1 and 2
**
Rushall Canal
**
Tame Valley Canal
The Tame Valley Canal is a relatively late (1844) canal in the West Midlands of England. It forms part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. It takes its name from the roughly-parallel River Tame.
Geography
The canal runs from Tame Valley Junc ...
**
Titford Canal
The Titford Canal () is a narrow (7 foot) canal, a short branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) in Oldbury, West Midlands, Oldbury, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England.
Authorised under the ''Birmingham Canal Act 1768 ...
**
Walsall Canal
The Walsall Canal is a narrow () canal, long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands, England.
Route
The canal runs from Ryders Green Junction where it meets the Wednes ...
**
Wednesbury Oak Loop
**
Wednesbury Old Canal
**
Wyrley and Essington Canal
The Wyrley and Essington Canal, known locally as "the Curly Wyrley", is a canal in the English Midlands. As built it ran from Wolverhampton to Huddlesford Junction near Lichfield, with a number of branches: some parts are currently derelict. ...
***Anglesey Branch
***
Cannock Extension Canal
***Daw End Branch
*
Bow Back Rivers
Bow Back Rivers or Stratford Back Rivers is a complex of waterways between Bow and Stratford in east London, England, which connect the River Lea to the River Thames. Starting in the twelfth century, works were carried out to drain Stratford M ...
*
Bridgwater and Taunton Canal
*
Calder and Hebble Navigation
The Calder and Hebble Navigation is a broad inland waterway, with locks and bridgeholes that are suitable for boats, in West Yorkshire, England. Construction to improve the River Calder and the River Hebble began in 1759, and the initial sch ...
*
Caldon Canal
Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the Froghall Tunnel.
History
The first plans by the proprietors of the ...
*
Chesterfield Canal
The Chesterfield Canal is a narrow canal in the East Midlands of England and it is known locally as 'Cuckoo Dyke'. It was one of the last of the canals designed by James Brindley, who died while it was being constructed. It was opened in 1777 a ...
*
Coventry Canal
The Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England.
It starts in Coventry and ends to the north at Fradley Junction, just north of Lichfield, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal. It also has connections with the ...
*
Droitwich Canal
The Droitwich Canal is a synthesis of two canals in Worcestershire, England; the Droitwich Barge Canal and the Droitwich Junction Canal. The Barge Canal is a broad canal which opened in 1771 linking Droitwich Spa to the River Severn at Hawford ...
*
Erewash Canal
The Erewash Canal is a broad canal in Derbyshire, England. It runs just under and has 14 canal lock, locks. The first lock at Langley Mill, Langley Bridge is part of the Cromford Canal.
Origins
The canal obtained its act of parliament in ...
*
Fossdyke
*
Gloucester and Sharpness Canal
The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (also known as the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal) is a ship canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness; for much of its length it runs close to the tidal River Severn, but cuts off a sign ...
*
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
**
Aylesbury Arm
**
Old Grand Union/Leicester Line
**
Market Harborough Arm
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
**
Northampton Arm
**
Paddington Arm
The Paddington Canal or Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal is a canal to Paddington in central London, England. It runs from the west of the capital at Bull's Bridge in Hayes. Little Venice — its only junction — is with the Rege ...
**
Slough Arm
The Slough Arm is a short canal branch from the Grand Union Canal, Grand Union Main Line to Slough in Berkshire (before 1974 in Buckinghamshire), England. It was originally opened to serve the brick-making industry. The last commercial traffic ...
**Welford Arm
**
Wendover Arm
*
Grantham Canal
The Grantham Canal ran 33 miles (53 km) from Grantham through 18 locks to West Bridgford, where it joined the River Trent. It was built primarily for the transportation of coal to Grantham. It opened in 1797 and its profitability steadily ...
*
Hertford Union Canal
The Hertford Union Canal or Duckett's Cut, just over long, connects the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It was opened in 1830 but quickly proved to be a commercial failure. It was a ...
*
Huddersfield Broad Canal
The Huddersfield Broad Canal or Sir John Ramsden's Canal, is a wide-locked navigable canal in West Yorkshire in northern England. The waterway is 3.75 miles (6 km) long and has 9 wide locks. It follows the valley of the River Colne and c ...
*
Huddersfield Narrow Canal
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an inland waterway in northern England. It runs just under from Lock 1E at the rear of the University of Huddersfield campus, near Aspley Basin in Huddersfield, to the junction with the Ashton Canal at Whi ...
*
Kennet and Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the cent ...
*
Lancaster Canal
The Lancaster Canal is a canal in North West England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria ( historically in Westmorland). The section around the crossing of the River Ribble was never complete ...
including the Glasson Branch
*
Lee Navigation
The Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating the River Lea (also called the River Lee along the sections that are navigable). It flows from Hertford Castle Weir to the River Thames at Bow Creek; its first lock is Hertford Lock and its ...
*
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool.
Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
**Leigh Branch
**
Liverpool Canal Link
The Liverpool Canal Link is an English waterway link that connects the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, at the Liverpool Pier Head, to the city's South Docks. It cost £22m and was opened in March 2009. The new link adds of navigable waterway to ...
**Rufford Branch
*
Limehouse Cut
The Limehouse Cut is a largely straight, broad canal in the East End of London which links the lower reaches of the Lee Navigation to the River Thames. Opening on 17 September 1770, and widened for two-way traffic by 1777, it is the oldest cana ...
*
Llangollen Canal
The Llangollen Canal ( cy, Camlas Llangollen) is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshir ...
*
London Docklands
London Docklands is the riverfront and former docks in London. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of London Borough of Southwark, Southwark, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets, London Borough of ...
including
West India Docks
The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides and warehouses built to import goods from and export goods and occasionally passengers to the British West Indies on the Isle of Dogs in London the first of which opened in 1802. Follow ...
.
*
Macclesfield Canal
The Macclesfield Canal is a canal in east Cheshire, England. There were various proposals for a canal to connect the town of Macclesfield to the national network from 1765 onwards, but it was not until 1824 that a scheme came to fruition. There ...
*
Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal
The Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal is a disused canal in Greater Manchester, England, built to link Bolton and Bury with Manchester. The canal, when fully opened, was long. It was accessed via a junction with the River Irwell in Salford. ...
*
Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal
The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal ( cy, Camlas Sir Fynwy a Brycheiniog) is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National parks of England and Wales, Na ...
*
Montgomery Canal
The Montgomery Canal ( cy, Camlas Trefaldwyn), known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llanym ...
*
Nottingham Canal
The Nottingham Canal is a canal in the English counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. As built, it comprised a long main line between the River Trent just downstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham and Langley Mill in Derbyshire. At the sam ...
*
Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to the River Thame ...
*
Peak Forest Canal
The Peak Forest Canal is a narrow ( gauge) locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network.
Route and features
General description
The canal consists of two level ...
*
Pocklington Canal
The Pocklington Canal is a broad canal which runs for through nine locks from the Canal Head near Pocklington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, to the River Derwent which it joins near East Cottingwith. Most of it lies within a des ...
*
Regent's Canal
Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in eas ...
*
Ribble Link
The Millennium Ribble Link is a linear park, linear water park and new navigation which links the once-isolated Lancaster Canal in Lancashire, England to the River Ribble. The Lancaster Canal was never connected to the rest of the English waterw ...
*
Ripon Canal
The Ripon Canal is located in North Yorkshire, England. It was built by the canal engineer William Jessop to link the city of Ripon with the navigable section of the River Ure at Oxclose Lock, from where boats could reach York and Hull. It open ...
*
River Aire
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is direct, but the river's meanderings extend that to . Between Malham Tarn and Ai ...
*
River Ouse
*
River Severn Navigation
*
River Soar
*
River Stort
The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon.
The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's Sto ...
*
River Trent
The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...
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River Witham
The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversid ...
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Rochdale Canal
The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes.
The Rochdale is a broad canal beca ...
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Sankey Canal
The Sankey Canal in North West England, initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St Helens Canal, is a former industrial canal, which when opened in 1757 was England's first of the Industrial revolution, and the first modern ...
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Selby Canal
The Selby Canal is a canal with 2 locks which bypasses the lower reaches of the River Aire in Yorkshire, England, from the village of West Haddlesey to the town of Selby where it joins the River Ouse. It opened in 1778, and provided the main o ...
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Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation
The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways (canals and canalised rivers) in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England.
Chiefly based on the River Don, it runs for a length of and has 27 locks ...
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New Junction Canal
The New Junction Canal is a canal in South Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SYN), although it was jointly funded by the Aire and Calder Navigation, and was opened in 1905. It links the River Don ...
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Sheffield Canal
The Sheffield & Tinsley Canal is a canal in the City of Sheffield, England. It runs from Tinsley, where it leaves the River Don, to the Sheffield Canal Basin (now Victoria Quays) in the city centre, passing through 11 locks. The maximum craft ...
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Shropshire Union Canal
The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales.
The canal lies in ...
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Middlewich Branch
The Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal is located in Cheshire, in the north west of England, and runs between Middlewich, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal, and Barbridge Junction, where it joins the main line of the Shrops ...
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Shrewsbury Canal
The Shrewsbury Canal (or Shrewsbury and Newport Canal) was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 183 ...
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Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...
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Stainforth and Keadby Canal
The Stainforth and Keadby Canal is a navigable canal in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. It connects the River Don Navigation at Bramwith to the River Trent at Keadby, by way of Stainforth, Thorne and Ealand, near Crowle. It ope ...
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Stourbridge Canal
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Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England. The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the ...
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Swansea Canal
The Swansea Canal (Welsh: ''Camlas Abertawe'') was a canal constructed by the Swansea Canal Navigation Company between 1794 and 1798, running for from Swansea to Hen Neuadd, Abercraf in South Wales. It was steeply graded, and 36 locks were nee ...
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Tees Navigation
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Trent and Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middle ...
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Ure Navigation
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Weaver Navigation
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...
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Worcester and Birmingham Canal
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn (just after the river lock) and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long.
There ar ...
Museums
![Anderton boat lift August 2015 06](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Anderton_boat_lift_August_2015_06.JPG)
The Canal & River Trust operates several museums and visitor attractions that relate to canals and waterways.
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National Waterways Museum
The National Waterways Museum (NWM) is in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England, at the northern end of the Shropshire Union Canal where it meets the Manchester Ship Canal (). The museum's collections and archives focus on the Britain's navigable inl ...
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Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...
, Cheshire
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The Canal Museum
The Canal Museum, formerly known as the "National Waterways Museum Stoke Bruerne" and "The Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne", is a canal museum located next to the Grand Union Canal just south of the Blisworth Tunnel, near the village of Stoke Bru ...
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Stoke Bruerne
Stoke Bruerne is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England about north of Milton Keynes and south of Northampton.
The civil parish population at the 2011 Census was 373.
History
Stoke Brue ...
, Northamptonshire
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Gloucester Waterways Museum
Gloucester Waterways Museum is housed in a Victorian warehouse at Gloucester Docks in the city of Gloucester, England. It is located along the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal and River Severn.
It is one of several museums and attractions operat ...
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Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
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Anderton Boat Lift
The Anderton Boat Lift is a two caisson lift lock near the village of Anderton, Cheshire, in North West England. It provides a vertical link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The structure is de ...
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Anderton, Cheshire
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Standedge Tunnel & Visitor Centre,
Marsden, West Yorkshire
Controversies
In December 2016, ''
Private Eye
''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...
'' magazine reported that the Canal & River Trust had seized a historic retired
lightship which had been moored for ten years at the docks near the maritime museum in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, following a dispute over unpaid berthing fees. The ship, named ''Planet'', had served as the country's last manned lightship until 1989, when it went to a museum and later to Liverpool's docks, where it was restored and used as a cafe and volunteer-operated maritime radio museum. The ship's owner reportedly owed overdue berthing fees, which were subsequently paid but not before the trust had towed and impounded the boat in
Sharpness
Sharpness ( ) is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West. It is on the River Severn at , at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream ( typical sp ...
, Gloucestershire, thereby incurring further hefty fees. The Merseyside Civic Society launched a petition to bring the vessel back to Liverpool but the trust later sold it for £12,500, less than its estimated scrap valuation of £70,000. The trust faced possible legal action over the seizure and sale of the ship.
In November 2019, the Trust was criticised for not acting on calls to open a sluice gate in
Worksop
Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from the nor ...
during extensive flooding in the area. The gate was eventually opened by the fire service, several hours after the first request to the Trust. The gate is within a building (not owned by the Trust) which the Trust considered to be unsafe.
In January 2020, the Trust was criticised for not allowing a 200-year-old barge business to transport bulk-goods from Hull to
Knostrop wharf, Leeds, despite the agreement of Leeds City Council and the fact that each shipment would remove 17
HGV journeys from the road network. By March 2020 the Trust had relented which should now allow the transport of bulk-goods from Hull to offload in Leeds.
See also
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Canals of the United Kingdom
The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's ro ...
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Scottish Canals
Scottish Canals is the Scottish Government body responsible for managing the country's inland waterways. Formerly a division of British Waterways, it became a stand-alone executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government on 2 J ...
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Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Canal and River Trust
Waterways organisations in the United Kingdom
Charities based in Buckinghamshire
Private companies limited by guarantee of the United Kingdom
Inland waterway authorities
Transport charities based in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in Milton Keynes