The Annual Waterways Restoration Conference at the National Waterways Museum was jointly organised by IWA and Canal & River Trust on 26th April 2025.
We had a packed audience for this event, which was held at the historic venue at Ellesmere Port. Special thanks go to the excellent speakers and compere who made the Conference inspiring and delightful, to IWA Chester and Merseyside Branch, and all the volunteers who helped hugely throughout the day, and to the Museum and Archives teams.
The event was really made by the attendees, locally and from far and wide, who networked and offered so much in terms of questions and comments. Mike Wills, IWA Chair committed the organisation to increasing the Association’s capacity to support efforts in support of restoration projects. The challenges remain huge, however, and restoration groups are going to have to depend on each other more.
The Conference slides can be downloaded from the links below.
After the event there was a fascinating walk around Chester’s historic waterways, organised by John Herson of IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch and Chester Civic Trust – see the video here.
We would like to thank the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society for displaying the remarkable hand-built model of The Danny the restoration story of which is available on the Society’s website.
Changing Conversations around Heritage – Hugh Pearman
Grand Union Water Transfer Project – Introduction – John Pomfret
Grand Union Water Transfer Project – S J O’Kane and Peter Walker
Grand Union Water Transfer Project – Continuing the Conversation – John Pomfret
Canal & River Trust and Waterway Restoration – Sean McGinley
Restoration Moving Forward – Mike Palmer
There were also two presentations about working with young volunteers, which are available on application to Verena Leonardini
