Michael and his wife had joined a ‘Regent’s Canal Walk’ in 1975. The guide was expert on London but knew little about the canal. When at Hampstead Road Top Lock, Michael commented that from the lock there was 27 miles of level canal without any locks. The guide looked surprised and said “Does it go on that far? I thought it was built by Nash as a decorative feature for his Regent’s Park”. Michael wrote to the company offering some notes on the story of the canal and its relationship to the national network, but he was told that the walk was not proving popular and the company was giving it up. He then suggested to IWA that it should pick up the walks. IWA management at the time deliberated on the idea and eventually agreed – and told Michael that he was designated to run the walks. He invited volunteers at an IWA meeting in 1976 and Brian Hague and Len House joined him.

Brian and Michael decided that the walks should start and end at a tube station and last about 2 hours. They explored possible routes from and to suitable stations and researched the walks and the history of the canalside buildings and other features. The aim was to introduce people to the waterways at no expense to IWA, so walkers were asked to make a 30p donation to IWA to cover cost of the printing and distribution of leaflets. The guides would not receive any fee or expenses. Every walker should receive a leaflet with story of canal and an IWA membership application and discussions would be held with London Tourist Board to ensure that there would be no conflict with official guided walks in London.

The walks were launched with two on Sunday afternoons and two Tuesday evenings. Fliers and posters were printed by WRG and distributed to all public Libraries in London, press and radio stations, waterways magazines, etc. Walkers met at the quiet tube station at Camden Town and went to Paddington or Islington. A newspaper vendor there would often remark when it was pelting with rain “Nobody will turn up today” and he even rashly suggested that if no-one came he would go on the walk himself; he boasted that he had never had to do so! The walks continued to start only at Camden until 1993 when walks to Mile End, Limehouse, the Bow Back Rivers, the New River and Paddington Basin were added.

The walks turned out to be far bigger than expected, so on Summer Sunday afternoons two guides attended; in September 1977, 118 people turned up! Over the years takings have far exceeded the cost of printing and publicity and Michael was awarded the John Heap Salver in 1988 and again in 1999 by IWA and was appointed vice-President of IWA’s London Region.

On one of Michael’s walks in 1992 only four people attended.  One of them subsequently revealed himself as David Tucker, who ran London Walks, who was checking on the quality of IWA’s guides and he generously invited a partnership. This was discussed and happily agreed; this saved IWA the cost and effort of printing and distributing posters and gave much wider publicity at no extra cost.

By 2006, Roger Wilkinson, then chair of IWA North & East London Branch, reported that over 11,000 walkers had been introduced to the canals on 656 walks. Although initially the walks were intended to cover their costs at no expense to the IWA, in fact within the first 30 years they had raised over £22,000 for IWA and there were six guides leading walks on a rota.

Since 2006, IWA Towpath Walks has launched a succession of new walk routes, which now include many places on canals and rivers in the London area – such as the Grosvenor Canal. There are now 28 different routes on offer. As one of the objectives of starting these walks was to popularise the towpath as a place to walk, it is gratifying that 15 million people now visit London’s canals every year.

The Pandemic had a drastic effect on everyone. Nevertheless, while carefully complying with the rules, it was possible to guide walks in parts of both 2020 and 2021.

The money raised on these IWA Towpath Walks is all distributed to IWA branches in the London Region. They have chosen to donate some of it to waterway-related projects in the London area, such as Pirate Castle and Carpenters Road Lock restoration. They have also distributed some to waterway projects across the country, such as those of the Wey and Arun Canal Trust.

Other IWA branches have taken up the idea too, and there are regular walks offered by IWA Chester & Merseyside Branch, IWA Lichfield Branch and IWA Lancs & Cumbria Branch. Details of future planned walks are available in the Events section.

The photo above, from the gathering to mark the 50th season of IWA Towpath Walks shows:

Back row (left to right): Paul Strudwick (IWA London Region Chair); Chris Foster (guide); David Tucker (London Walks); Charlie Forman (guide: one of the three officers of IWA Towpath Walks).

Front row(left to right): Roger Wilkinson(guide: Chair of IWA Towpath Walks); Mike Gee (Treasurer of IWA Towpath Walks); Mary Tucker (London Walks); Lesley Thompson (guide); Alan Byrne (guide).

[The top photo shows at atmospheric shot of the Regent’s Canal near King’s Cross – a frequent venue for the towpath walks – by Nigel Essery]

The post IWA Towpath Walks Celebrates 50th season appeared first on The Inland Waterways Association.

FOR YOUR CALLENDAR & DIARY: – The Christmas walk will be on 13th December, and the walks for next year will be on, 17th January; 14th February; 14th March; 11th April; and the last walk of the season will be on 9th May.

NEW ROUTE SURVEYS: – Derek Smith, who organises these walks for the branch, frequently goes out to survey and record routes for new walks in Cheshire.   They normally take place mornings midweek, and he does love to have a bit of company.   So, if anyone is interested in joining him please text to get in touch.  Derek Smith – 07500 300 347

The post Trent & Mersey Canal, Dane Valley Way, and Rudheath Walk. appeared first on The Inland Waterways Association.

The main items for discussion were:

1. Condition of the waterways
2. Environment Agency National Navigation Strategy consultation response
3. Canal & River Trust closure of boater facilities
4. IWA Silver Propeller Challenge.

1. Condition of the Waterways

IWA’s Risk Index tracks the stoppages across the network that have no end date. Currently there are 21 of these indefinite stoppages, fragmenting the network and causing lost opportunities for boaters and businesses. The example of the Rochdale Canal was cited, closed in Manchester since March and now showing obvious signs of neglect.

There are still plenty of closures and restrictions because of low water levels, including for instance Bosley Locks on the Macclesfield Canal and Marple Locks on the Peak Forest Canal. The continuing drought has meant that reservoir levels have not recovered as hoped, and the outlook is not promising. Long-term forecasts suggest similar patterns in 2027 – after the ‘unprecedented’ El Niño likely in autumn, when the Met Office has said to expect anything.

Alongside the weather are the effects of maintenance backlogs and infrastructure failures. Repairs of the major breaches on the Bridgewater and Llangollen canals have been extended. Fallen trees and weed growth have increased. Locks and other assets continue to cause issues. Weed growth has been extensive and there are concerns about possible embankment failures. At the same time CRT is engaged in major change programmes of strategy development, governance review, organisational restructuring and the Transforming Boating programme. The Chief Executive Campbell Robb acknowledges the stress on the organisation but maintains that the scale of the challenge dictates fast movement.

CRT has published a 5-year plan for works scheduled for the next 5 years, which is helpful in principle but needs to allow flexibility to repair in-season failures such as the recent gate failure on the Walsall Canal which Navigation Committee has tracked. Another apparent issue has been differences in approach and urgency between CRT regions. For instance the Bosley and Marple lock flight closures over summer lasted 3 to 4 weeks for repairs which often take a few days further south. These issues are all being followed up with CRT.

CRT’s annual report for 2025/26 was published recently, including a ‘new’ KPI of the number of unplanned stoppages. In fact, CRT has published various measures over the years and the point has been made that the number of unplanned closures is only part of the picture and the duration is also important. The following charts have been compiled for the 2000 miles of the CRT network from data provided to Fund Britain’s Waterways or published by CRT. Clear upward trends are apparent in almost all measures, although it should be borne in mind that the interpretation of the figures is not always unambiguous and CRT has not responded to requests to verify them.

A substantial problem arising from low water levels coupled with a commercial contract for water transfer has arisen at Gloucester Docks. CRT inherited a contract from British Waterways to supply about half of Bristol Water’s drinking water by pumping water from the River Severn through Gloucester Docks and along the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. With very low and slow flow in the Severn, the result has been a great deal of silt being pumped into the Docks. There has been significant BBC and press coverage of the resulting siltation and its impact on boaters, businesses and the city. The absence of boats in the Docks is affecting tourism and demonstrating the economic benefits of active waterways.

IWA has been urging CRT to clear the immediate problem but also to work with relevant parties to develop a sustainable longer-term solution. CRT has escalated the issue to executive level, in view of the substantial impact, the negative public relations and the possible ramifications for planned water transfer schemes elsewhere. It has announced a doubling of the dredging budget for this year to £4m and work has now started – but there will inevitably be a reduction in the amount available for dredging elsewhere across the network.

• Environment Agency National Navigation Strategy consultation response

The Environment Agency published its draft 5-year National Navigation Strategy and announced a consultation running until 21^st October (here). Navigation Committee will be submitting a response on behalf of IWA. While it is a welcome development for EA to publish such a document, and positive that the wider non-boating value of waterways is considered and that navigation assets are linked to management of flood risk and water resources, the Committee discussed areas for improvement. Perhaps the most notable is the absence of any discussion of either the available resources or those required to fulfil statutory obligations or to make improvements.

• Canal & River Trust closure of boater facilities

Following a consultation with boaters in 2022 on the minimum standard for Customer Service Facilities (CSFs), CRT announced that showers, toilets and laundry facilities were deemed non-essential and would be closed across the network from November 2025 and invited expressions of interest from other organisations in running them. Navigation Committee was concerned at the time that the closures appeared rushed, and it was unclear that the published process had been followed, and continues to pursue a set of questions with CRT. Dissatisfaction and discussion have been widespread on social media, particularly about the impact in areas where many boaters have small cruisers in which it is impossible to install usable facilities.

There has been interest in several areas in either IWA Branches or local boat clubs taking over facilities. Navigation Committee welcomed the idea in principle and as a first step will establish the requirements from CRT.

• IWA Silver Propeller Challenge

The Silver Propeller Challenge was launched in January 2018 as a way to encourage boating on underused waterways. The first people to complete the challenge did so in November 2019 and there have been a good number more since then. The idea has become well established and is often seen on social media or heard in conversation around the waterways, but there is potential to do more. Navigation Committee agreed to review ways in which the award could further encourage cruising of lesser-used waters.

OTHER POINTS

• IWA Policy on the Renting of Boats

Navigation Committee had previously agreed to replace the current policy on unauthorised renting of boats with a more positive one setting out what is needed for boats to be legitimately rented. At the meeting a draft policy was approved for recommendation to Trustees.

• Grand Union Canal Water Transfer

Meetings of both the Canal User Working Group and the Canal Business Working Group took place in September. The latter is a new group which has been set up to address topics such as business loss and compensation, maintaining navigation, mitigating disruption and communications during construction. The initial meeting was only sparsely attended but several channels for reaching potential members were identified including IWA. An additional consultation is to be held later this year, although it will not be a full consultation like the last one but a combination of digital materials, engagement with landowners, updates to working groups and offers to meet all parish councils along the route.

• Broads Society

A Broads Society representative attended IWA’s AGM and expressed the Society’s keenness to work closely with IWA. Navigation Committee welcomed the approach and discussions will be progressed.

• Tooley’s Boatyard

Tooley’s Historic Boatyard in Banbury has been badly affected by closures of the Oxford Canal (here). Navigation Committee raised this with CRT as a particularly damaging effect of the low water levels over summer. CRT Business Boating is apparently in discussion with Tooley’s about the way forward.

• CRT Transforming Boating programme

Navigation Committee representatives have attended each of the series of three stakeholder engagement meetings, providing input to the programme manager about the design of the next phase of the consultation. The series of meetings has been repeated for different groups: the National Boating Organisations, the Council Boater Representatives, and the Navigation Advisory Group. A Citizens’ Boater Panel of about 40 volunteers was selected from almost 1200 applicants and is now working though the same material.

• CRT Council

The CRT Council AGM was held at Birmingham City University on 16^th September and included an Innovation Showcase and launch of the Innovation Exchange with Innovate UK. Sue O’Hare attended as IWA nominee, as with two Council Boater Representatives meetings. The first was an extraordinary meeting with Campbell Robb (CEO) and Henriette Breukelaar (Interim Chief Customer and Place Officer) on the drought. The second meeting worked through outstanding issues with the very welcome intention to clarify which should be handled by this group, which by the Transforming Boating programme, which by the CRT advisory groups, which by the National Boating Organisations meetings, and which by the 1:1 meetings with individual boating organisations – and as an outcome, to reduce duplication of effort by both CRT and boating organisations.

• Bridgewater Canal breach

Navigation Committee contacted the Bridgewater Canal Company on 18^th August asking for an update on progress with reinstating the Bridgewater Canal, in view of the fact that the most recent update on the website was from December 2025. A new update was posted on the website on 21^st August. A further enquiry about plans for future maintenance and restoration of Barton Swing Aqueduct has not yet yielded a response.

Forthcoming meetings

• CRT Annual Public Meeting – 20^th October
• Grand Union Canal Transfer Canal Section Legacy Working Group Workshop – 20^th October (Helen Westlake to represent IWA)
• Navigation Committee online meeting – 25^th November
• CRT Council Boater Representatives meeting – 8^th December (Sue O’Hare to attend)
• Rescheduled Fund Britain’s Waterways Q&A session with the Environment Agency – 14^th December (St Pancras Cruising Club)

Sue O’Hare
Chair of Navigation Committee
16th October 2026

[The photo shows Autumn colours near Burntmill on the River Stort – by Paul McLeod]

The report from the May 2025 Navigation Committee meeting is available here.

The report from the March 2026 Navigation Committee meeting is available here.

The report from the January 2026 Navigation Committee meeting is available here.

Reports from pre-2026 Navigation Committee meetings are available here.

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Reports from local people suggest that the situation is the worst they have seen. We have also heard from former British Waterways engineers who were dealing with the same underlying problem as far back as the 1990s. 

While Canal & River Trust (CRT), once again, must divert precious funds to dredge the Docks this winter, a long-term solution is needed to avoid this continual annual cycle of siltation and dredging.  

IWA is pressing CRT to set out what it is doing to resolve matters on a more permanent basis, instead of having to commit a significant proportion of its national dredging resources to Gloucester Docks.  This inevitably places additional pressure on dredging or repair works elsewhere across the network. 

IWA also believes that Bristol Water has an important role to play, given that its water abstraction requirements are the cause of the silt being imported into the Dock. 

Commenting, Sue O’Hare, Chair of IWA’s Navigation Committee, said: 

“IWA’s Navigation Committee has become increasingly concerned about the situation at Gloucester Docks. Two very dry summers have resulted in very large quantities of silt again being pumped into the Docks in order to maintain the drinking water supply to Bristol. Businesses, individuals, and the City of Gloucester have all been significantly affected by the ‘bottom being far too near the top’.” 

We are liaising with CRT to understand the full situation, their contractual constraints, and longer-term approach, setting out our concerns from the perspective of boaters, local businesses and the wider community that relies on Gloucester Docks. 

IWA will continue to press for action towards a long-term solution, rather than the present annual cycle of wasted resources.

The post IWA calls for long-term action as silt envelopes Gloucester Docks again appeared first on The Inland Waterways Association.

Tooley’s has a special place in IWA’s history. It was from Banbury Tom Rolt set out aboard Cressy in 1939, beginning the journey described in his book Narrow Boat. The book inspired the campaign to save Britain’s canals and led to the formation of IWA. 

Today, Tooley’s remains a working boatyard rather than simply a historic site. It is a Scheduled Monument employing eight people, including apprentices learning traditional skills. 

The prolonged closure of the Oxford Canal is putting that living heritage at risk. The canal was closed for around six months in 2025 because of drought, followed by a further two months of disruption caused by flooding. The latest drought-related closure began in August 2026, with no indication yet of when navigation will resume. 

Unlike many boatyards, Tooley’s has no permanent moorings. Its business relies on boats being able to reach the yard for docking, hull blacking and repairs. With navigation restricted, the yard has been forced to rely on work that can be carried out on boats accessible from the towpath, which is not enough to sustain its normal level of activity. 

The consequences extend beyond the immediate financial impact. Research into the yard’s history has documented a continuous sequence of operators stretching back to at least 1795, with apprenticeship at the dockyard traced to 1809. Traditional wooden boatbuilding and repair, canal art and boat painting continue to be practised at Tooley’s, with both crafts included on the Heritage Crafts Red List of Endangered Crafts. 

Matthew Armitage said: 

“I have operated Tooley’s for 24 years. There have always been stoppages and difficult periods, but I have never had to think so seriously about whether boats will be able to reach us often enough to keep the yard working. We are still taking jobs where we can, travelling to boats along the towpath and at other yards and marinas. It takes longer, and work that would be straightforward in our dock often requires another visit for a part or a tool. We have customers waiting. What we need is for their boats to be able to get here.” 

The situation highlights the wider impact that prolonged waterway closures can have on businesses, employment, skills and living heritage. 

The empty dry dock does, however, offer an opportunity. Tooley’s are hoping to restore Hardy, the last boat built by Nurser Brothers of Braunston. Tooley’s saved it from destruction in 2018, but it now needs urgent work. More information here.

IWA is supporting Tooley’s in highlighting the importance of keeping the canal network navigable and protecting the working businesses and skills that depend upon it. 

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