On Saturday 21st March 2026 a flotilla of 25 narrowboats, including two historic working pairs, travelled along the Walsall Canal and assembled in Walsall Town Basin to be welcomed by the Mayor of Walsall. The flotilla had gathered at Moorcroft Junction on the Friday evening, with most of the boats descending Ryders Green Locks and the rest coming along the Tame Valley Canal. Together they made up the biggest group of boats in the basin for some time and attracted television and press coverage.

This was the annual Icicle Cruise organised by the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society to mark the return of spring, this year carried out as part of the Fund Britain’s Waterways campaign. The cruise also celebrated the reopening of the Walsall Canal after an industrial cyanide spill in August 2024 resulted in its closure for 10 months. The canal itself is a case study of the revival of urban waterways, regenerated after near-abandonment and now providing a focus in the town centre overlooked by the New Art Gallery, as well as a valued connection with surrounding countryside. Since it is one of the less well-known parts of the Birmingham Canal Navigations it was particularly good for the basin to be full of boats again, and the sight proved quite a talking point for local people.

The cyanide spill is just one specific example of the vulnerability of the entire inland waterway network. Communities and businesses across the country are at risk as navigation authorities face mounting financial pressures and increasing impacts of all types, from climate change to pollution incidents and other damage.

Photos:

1. (top) Flotilla gathered at Moorcroft Junction, Walsall Canal on the morning of Saturday 21st March, with BCNS and FBW banners (credit: Kev Maslin, Chasing the Boats)
2. (below) Flotilla assembling in Walsall Town Basin, seen from the New Art Gallery (credit: Mike Anson, BCNS)
3. (bottom) BCNS Chair Mike Anson and FBW Chair Hazel Owen at Walsall Town Basin with the Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Louise Harrison (credit: Kev Maslin, Chasing the Boats)

On Friday 21 November 2025, members of the Wilderness Boat Owners’ Club set off on board Navi from the Ship Inn at the junction of the Little and Ely Ouse rivers to attempt to reach Brandon Lock. The lock has now been closed for nearly two years, following its use for flood management in January 2024 which caused both the lock and the approach to silt up. Since it has been categorised by the Environment Agency as a ‘Navigation’ asset rather than a ‘Flood Management’ asset, the cost of rectifying the situation falls to the Navigation budget which has proved inadequate.

The closure was first highlighted by another Wilderness trail boat cruise in September 2024, also under the Fund Britain’s Waterways banner, when the twelve boats were unable to reach their intended destination of Brandon Town.  Since then sandbanks have developed further and three trees have fallen across the river.

The first two trees were passed successfully but the third tree is across the deeper channel [Photos 1 & 2], and is diverting the current to the south bank and creating a bank across the river. This proved to be the closest reachable point to Brandon Lock [Photo 3]. Navi was welcomed by local canoeists and paddleboarders, as well as IWA representatives and other Ouse club members. [Photos 4 & 5]

Last year three boats a week on average were visiting Brandon, but now the town is virtually cut off from the network. This is at a time when the Town Council is working hard to attract more users to their waterway and both the Council and local businesses are improving facilities for boaters, canoeists and paddleboarders. The Environment Agency’s public moorings are now inaccessible by boat, whilst the lock itself will soon enter its third year of waiting “for essential maintenance works”. [Photo 6]

[Left – photo 5 – Campaigners and FBW banner at Brandon Lock – by Mike Daines]

[Below – photo 2 – The third fallen tree – by Kevin Moore]

[photo left – 4 – Welcome from local river users – by Mike Daines]

[photo below – 6 – Brandon Lock closed notice, November 2025 – by Ivan Cane]

The photo above shows FBW supporters with Charlotte Cane MP [in orange, behind the word “Fund” on the banner”] at Baits Bite Lock.  The photo left shows an aerial view of Baits Bite Lock.  The photos below show a closure notice and FBW banner and event notice at Baits Bite Lock (by Sue O’Hare) and the FBW campaign flotilla heading for Baits Bite Lock.

The photo, left, shows the assembled flotilla outside the closed Baits Bite Lock.  The photo below shows the three boats from the Wilderness Boat Owners’ Club that participated in the cruise.

On Saturday 12th July 2025, a convoy of narrowboats cruised the Walsall Canal as part of an Explorer Cruise run by the Birmingham Canal Navigations Society, flying FBW flags. This was the first time that such a large group of boats has visited the canal since its reopening by the Canal & River Trust after a 10-month clean-up of a 12-mile stretch following a toxic chemical spill in August 2024.  The boaters aimed to highlight the many benefits the canal provides and to encourage and promote its use – not only for boating but also for walking, jogging, cycling, angling, canoeing and more.

Lichfield Cruising Club hosted an event over the weekend of 24th and 25th May.  The photo shows members of the Club along with crew of the flotilla boats outside the clubhouse. The event was attended by the Lichfield Mayor Claire Pinder-Smith, Ken Hudson President of Lichfield Cruising Club, Joan Surplice Commodore, Eric Wood President of Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust, Bob Williams Lichfield and Hatherton Canal Restoration Trust, Des Barnard (President) and Hazel Owen (chair) of the Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs.  [Photo by Hazel Owen]

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Left – Flag at Tooley’s Boat Yard, Banbury [by Ian Marr].  Below – Flag waving on a bridge at Oxford [by Shirley Sefton].

Left- Above Folly Bridge in Oxford [by Ian Marr].  Below – Flag at Goring [by Shirley Sefton] and support from Old Father Thames [by Ian Marr]

Left – Moored above Caversham Lock [by Andrew Phasey].  Below – Flags in Windsor [by Shirley Sefton].

Boats gathered at Limehouse Basin on 6th May, ready for the campaign cruise past the Houses of Parliament on 7th May.  [Photo by Ian Marr]

[Photos by Allyson Marr]

The photo left shows the Mayor of Camden Councillor Samata Khatoon and the Commodore of St Pancras Cruising Club Colin Parlett welcoming attendees.  Photos below show, left to right: Stephen Busby (FBW Project Manager), Hazel Owen (AWCC National Chair), Ros Daniels (CRT Director London and South East), Colin Parlett (Commodore SPCC) and Andrew Phasey (RYA representative on the FBW steering group), and boaters at the reception.

Left – the final boats in the flotilla reach Berkhamsted [photo by Jo Sharples].  Below – boating through Berkhamsted [photo by Ian Marr]

Left, near Yardley Gobion on 14th April [photo by Rachel Eglinton].  Below; boats moored at Taverners Boat Club, near Cosgrove, later the same day [photo by Allyson Marr].

Left – boats descending Stoke Bruerne top lock [photo by Jo Sharples].   Below – boat under bridge [photo by Allyson Marr]

Left – Fund Britain’s Waterways and Canal & River Trust banners at Birstall Lock by Allyson Marr.  Below – Boaters at Soar Boating Club on 7th April – by Claudia Jacklin.  Underneath, video by narrowboat Super ‘B’ of the flotilla leaving the Soar Boating Club and continuing onto the Grand Union Canal Leicester section on 7th April.

[Photo left by Brian Sharples, and below by Shirley Sefton]

Photo left: Early start at Keadby on 1st April – by Allyson Marr.

Below: Waiting in Keadby Lock – by Claudia Jacklin, and below that Boats moored outside Nottinghamshire County Hall on 4th April – by Anne Regan.

There is some FBW flotilla content on this YouTube ‘followtheboat’ video and on this Lincolnshire Explored and Exposed video

The first boats to set off, as part of the flotilla of boats to the Palace of Westminster and beyond was assembled at Strawberry Island Boat Club, with a grand depart at 2:30pm on 29th March.  Further boats will be joining in as the flotilla makes its way south to London.

[Photos by Stephen Busby and Duncan Wright]

IWA’s Lichfield Branch’s stand at Fradley Junction (left) proved to be in just the right place to lobby support from many passers by.  And not content with one stand, the branch had a second stand at Great Haywood (inset below).  The busy canal junctions were prime spots for attracting some attention.

IWA Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch’s stand at Norbury Canal Festival, on the Shropshire Union Canal, had a clear campaigning message.

IWA Lancashire & Cumbria Branch’s stand at Johnson’s Hillock Locks, near Chorley, on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, suffered from some poor weather, but the branch team were undaunted and the right message was conveyed to all passers by.

The Broads Society held a well-turned-out rally at Acle, demonstrating that the concerns are not just about funding for Canal & River Trust – indeed the Broads Authority gets no funding from Government for its navigation function, and rising costs have led to steep licence fee increases this year.

[Photos by Mike Morcher of The Broads Society]