Waterfront magazine

Issue 12, Autumn/Winter 2020

Waterfront The Canal & River Trust Magazine

Bringing hope by water

Acknowledging the past

How you’re supporting young people who live by our waterways

Mapping the historical links between our canals and transatlantic slavery

Living through lockdown Alamy

Our chief executive, Richard Parry, reflects on a year like no other

Welcome In a year of challenge, change and new chapters, welcome to your new Waterfront magazine. After many readers kindly shared their views on our magazine earlier this year, we’ve taken many of your ideas on board. Waterfront is now easier to read and more economical to ensure more funds are available for vital heritage, wildlife and wellbeing work. We’ll also share more on how we make life better by water.

This issue looks at all the difficulties faced, positive changes made, and opportunities opened up as we’ve rapidly adapted to life during the pandemic. You can hear from our chief executive, Richard Parry, as he reflects on a year by and on the water, quite unlike any before. He explains why time by our waterways has proved such a lifeline for so many of us in recent months. Looking ahead, we talk to some of the young people we work with, to understand how your support is providing hope and opportunity during these difficult times.

And we remember why slowing down and staying kind on our towpaths will help us all enjoy precious time by the water.

It’s been a time to reflect and reassess our present, past and future. So in this issue you can examine the role transatlantic slavery had in shaping the history of our canals. You can see how you can help futureproof over 2,000 miles of 200-year old waterways in the face of climate change. And how your support is connecting some of our most precious wildlife habitats and bringing nature to the heart of our cities.

Looking ahead, we’d like Waterfront to be not just for you, but by you. This is your place to celebrate life by the water, however you see it. So please share your photos, your art and your creations by emailing supportercare@canalrivertrust.org.uk. Share your stories, memories, and experiences. Celebrate your community, your local stretch, and your favourite places.

We are one community by the water. Rich, varied, diverse, and beautiful. You can make Waterfront its mirror.

All the materials used in products bearing this label are sourced from forests that have been audited by an independent third party to confirm that they are managed according to FSC’s rigorous social and environmental standards. Of all the FSC labels, FSC 100% contributes most directly to FSC’s objective – forests for all, forever – and is therefore the highest mark of distinction for certified products.

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In this issue: 4–5 On the towpath in Leicester Why you’ve made the Grand Union Canal a vital escape for local people.

6–7 Life by water through lockdown Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, reflects on a year like no other.

8–9 Stay kind, slow down How we can all give each other the space we need by water.

10–11 It’s time for everyone’s story to be told Mapping the historical links between our canals and transatlantic slavery.

12–13 Stepping stones for wildlife How you are tempting nature back into the city every 200 yards.

14–15 Fishy tales Hooking in a new generation of anglers, thanks to your support.

16–17 Bringing hope by water How you’re supporting young people who live by our waterways.

18–19 First time afloat The UK holidays that drove a summertime boating boom.

20–21 The bald and the beautiful Walk alongside Paul Steele – the ‘Bald Hiker’ – from Leeds towards Liverpool.

22 Reflecting on winter festivities A tale of canal-side celebration.

23 Stainton storms back Restoring Stainton Aqueduct for the climate of the future.

24 A legacy of labour Paying tribute to the toil of hard-working navvies.

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Talking on the towpath

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Zakariye

Peter

Azad & Laxmi

By Lime Kiln Lock we meet college student Zakariye. “It’s only my second day in college.

I’ve lived in Leicester for a year and a half after arriving from Somalia. But in lockdown I didn’t really leave the house, so I haven’t explored the area much. I’ve never been along the canal before. It’s quiet, nice, green. Much better than walking through town. Too many people there!”

This keen cyclist regularly uses the towpath for a greener, quieter ride through the heart of the city. “In lockdown,” he tells us, “you couldn’t ride beyond the city boundary. Normally I go all over. I love seeing the nature. I saw a swan with 11 cygnets earlier this year. Hope they all made it.

Anyway must go – got an egg and bacon sandwich waiting for me!”

This chatty couple proudly told us about their daily walks along the canal “We’ve lived here for 60 years,” says Azad, “but we’ve only just discovered it in the last four or five. It’s an absolutely gorgeous place. Many years ago it wasn’t very nice, but now it really is beautiful.” Laxmi says, “Now we walk here every day, lockdown or no lockdown. We just put our masks on, keep our distance and it’s fine.”

Sample Name

© Canal & River Trust

While the River Soar meanders slowly through the multicultural heart of Leicester, the Grand Union Canal cuts right through it, especially along the stunning Mile Straight. Come with us along the towpath as we stop to chat with the locals and find out how this wonderful stretch of water in the city has helped people through lockdown.

Izzy As co-director of street-art collective Graffwerk, Izzy gave us a tour of the five pieces they’ve recently created along the city waterways. “A big part of our ethos is making city landscapes into outdoor art galleries that are free for everyone,” she explains. “The Canal & River Trust worked with the local community to see what people wanted. On the canal side of Leicester Riders’ Basketball Arena, they wanted an artwork to show their support for the team. Being reflective of the community you serve is really important.”

Mr Darren J.M.A. Johnson-Jane On one of the last blazingly hot days of the year, an outfit of bowler hat and full frock coat seemed a little out of place! “This is how I like to dress every day,” Mr Johnson-Jane explains softly.

“Casual wear is the new formal wear – so what I’m wearing is very casual. I’m a walker, so the cool and peace of the canal is very appealing away from all the concrete and asphalt.”

Tamara

Klaus & Peter

Resplendent in yellow, we meet junior doctor Tamara as she heads into town for a well-earned night out. “It was very hard work at the local hospital earlier in the year, so it’s nice to see people out enjoying themselves in the sunshine again. The canal has definitely been busier with walkers. I just hope we can all keep going to the canal through winter.”

This father and son boating team, from Germany, were cruising the ‘Leicester Ring’ 25 years on from their last narrowboat holiday.

“It’s nice to come together. To reminisce. My father is 80 now, so shouldn’t really be doing the locks on his own, but it’s just the two of us since my mother died.

We thought maybe we shouldn’t come – but then decided to do so before you leave Europe altogether!”

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Life by water through lockdown Canal & River Trust chief executive Richard Parry remembers well the day in March when it became clear that the coronavirus was going to have a very significant impact on us all. The independent reports on the Toddbrook Reservoir incident had been published only hours before the Prime Minister announced some dramatic changes to aspects of life at a hastily-convened press conference. Within a few days, there was mounting pressure to close canals and towpaths. But Richard knew that our waterways could play a key role through the ups and downs of an unprecedented time.

staff whose roles were suspended on furlough leave, others with underlying health issues or caring responsibilities having to shield, and all volunteers having to stay away, we’ve been stretched at times. A lot of goodwill and hard work kept the network going.”

“I’m most proud – if that’s the right word – that the towpaths stayed open, when there was a lot of pressure to close them. We knew they would provide a vital local connection with nature for people in lockdown. With boats still on the water, many with people living aboard, our operational teams were working, with reduced numbers, to keep the water levels up, respond to any incidents and make basic running repairs to keep canals and towpaths safe. With some

But the benefits of keeping the network open were felt much more widely. “Undoubtedly canals and rivers have given millions of people the escape they needed, as they are one of the few local places or venues that people could use safely”. Towpath footfall was up significantly in residential areas and Richard notes that numbers were especially high in places where deprivation is greatest, underlining that canals have acted as a place of solace for everyone.

“We hope people will stay healthier, happier and keep up the habit of a short regular walk on the towpath and lend us their support as well.”

Careful consideration needed to be given to the varying impacts of the pandemic on different parts of the waterways’ community.

“When boats couldn’t move, the priority was to support the thousands who were living aboard, especially the vulnerable. But what about the many thousands more licence payers who couldn’t go near their boat? And from the outset, we were very concerned at the impact on all the various businesses who depend on the waterways. We did all that we could to help keep these businesses afloat. It was with some relief that, from early July when restrictions eased, boating has boomed this summer.”

Like many of us, Richard’s love affair with the canals began with childhood boating holidays.

After a successful career in transport, mostly at the London Underground, he joined the Canal & River Trust soon after it had launched as a charity in 2013. “The clinch for me was the canals being about people and the potential impact we could have on communities. As much as I enjoyed trains it was quite utilitarian.

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Stations apart, railways have big fences that say ‘stay away’. I wanted to say, ‘please come to your canal and river’. It was great to have the chance to do something which could have such an impact on society.”

Richard still sees much to do to connect with the wider community living nearby – especially after so much good work had to be paused in lockdown. “We have around eight million people living within a short walk of their local canal. We want those millions to say, ‘I know the canal is there. I can use it as a green escape. It makes me healthier and happier. It’s somewhere I take pride in. Our community has improved it together.’ But we’ve got to work from the ground up – understand how different communities do things, with our door, eyes and ears wide open to what local people want. Where we’ve seen breakthroughs with our Community Roots programme, it’s tremendously exciting. For instance, the West Midlands team ran a day on the canal in Smethwick with EcoSikh UK, with hundreds of children who all came down to help planting, some trying canoeing, families providing refreshments. It was just wonderful.

With imagination we can include everyone who lives near to the network.”

extreme weather at these historic structures.

They are surrounded by millions of people and homes. As Toddbrook Reservoir shows, we have a great responsibility to protect places and people. It may sound obvious, but without resilient infrastructure, we can’t make life better by water.”

Looking to the near future, he’s cautiously optimistic. “Our much-missed volunteers, and local teams are now back for their maintenance and community work. We cautiously anticipate a full programme of events for 2021. I would love to see our Easter boat gathering at Ellesmere Port museum kick-off the next boating season.

But we will need a Plan B. Clearly, we’re in the hands of the pandemic and how the Government directs us to respond. We adapt and hope that 2021 will be a better year than we’ve had this year, though we’ve still been able to play our part in helping the nation come through one of our darkest times.”

And the scale and nature of the network adds to the job in hand. “You’ve got this wonderful industrial heritage obviously. Yet it brings its own challenges. We manage 2,000 miles of 200-year-old infrastructure, built with pioneering civil engineering, much of which was invented on the hoof by the great canal builders of the late 18th Century. Now climate change is throwing

“Undoubtedly canals and rivers have given millions of people the escape they needed” Richard Parry Canal & River Trust chief executive 7

Stay kind, slow down It’s been a busy year on our local canal towpaths as we’ve all sought fresh air, fitness and exercise. Where better to relax and take things easy than your local canal? While it’s wonderful to have so many more visitors it’s important to be considerate of others and keep socially distanced.

With many urban areas seeing an increase in visits during the pandemic, we’ve been listening to concerns about the speed of bikes on the towpath and thinking about how we can take a little more care of each other and respect each other’s space.

The Trust has also launched a trial in a busy area for cyclists along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. In addition to the general message to

cyclists to Stay Kind, Slow Down, this will look at how different interventions, such as signage, floor markings and speed inhibitors, can help to change behaviour.

In the meantime, we’re asking towpath visitors to pledge on social media to “stay kind and slow down”. Whether you’re a walker, runner, cyclist, angler or boater, we can all play a part. Look up, make eye contact, say “hello”, smile and stay kind to one another to help us all enjoy the waterside spaces we love.

Walking along?

Whether you walk alone, with a pet, baby buggy or in a group, please remember to stay mindful of others who may need to pass you by. Stay kind. Keep others in mind.

Please support our campaign and spread the word by sharing the hashtag #StayKindSlowDown on social media 8

#StayKindSlowDown Riding a bike?

Jogging by?

Riding along the canal is 44 times safer than on the road 1, but if you don’t take it easy, it’s no surprise that your chances of having a collision and falling off increase dramatically.

There is nothing wrong with jogging side by side, but using common sense and being polite is the key to ensuring limited space is used sensibly.

Pedestrians have priority on the towpath. Generally, they move more slowly and are more vulnerable in a collision. We hate it when a car or lorry passes our bike too closely on the road, so help everyone relax as you pass by slowing down on the towpath.

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Boaters and Anglers Pay special attention to people mooring up – it’s not always an easy thing to do, especially on a windy day. Approach slowly to avoid causing alarm. And look out for anglers and their equipment. The last thing you want is to get yourself hooked instead of a fish!

Department of Transport figures report 5,272 casualties in Great Britain for every billion miles cycled on roads compared to 120 per billion miles cycled on Canal & River Trust towpaths.

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Alamy

It’s time for everyone’s story to be told When you walk along our canals, it’s not immediately clear that their story is inextricably entwined with the story of exploitation of people through slavery.

In spring of this year, the Canal & River Trust worked with honorary research fellow, Dr Jodie Matthews, to start mapping those historical links. Her literature review drew together the available research which outlined that money from the transatlantic slave trade was invested in building canals. And that cargo produced by enslaved people, like sugar, cotton and tobacco was carried on our canal network.

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When you look at the timeline of history, it’s certainly true that slavery was still an active trade at the time the first canals were built. By the time the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 came into force, most of the canal network we see today had already been built.

Slave owners. Canal investors.

Jodie’s review concludes ‘there are many individual examples of the profits of slavery being invested in canals.’ In particular she notes, ‘Moses Benson, a Liverpool slave-trader who owned a “palace mansion” in the city’. He left 230 shares in the Lancaster Canal in his will in 1806. In turn, the canal had a dramatic effect on the economy of Preston, including the establishment of cotton mills.

Another slave-owner, William Carey, was an attorney in Jamaica who owned shares in the Grand Junction Canal. Meanwhile, George Hyde Clarke inherited an estate and 220 enslaved people. He was a promoter, shareholder and committee member of the Peak Forest Canal Company.

We continue to work with the local community, London Borough of Tower Hamlets and the Museum of London Docklands to review the future of the statue and how we tell the wider story of the West India Docks and slavery.

tobacco, rice, cotton and sugar.’ In terms of cotton, the links appear particularly strong. Her report notes, ‘The slave trade was not so much a triangular trade as a circular one.’ Cotton cloth produced in Britain and India was sent to Africa to pay for the slaves who were transported to America, who then grew the cotton shipped to Britain to make the cloth that was sold to Africa.

Alamy

Yet she also finds leading abolitionists among the canal building community.

Josiah Wedgwood, for instance, is well known as a leading investor in the Trent & Mersey Canal.

Soon after it was built, he massproduced the most famous image of a black person in all of 18th-century art. The inscription carried on the Wedgwood medallion, ‘Am I Not a Man and a Brother?’ became the catchphrase of British and American abolitionists.

Tobacco. Cotton. Sugar.

Jodie also finds that, ‘canals transported goods produced by enslaved people, including indigo,

By the 1820s, ‘almost all of the cotton carried to Manchester was brought on canals and rivers; the Old Quay Company carried around half of Liverpool’s imports, the Bridgewater Canal carried a similar quantity, while the Leeds & Liverpool Canal carried approximately 4,0007,000 tons.’

These statistics underline the fact that cities like Liverpool and Manchester have a history entwined with both the story of the canals and that of the slave trade. The same is true of London. Removing the statue of Robert Milligan, whose wealth built the West India Docks on the Canal & River Trust’s land, was an important step in recognising the feelings of the local community.

To date, the history of the canals has generally been told from only one perspective. History can often be selective. Jodie’s review found links exist, but more specific research needs to be done to understand its true extent and tell the full story of those marginalised by history.

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Alamy

Stepping stones for wildlife Otters in Birmingham? There was quite a stir when they were spotted right in the city centre during our annual otter survey a few years ago, then one was captured on camera late last year.

It was the result of the fantastic ‘Wild in Birmingham’ project, which is building natural ‘stepping stone’ habitats right across the West Midlands. We spoke to the Canal & River Trust’s senior ecologist, Paul Wilkinson, to find out more.

The idea came to Paul at a meeting many years ago.

“They showed a map of Birmingham and the Black Country with a large blocked out area, highlighting where species were being prevented from spreading north in response to climate change,” says Paul with a tinge of wounded local pride in his voice.

“My home town was actually a huge barrier to wildlife.” Supporting funding from Tesco’s Bags for Life programme soon began a biodiversity revolution in the city. “All the canals in Birmingham’s central area are brick built,” continues Paul, “There is little ‘natural’ habitat. But that made things easier because there was a blank canvas – nothing to restore.”

Step by step, volunteer teams began installing new wildlife habitats in pockets at regular distances, every 200 yards or so along the canal side. Often, these were placed right in the water on the opposite side to the towpath, where brick buildings line the waterway but where wildlife feels safe and undisturbed. The team installed recycled coconut coir matting to bed in aquatic plants like yellow flag iris and purple loosestrife, that are particularly resistant to the ravages of Canada geese grazing.

In no time at all, plant species like these begin to attract dragon and damselflies who lay their eggs among the leaves. Fish do the same among the underwater roots. Creating life in our canals helps to break down pollution, clean surrounding water and attracts a whole array of wildlife including pollinating insects, fish and amphibians, ducks, herons and even kingfishers. Soon water voles and, yes, even otters can follow.

A weekly team of up to 30 volunteers are also creating wildflower areas, vegetable gardens and a canal-side orchard that will eventually stretch for forty miles from Wolverhampton to Worcester. As

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Paul explains, they’ve made imaginative choices.

“We’re trying to be good for wildlife and people, so it’s all medicinal and edible. The urban heat is good for apricots, pomegranates, persimmon, kiwis and figs.

The grapes have been amazing!”

The team even consider the canal’s heritage. “Many of us, including tourists, come to Birmingham from all over the world, so as well as showing the best of our natural habitats, we wanted to celebrate plants from around the world too, as well as a nod to history with tea plants and even bananas, once transported around the canal network to places such as the banana warehouse in Digbeth. Same for the Typhoo warehouse, which we’re marking with the hardier tea plants. We’re also propagating heritage pear and damson trees, saving rare native varieties.

I get really excited about fruit trees,” Paul tells me.

“Stunning insects live on the leaves, pollinators love the blossom, moths lay caterpillars on the bilberries we plant beneath. Birds, mammals and people love the fruit. Plus, it’s organic with a natural bloom to the fruit that’s likely to be really good for you but is often washed away.”

Happily, the towpath gives local people a route into nature too. Birmingham’s canals connect people to other green spaces around the city. For instance, you can reach some beautiful but extremely rare heathland in Sandwell by canal. With canals and rivers providing a pathway for nature nationwide, soon our Friends, supporters and volunteers like you could bring the wild back to Manchester, Nottingham, and Reading too.

Jack Perks Jack Perks Jonathan Sedgwick

Jack Perks

Paul Wilkinson

Jack Perks

“Canal wildlife has been an amazing healing resource during lockdown.

Instead of having to go out to the country, people went down to the canal and saw butterflies on their lunch hour or daily exercise.�

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“You cannot beat your first fish” If you want to know why the Canal & River Trust’s ‘Let’s Fish’ programme has caught the imagination of thousands of new anglers in recent years, that’s all you need to know.

The charismatic angling coaches who run the events describe their simple pole and lines like ‘magic wands’ with good reason.

© Canal & River Trust

“That smile and sparkle in a child’s eyes says you’ve got them hooked.”

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Waterfront saw the team at work at a ‘Let’s Fish’ event at Foxton Locks on the Grand Union Canal. After a safety briefing, all the coaches do is simply let the children get started and actively fishing.

Within five minutes of casting off, six-year-old Harris had caught his first roach of the day. Two minutes later he got a rudd. Then a real lively one dived out of his hands and landed right in coach Pat’s tackle box! The gasps. The giggles. The fun. If you like to see kids loving life, this is the place to be.

Pat and Bryan call themselves the Chuckle Brothers. And they’ve got their double act down to a tee. Pat is the showman - great with the young and old alike. Bryan joins in the banter gleefully, but he’s also got a thoughtful, quieter side ideally suited to the peace of the canal.

“I’ve always loved canal fishing because you never know what you’re going to get,” explains Bryan. But how does he get young children catching so quickly? “The trick is to ‘set the swim’ long before they arrive,” explains Bryan. “You bait up your section of canal or river, like laying the table for dinner.

By the time the kids get their hooks in the water, all the fishy guests have already arrived.”

And it works. From just nine events in 2016, to over 300 events attracting more than 8,000 novice anglers just three years later, the programme has doubled, and in some cases even trebled, junior memberships of some of the angling clubs involved. Just nine weeks after lockdown, the Canal & River Trust, with support from friends like you, along with players of the People’s Postcode Lottery and

Sport England, helped to keep these socially distanced and Covid-compliant events going.

An ageing sport now has a new generation, many of whom find there’s more to the sport than the fishing.

Bryan says, “At home, my grandson’s a ball of frustration.

But see him down here with a rod in his hand and he’s a different child.” It’s a prescription of peace, calm and time with nature that few other sports can offer.

“Few people realise what a success rate fishing has as a personal development tool,” explains Peter Henery, national angling development manager, picking up the same theme.

“It really is a sport for anyone.

We often get mums taking up fishing; they bring their kids down and realise they are actually the ones who need time for themselves outside by the water too. About a third of children we teach are girls.

Grandparents, dads returning to the sport after years away.

Anyone can join in. It’s a great way to bring families and whole communities together by the canal. And it gives our coaches and angling clubs a new lease of life too. They get so much pleasure from passing on their skills.”

“We’ve learned that from 5-12 years old, kids are still kids, just like we were.

Even today they still feel the magic of that float going under and pulling on the line.”

John Ellis Let’s Fish National Fisheries and Angling manager

Let’s Fish: The Facts

FREE events, open to all ages On your local canal, across England & Wales Each April – end of October (Covid allowing) 8,000+ participants in 2019 3,000+ even during the 2020 lockdown £100,000 in funding could double the size of the programme A £15 donation is all it costs to help a novice catch their first fish

Want to give it a try? Let’s Fish! Find out when and where you can get involved and discover many more wonderful fishy tales at canalrivertrust.org.uk/letsfish 15

“The canal is like a secret escape in the city. If you’re feeling down, the water listens to you. It won’t judge you.”

Janiz. 17, engineering student, London.

Bringing hope by water With the pandemic still disrupting our lives, finding a calm space to relax by the canal has never been so important. Yet for local communities and young people especially, our canals and rivers can not only improve mental health, but also offer hope, purpose and opportunity. Louis Howell, chair of the Canal & River Trust’s youth council, explains more.

“Like me, a lot of young people find their first time by the water is calming and good for their mental health,” says Louis, who only discovered the canals of London in his early twenties. “That’s why they are so quick to get involved. The canal is this incredible space at the heart of their community, that gives young people so many chances to grow.”

“The transformative, beautiful thing is that young people feel they belong by the water. They take responsibility.

Find their voice. Become community leaders. Guardians of their canal.”

Young leaders like Louis are at the heart of the Canal & River Trust’s work with young people.

There’s a simple thought behind it. Over two thirds of households within a kilometre of our canals and rivers don’t have access to the same life opportunities that many of us take for granted. Our waterways need a new generation to get involved in helping to protect and restore them. So why not bring them together?

It might start with improving health and happiness through water sports, and artistic or cultural events. Then it often moves on to social action by a local stretch of water. Young people, like Leah, are passionate about tackling plastic pollution. Work experience and apprenticeships on the waterways can give young people a path into work and a career. And as you can see, Janiz, Leah and Paula are grabbing opportunities like these with both hands.

“The key with young people is to listen to them.

Not enough people do that, but our youth council gives them a platform. It ensures their voice is heard.” says Louis. “Young people say they worry about finding work. About the climate crisis they are growing up in. They worry about their mental health, bullying and racism. For some it can be tough, lonely and isolating being young.

Lacking in confidence, being stuck in your room or on your phone. Lockdown just makes it worse.”

In response, Louis and his colleagues are using our canals to give young people hope.

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Louis Howell, Chair, Youth Advisory Group

With your help, our canals and rivers are doing an incredible job for young people. Building confidence; making friends; improving their mental health; growing skills. Bringing hope by water.

Learn more about our youth work at canalrivertrust.org.uk/specialistteams/youth-engagement

“ Time by the canals made me more confident about being a girl in engineering. Now I know I’m going to be a civil engineer after Uni.” Janiz Janiz is one of eight engineering students at City & Islington College in London who took part in a work experience programme with the Canal & River Trust. The canal has given them a path to new skills, new confidence, even a whole career ahead. Time by water also helped them find peace, calm and comfort among all the pressures of growing up in the city.

Lighting up lives in numbers Over 4,000 young people

have attended youth social action sessions across the Trust since December 2013.

Over 200 regular young volunteers

support our technical, environmental, education and heritage teams across the Trust.

One million children and young people will benefit from the canal running through their community by 2025.

“I’m just the kind of person that likes helping people.

I want to feel like I’m making a difference to the planet, to the place I live, to my community.”

Leah As a volunteer on the Desmond Family Canoe Trail, Leah is using her canoeing skills to follow her passion for helping people and the environment. She’s cleaning up local areas of canal and removing plastic pollution. It’s helped to build her confidence tremendously. Once a shy teenager, she now happily talks to anyone and plans to become a midwife.

“Pies and canals. My town Wigan was built on them.

And now my career is too.”

© Canal & River Trust

Paula The Canal & River Trust’s Apprentice of the Year 2018, Paula, is a young stonemason helping to protect the history and heritage of our canals. After completing a history degree at Liverpool University, she was working in a pie shop and struggling to find work that used her skills. She now maintains and restores the locks, bridges and canal wharfs that built her hometown.

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Julie Harding

“My husband has retinal dystrophy, but going slowly, he could sit on the bow and take in the different shapes and colours.�

Julie Harding

A view down the Shropshire Union Canal, just outside Tiverton 18

First time afloat Boating boomed this summer. Though the season only cast off in July, thousands took to the water, many for the first time. Despite representing around half of the nation’s hire boats, drifters.co.uk didn’t have a spare boat through the summer, and bookings held up long into autumn. Here’s how Julie from Manchester and Neil from Kent found their first holiday afloat.

“I’ve spent years stuck on the M62. Even at 4mph the narrowboat got us through Trafford Park faster!” For Julie Harding, the steady chug of the canal was a revelation compared to the stress of her morning commute. “We live near the Bridgewater Canal and, although I walk my dog Millie along the towpath, I’d never gone on a canal holiday until my friend, Geoff, invited me and my husband on his narrowboat. We went for a week but stayed for ten days!” says Julie. “We’ve always gone to France, but this year that wasn’t possible.”

“Everyone wants to help you out with locks and swing bridges. They just say we’ll do that!” With both Neil and Julie promising to take another trip next year, it looks like 2021 will prove just as popular with boaters both old and new.

Our advice? Book early!

And remember, if you are a Friend your benefits include a discount from Drifters.

For Neil, it was the friendly atmosphere that he noticed.

“We chatted to all sorts of people: dog walkers, runners,

Julie Harding

Both Julie and Neil explored the Cheshire ring. After lockdown, Julie especially found it a real release. “It’s been hard not seeing my grandchildren, and my mum who’s been on her own.

Me and my husband being together 24/7 … we weren’t used to that either!” Being on the canal gave them a totally new experience to share.

cyclists, even people from an old people’s home came out for a natter. With everything else that’s going on it was a real pleasure, like going back 30 years.”

Neil Goode

It’s a similar story for Neil Goode, who usually summers in the south of France. He explains, “A good friend of mine had always said his long-term plan was to live on a narrowboat. When he retired, that’s exactly what he did. He invited me and my partner Denise onto his boat in Little Venice, and it was absolutely brilliant. I’m a proper Londoner but from the canal it was a completely different place!”

“Every time you looked up you found yourself in a completely different place,” continues Julie, “I loved the calm, the peacefulness, just letting the world go by. We saw herons and loads of butterflies… It’s like you’re not in this world.

Unfortunately, my husband has retinal dystrophy, but going slowly, he could sit on the bow and take in the different shapes and colours. He could even do the locks, which was great for his confidence.”

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The bald and the beautiful From life in the army, to an army of followers on his blog and social media. From walking to get fit again, to walking all over the world with his now worldfamous dog, Malc.

A walk and talk with Paul Steele, known as the ‘Bald Hiker’, reveals an incredible journey. Join us as Waterfront follows his latest adventure: a four-day walk along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.

Follow in the bald hiker’s footsteps. If you’d like to explore the canalside from Leeds to Burnley for yourself, simply visit baldhiker.com/yorkshire for a day-by-day guide to his route.

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“If you ever see someone in a bright blue Canal & River Trust t-shirt, stop and have a chat.

They’ll tell you more answers about canals, than you ever knew there were questions!”

Paul Steele, the Bald Hiker

“What I liked most about this canal walk?

Mmm… That’s a hard one,” ponders Paul.

No wonder, after packing so much into four days and over 50 miles of towpath from Leeds city centre to the Burnley Embankment.

“I tell you what, it’s the people, learning something new around every corner,” says Paul. “At Apperley Bridge for instance, the Canal & River Trust volunteer leader was telling me how the weeds have grown twice as fast this year, while the canals were quiet.

Then you notice there are volunteers everywhere with hand tools, removing weeds so the locks and boats won’t get clogged up. I couldn’t believe how many people keep things running.

“And then up at the top, above Foulridge Tunnel, I met the guy that ‘turns the tap on and off’ from the reservoir to keep water levels flowing down to Leeds.

It’s the little things that you don’t think about, but have to appreciate. Imagine the engineering it took to work that out 250 years ago. It amazes me that mitre lock gates (angled at 45 degrees, so they’re easier to open) go back even further to Leonardo da Vinci’s time.

“Then there’s Finsley Gate Wharf in Burnley, where the Canal & River Trust are investing over £2m in transforming what was once a vital industrial hub back into a focal point for the local community. Soon there will be boat trips and boat hire, a café, function rooms and learning areas so people know about their canal heritage. It’s brilliant for Burnley.”

Paul also met a kindred spirit in Jo Moseley, who like him, escaped a stressful life through physical activity.

She took to rowing and wild swimming before becoming the first woman to paddleboard coast to coast – mainly along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. She even picked up plastic pollution along the way, raising awareness of the issue.

“I got where Jo was coming from in so many respects,” says Paul. “I was in the army for 17 years, then found myself working in an office, eating biscuits, putting on weight. So, like Jo, I just decided to set myself a goal and get back out walking. It was just when Twitter and the iPhone were taking off and I shared what I saw. I climbed Kilimanjaro and got some followers.

Then I took on a challenge in the Andes.

I started with 10,000 followers. Three weeks later, I came back from the wild to find I had 100,000.”

Since then, Paul’s following has grown so much that now baldhiker.com offers hundreds of ideas for happy times in the great outdoors. But back to the question of favourites – what was the best stretch of the trip?

“Okay, I don’t like having favourites, but as a short walk, go from Skipton to the top stretch, where Yorkshire meets Lancashire. Right on the top of the Pennines. Beautiful countryside.

Wonderful views. Amazing history.”

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Reflecting on winter festivities Christmas on your houseboat enriches all the senses, writes Peter Watts. Somehow being by the water makes the tingle of seasonal excitement even better…

The smell of smouldering wood burners and slowly stewing mulled wine. Cheering holly wreaths on cabin doors. Fairy lights and tinsel entwined around the tiller. Sweet festive song filtering through steamedup windows. The warm camaraderie with towpath friends and neighbours.

When it comes to Christmas dinner, teamwork is essential.

During my years living on a boat, it was common for neighbours to pitch in together.

Sharing the work across several small ovens, hobs and using wood-burning stoves as warming areas, brings a feast to a (slightly wobbly) table, just in time.

Seasonal conviviality comes naturally to people who live on boats who, in pre-pandemic times, needed few excuses

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for a party. One year my neighbour strung up his front deck with flickering fairy lights and set up a bar to cheer all who passed. That bartending neighbour is now an Anglican vicar.

His canal Christmases were always about socialising and he still maintains that Christmas on a narrowboat teaches us tolerance of others. If we can find the strength to make it through a festive dinner without falling out with our boating family and friends, then we’ll

learn to get on with each other better all round.

But perhaps, now more than ever, this time of year gives us all room for reflection. Even in the depths of winter, and cold, crisp days, the water has a miraculous capacity to absorb your worries and concerns. If you’re looking for some peace or comfort, some time with the family, the dog or with nature this winter, take a bracing, invigorating stroll down by the water– just go easy on the mulled wine first!

Tell us about your winter festivities on the canals at supportercare@canalrivertrust.org.uk so we can share some of your stories and pictures.

Stainton storms back

The Grade-II listed structure opened in 1819 to carry the Lancaster Canal over Stainton Beck, a stream which is now itself protected for salmon and brown trout. During the storm, the beck turned from a trickle to a torrent, especially as it squeezed under the narrow aqueduct.

“As the water flew out from the tunnel it lifted the stone apron beneath and undermined the foundations. One wing collapsed completely and the other cracked and crumpled,” explains Bill Froggatt, the Canal & River Trust’s heritage advisor.

Damage on this scale is unusual, even with 2,000 miles of 200-year-old aqueducts, bridges, locks, culverts and embankments to look after. It has been one of the biggest, most complicated and costly projects that Bill has tackled in recent years. And sadly, Bill believes we could see more events like this happening as our changing climate brings even more heavy weather.

© Canal & River Trust

When storms battered Cumbria in 2015, flooding damaged thousands of local homes and lives. It also brought the 200-year-old Stainton Aqueduct close to collapse, with a real risk that the Lancaster Canal would come down with it. Yet after a long and difficult £2m restoration, you’ve helped the Canal & River Trust secure its future for centuries to come.

Recent incidents at Elland Bridge, Leeds, and the Figure of Three Locks, near Dewsbury, are signs of increasing pressure on the network.

The team had to work around the beck, mainly in summer, when the waters were low enough to be channelled through pipes or diverted by giant Lego-shaped blocks. The supporting walls had to be almost completely rebuilt with robust, modern cast concrete techniques future-proofing the core structure. Meanwhile, much of the original limestone and ‘voussoir’ arch stones were reused while new stone was cut, set and dressed for

the wing walls. Some of this work was done by apprentice stonemason Paula Baron (see page 16), one of the fantastic new young people helping to secure the future of our canals.

But contractors and volunteers of all ages and backgrounds played their part.

Happily, restoration is now complete. The towpath, that forms part of a popular walk towards Kendal, and the canal, which carries the Lancaster Canal Trust trip boat Waterwitch, is now open again.

But with the possibility of our climate blowing in more storms this winter, the Trust needs to be ready for challenges ahead.

Have you got building skills to share? We have volunteering opportunities for anyone, of any age, with skills and trades that can help repair, maintain and rebuild your local canal heritage. See how you can get involved.

Visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer 23

Who built the canals we enjoy today? Great industrialists like Bridgewater and Wedgwood invested in them. Legendary engineers like Telford and Brindley designed them. But it was the labour, graft and toil of thousands of unsung navvies that cut those early ‘navigations’ across Britain. It’s their legacy that has left us many moments of pleasure on our canals today.

The first elite among skilled canal labourers were Lincolnshire fensmen or ‘Bankers’, who had learnt to dig ditches, drainage channels, banks and sea-walls from the Dutch. They often directed the work of local farm labourers who did the spade work of cutting through the earth with nothing more than picks, shovels and wheelbarrows. But blasting solid rock with

dynamite was another matter. The dangers led to many serious injuries, loss of limbs and even deaths. The Marple Aqueduct in Greater Manchester alone cost seven lives.

Their hard work leaves a legacy we’re all thankful for. Indeed, many members of the canal restoration movement of the 1960s and 70s dubbed themselves the ‘new navvies’ in tribute to their forebears. Still today, you can leave a canal legacy of you own. A gift in your Will can help protect, maintain and restore our canals for everyone to enjoy. And pay tribute to the hard work of those who built them. To find out how you can help protect our canals into the future, please visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/legacy

Visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/legacy Repairs to Wolverton Aqueduct on the Grand Junction Canal

Image courtesy of The Waterways Archive

A legacy of labour