News

River Thames community projects benefit from grants
Twelve community driven projects on the River Thames are benefiting from almost £40,000 in grants from leading waterways environmental and heritage charity, The Waterways Trust, thanks to the generous monthly donations from its supporters.

Seal of approval for museum
VisitBritain has given the National Waterways Museum Gloucester Docks the thumbs up.

New partnership to shape future of city canal
A new partnership has been formed to help shape the future of the section of the Oxford Canal which runs through the historic city.

Work starts on new canal gateway park
Work to create a new gateway to the soon-to-be-restored Droitwich Canals at Hanbury Lock is well underway.

MSP joins children to help tidy towpath
As part of British Waterways Scotland’s Towpath Tidy week, Cathie Craigie MSP for Cumbernauld & Kilsyth will join children from two local schools and Scotland’s leading inland waterways charity, The Waterways Trust Scotland, as they spring clean the towpath alongside Forth & Clyde Canal on Monday 30th March.

£1 million project to help Falkirk young people get active
On Monday 6 April Scotland’s leading inland waterway charity, The Waterways Trust Scotland and Falkirk Council opened a brand new outdoor activity centre on the bank of the Union Canal, giving young people in the region the opportunity to get out and get active.

Waterways Renaissance Awards 2009 – winners celebrated
Projects from across the U.K. are celebrating after scooping top honours at this year’s Waterways Renaissance Awards, run by The Waterways Trust and BURA (British Urban Regeneration Association).

Finalists announced for 2009 Waterways Renaissance Awards
A project to regenerate the waterfront in Castleford in West Yorkshire, the creation of a series of self-guided walks along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Chorley for visually impaired people and plans for the construction of a linear park along the Connswater river in Belfast are just a few of the diverse and inspiring schemes to reach the finals of the 2009 Waterways Renaissance Awards.

Is Twecharwood the next Hollywood?
A group of young people from Twechar received the red carpet treatment yesterday (Sunday 8 February) when their film ‘Dr Twechar and the Glowing Lens’ and their documentary ‘So you think you know Twechar’ were premiered at Glasgow Film Theatre.

Budding actors bring story of town’s canals to life
A project to capture memories of the Droitwich Canals and create a unique ‘Community Mind Map’ culminated with the performance of a unique ‘Play in a Day’ on Saturday 31 January 2009 at the Droitwich Community Hall, Heritage Way.

VOLUNTEERS BRAVE FREEZING WEATHER TO CLEAN UP TOWPATH
A group of enthusiastic volunteers braved the freezing weather on Saturday 31 January to help clean up the towpath along the Glasgow Branch of the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Restoration of historic walls celebrated
Teams of volunteers who have spent almost a year restoring the historic Brimscombe Port Walls today celebrated their achievement at a special event marking completion of the restoration project.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO SPRING CLEAN TOWPATH
People young and old are urged to get their hands dirty and help spring clean the Forth & Clyde Canal from Spiers Wharf to the Nolly Bridge on Saturday 31 January 2009.

Budding actors needed for one-off ‘Play in a Day’ experience
A project to capture memories of the Droitwich Canals and create a unique ‘community mind map’ will culminate with a celebration for all to enjoy on Saturday 31 January 2009 at the Droitwich Community Hall, Heritage Way.

Steven set to make a splash on the Forth & Clyde Canal
Steven Coles is on a mission to make a splash on the Forth & Clyde Canal in Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire, encouraging more people to use the waterway and is surroundings.

Birthday party helps canal restoration
A couple from Droitwich have made the ultimate sacrifice in aid of the appeal to restore the town’s canals.

Appeal to restore town canals nears total
The appeal to raise the final £1 million needed to restore the historic canals in Droitwich, Worcestershire has been given a major boost with a grant of £300,000 from regional development agency, Advantage West Midlands. This grant brings the appeal total to over £700,000.

Children to help decide design for new play-space
School children in Droitwich Spa will help to decide what a new play-space in the Droitwich Canals Gateway Park will look like.

MPS Support cross-border vision for canal
The Montgomery Canal Regeneration has taken a significant step forward, with MPs from Wales and England backing an ambitious initiative for the waterway to become a leisure and tourism magnet providing benefits both sides of the border.

Supporters get inside view of restoration
People from across Worcestershire who have given a donation to the appeal to restore the Droitwich Canals had an inside view of restoration progress at a special event held on Friday 10 October.

Remembering the ‘Idle Women’ – a story of wartime heroism
More than 60 years after the end of World War II, a group of ladies who worked relentlessly transporting cargo along the nation’s waterways in aid of the war effort have been honoured officially for the first time.

Bigman has big plans for the Forth & Clyde
Saturday 4 October marked the first Bigman Canal Festival at Maryhill locks, celebrating Maryhill, its canal and its people.

Fresh air and friends on free guided walks
Waterways and environmental heritage charity, The Waterways Trust Scotland, is launching a new series of six guided walks along the Union and Forth & Clyde Canals in Falkirk starting at 10.30am on Saturday 18 October.

Historic Lock re-opens its gates
On Friday 26th September, the Droitwich Canals Partnership celebrated the restoration of the 155 year old Barge Lock which links the Junction Canal with the Barge Canal in Droitwich.

Waitrose support canal restoration
Staff at the Droitwich Spa branch of Waitrose have raised £4,347 for the restoration of the town’s historic canals. The money, which came from donations from the staff team and the John Spedan Lewis Foundation, will help to restore 50 metres of the canal.

Historic lock to re-open its gates
On Friday 26th September, the Droitwich Canals Partnership will be celebrating the restoration of the 155 year old Barge Lock which links the Junction Canal with the Barge Canal in Droitwich.

Sir Peter Soulsby MP leads panel for national waterway awards
The Waterways Trust and the British Urban Regeneration Assocation(BURA) today announced that Sir Peter Soulsby, Labour MP for Leicester South, will be heading up the Assessment Panel for the 2009 Waterways Renaissance Awards.

Idle Women wanted
The Waterways Trust and British Waterways are appealing for women who worked on the waterways during the Second World War to come forward to receive formal recognition of their efforts more than 60 years after the conflict ended.

Volunteers restore canal heritage
Since receiving official planning permission, the Droitwich Canals Partnership has wasted no time in getting stuck into major restoration work on the town’s canals.

Waitrose staff 'raise for reeds'
Staff at the Droitwich Spa branch of Waitrose supermarket are showing their support for the restoration of the town’s two historic canals by raising money for the new reedbed at Coney Meadows, near Salwarpe.

Many hands make light work at Wester Hailes
A stretch of towpath at Calders Crescent, Wester Hailes has been upgraded and improved thanks to the efforts of 60 willing volunteers from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Animating the Forth & Clyde Canal
Lord Provost Denis Agnew joined 90 school children and community groups on Wednesday 25 June to celebrate the completion of a £163,000 project to improve 7km of towpath on the Forth & Clyde Canal stretching from Bowling Harbour to Whitecrook.

River Thames benefits from grants
Nineteen community driven projects centred on the River Thames are benefiting from more than £70,000 in grants from the waterways environmental and heritage charity, The Waterways Trust, thanks to the generous monthly donations from its supporters.

Historic bridge re-built
The sympathetic restoration of Oil Mills Bridge in Stroud is now complete thanks to funding from Gloucestershire Environmental Trust (GET), using Landfill tax credits donated by Cory Environmental.

Children help clean up towpath
This month, over 120 school children in North Lanarkshire & Glasgow have helped waterways environmental and heritage charity, The Waterways Trust Scotland, clear litter and debris from the towpath alongside Monklands Canal and around Auchstarry Basin on the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Politicians put their best foot forward
The Lord Provost of Edinburgh, George Grubb, Robin Harper MSP, Sarah Boyack MSP and Cllr Andrew Burns joined members of the public on Saturday 24 May as they put their best foot forward to improve their health and learn more about the city’s new ‘Canal Quarter’ – which stretches from Edinburgh Quay to Harrison Park.

Volunteers create new wildlife wetland
More than 200 pairs of willing hands have helped create a wildife wetland at Coney Meadow, between Salwarpe and the A38.

Young volunteers take action for canal restoration project
Over the past two months nearly 50 volunteers aged 16-25 have been ‘Taking Action for the Stroudwater Canal’ by learning ancient woodland conservation skills.

Opening up the canal
Glasgow residents and visitors now have no excuse for not being able to find their way to the Forth & Clyde Canal.

100 pupils are putting their best foot forward
Nearly 100 pupils from two Edinburgh schools, Canal View Primary School in Wester Hailes and Tollcross in Fountainbridge, are putting their best foot forward as part of a new walking programme, Feet First.

Projects celebrate victory in Waterways Renaissance Awards 2008
Projects from across the U.K. are celebrating after scooping top honours at this year’s Waterways Renaissance Awards, run by The Waterways Trust and BURA (British Urban Regeneration Association).

Volunteers dig deep to create community garden
Over 100 volunteers got their hands well and truly dirty when they helped The Waterways Trust Scotland plant 12,000 trees and shrubs at the sensory garden and nature trail at Auchinstarry Basin, near Croy on Wednesday 12 March.

Carve up at Auchinstarry Basin
Children from Holy Cross Primary and St Mary’s Primary in Croy tried their hand at wood carving last week (Tuesday 11 March) thanks to an initiative led by waterways environmental and heritage charity, The Waterways Trust Scotland.

Finalists Annouced for the 2008 Waterways Renaissance Awards
The redevelopment of Coventry’s first power station to provide new live and work spaces, a boat-based social inclusion project managed by young people in Halton and a 10 hectare brownfield site in Worcester that has been redeveloped into a mixed use scheme, are just a few of the diverse and inspiring schemes to reach the finals of the 2008 Waterways Renaissance Awards.

Waterways archives benefit from new grant
Archives staff at the National Waterways Museum are about to embark on a major cataloguing project thanks to a grant from the National Archives.

New museum director for The Waterways Trust
The Waterways Trust is delighted to announce the appointment of Stuart Gillis as Museum Director.

Volunteers needed to get their hands dirty
Waterways environmental and heritage charity, The Waterways Trust Scotland, is looking for willing volunteers to get their hands dirty in a quest to improve the environment surrounding Auchinstarry Basin near Croy in North Lanarkshire.

Eminent scientist to give talk
People with a passion for conservation and the natural world are in for a rare treat when renowned scientist and conservation expert Professor Aubrey Manning OBE gives a talk on behalf of The Waterways Trust Scotland.

Water lives come alive in Gloucester Docks
The National Waterways Museum has unveiled details of how its refreshed exhibits will look and feel following the major refurbishment of the museum which is currently underway in Gloucester Docks. Water Lives: Living, moving and working on Britain’s changing waterways is the central theme to the new galleries which will open to the public in May 2008.

Explore Britain's Canals with TV expert
People with an interest in history and Britain’s waterways are in for a treat when historical expert and TV contributor, Paul Atterbury visits the National Waterways Museum Ellesmere Port to share his experiences of the nation’s canals at a special talk organised by the museum.

Community groups urged to apply for grants
Community groups situated along the non-tidal stretch of the River Thames have just one month left to apply for grants of up to £5,000 to help finance projects taking place on the river.

Turning waterways green
In a bid to help reduce the nation’s carbon emissions and make the use of our waterways even greener, a new fund was launched yesterday, Wednesday 19th December, by waterways environmental and heritage charity, The Waterways Trust. The Green Fund will be dedicated to supporting projects that help reduce the carbon footprint of the use of the nation’s waterways.

Your chance to restore a piece of history
The Inland Waterways Association is backing an appeal from The Waterways Trust to raise funds to restore a historic lock in Worcestershire.

Votes needed to rebuild history
Gloucestershire residents are being urged to get involved with the restoration of the Cotswold Canals by casting their vote to help rebuild a piece of history at Brimbscome Port in Stroud.

Canal supporters get inside view to restoration
Worcestershire residents who have made a donation to the appeal to restore the Droitwich Canals were treated to a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the restoration on Friday 19th October.

Volunteer raises funds for canal restoration
A volunteer Tree Warden from Droitwich has applied the principle of little acorns growing into big trees to fundraising for the Droitwich Canals Restoration.

Young people raise funds for canal
Pupils from Witton Middle School, Droitwich Spa held a non-uniform day on Friday 8th June 2007 to raise funds for the restoration of the town’s two historic canals.

Don’t miss your chance to Adopt a Duck and raise funds for The Waterways Trust
Don’t miss out on your chance to adopt a duck in the Great British Duck Race to help raise funds for The Waterways Trust and be in with a chance to win one of 30 fantastic prizes, including £10,000 for the first duck to cross the finish line.

The National Waterways Museum, Stoke Bruerne honoured in People’s Choice Awards
The National Waterways Museum, Stoke Bruerne, has been honoured in a prestigious awards scheme. The Museum, which is run by The Waterways Trust, was voted runner up in the People’s Choice Award in the Northamptonshire Renaissance Heritage Awards.