Canals more popular than ever

July 25, 2008
The popularity of Britain’s canals has reached an all time high, British Waterways has revealed.

The number of boats on the country’s 2,200 km canal network last year reached 31,000 – even more than during the height of the original canal boom 200 years ago.

Canal towpaths are also popular – around 11 million people used them for activities including angling, cycling, walking, visiting a waterside pub or simply feeding the ducks.

The number is a 13 per cent increase on the previous year.

Such is the transformation of the canals that the narrowboat men who worked on them during the industrial revolution would today hardly recognise them.

From being the transport arteries of the nation’s industry they have become a place of rest and relaxation, at the of a massive leisure and recreation industry.

Many are now lined with shops and trendy apartments.

Over 200 miles of new or restored waterways have opened in the last decade, and British Waterways is leading a £60 milion programme of canal building and restoration throughout the UK.

Projects in the Northwest include the Bridgewater Way to improve 40 miles of towpaths along the first canal of the industrial era, and a new canal across Liverpool’s Pier Head linking the famous Albert Dock to the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Yet a few decades ago the network was kept alive only by a dedicated band of enthusiasts, having suffered a long and devastating declne.

Robert Evans, British Waterways’ chief executive, said: “The waterways today are being used and enjoyed in ways that few people could have imagined when they were built 250 years ago, or even when they were nationalised 60 years ago.

“The leisure use of the canals has been central to their revival but it is the adaptability of the network, including the ways in which it remains relevant to canalside communities, which holds the key to a prosperous future.”