Canal History
Walk along a quiet stretch of canal today and it is easy to assume it has always been there, a permanent feature of the landscape. In truth, many of these waterways were once written off. They were drained, filled in, built over, and forgotten. The fact that you can cruise them now is the result of decades of stubborn, patient work by people who refused to let them go.
The story begins with the railways. In the early nineteenth century, canals were the motorways of their day, carrying coal, timber, limestone and manufactured goods to every corner of the country. Then the trains arrived, faster and cheaper, and the canal companies could not compete. Tolls fell, maintenance was neglected, and one by one the waterways slid into decline.
By the mid twentieth century, many canals were barely navigable. Some had been formally abandoned by Act of Parliament, which removed any legal obligation to keep them open. Stretches were sold off, culverted under roads, and used as rubbish tips. The Rochdale Canal, the Kennet and Avon, the Basingstoke, and dozens of others were in various states of decay, and the general assumption was that they would never return.
What changed was a shift in how people saw them. Campaigners, boaters and volunteers began to argue that canals were not obsolete relics but living assets: corridors of wildlife, routes for walking and cycling, and places of genuine beauty. The restoration movement gathered pace, often starting with a single short stretch cleared by hand. Volunteers rebuilt lock gates, dredged channels, and cleared decades of undergrowth.
The turning point came with the realisation that restoration was not just romantic but practical. A working canal brings visitors, trade and investment to towns that had lost their reason to exist. It creates green space, supports wildlife, and offers a slower way to travel that people increasingly value.
The results are visible all over the country. The Kennet and Avon was fully reopened in 1990 after years of effort. The Rochdale Canal followed in 2002, reconnecting Manchester with the Calder Valley. The Droitwich Canals, the Montgomery, and the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire are among the many others that have been brought back, with more projects ongoing.
For anyone who loves canalside walking or narrowboat travel, this matters enormously. Every restored mile adds a new route to explore, a new town to visit, and a new stretch of towpath to walk at dusk. It also means the network is more connected, so a cruise that once required a detour or a lorry transfer can now be done entirely by water.
Next time you walk a quiet towpath, look for the clues of its past. A dry channel beside the navigation, an old wharf now used for parking, a bridge that leads nowhere. These are the fingerprints of a waterway that nearly disappeared and was saved by people who thought it was worth the effort. The canals are not a museum piece. They are a second chance, and we are lucky to be here for it.
