The Mon & Brec 200 celebrations were launched earlier this month (Friday 10th February) with the Ringing of the Bells, recreating the canal’s opening ceremony 200 years ago. 

A single bell was rung by Cllr Bob Wellington, Leader of Torfaen County Borough Council and Robin Herbert, the Great, Great Grandson of Sir Benjamin Hall who gave the name of ‘Big Ben’ to the bell of the clock installed in the tower of the Houses of Parliament in 1857. 

This special event marks the joining of the Brecknock & Abergavenny Canals with the Monmouthshire Canal. 

A new charity to look after England and Wales’ network of 200-year old canals and rivers will be given over £1 billion of Government help to give it the best possible start, Environment Minister Richard Benyon, announced today.

This unprecedented funding for a new charity paves the way for the launch of the new Canal & River Trust later this year – a new “national trust for the waterways” that will harness the support of thousands of supporters and volunteers to help look after the canals and rivers in England and Wales for the benefit of future generations.

British Waterways’ are bringing new life to the Oxford Canal by boat this week when they take delivery of new gates for Northbrook Lock which will arrive at the site on a barge.

The one-and-a-half tonne oak gates have been made to measure for the lock: hand-crafted by British Waterways’ workshop in Wakefield.

From there they have travelled by road to the British Waterways’ Nell Bridge Yard in Adderbury before making the final leg of their journey on a narrow beam barge. When the gates arrive on site the old gates, which have come to the end of its 25-year lifespan, will be removed and the new ones installed using a gantry constructed over the canal.

The impressive manoeuvre will be completed in just two days by the British Waterways’ team. As part of these works repairs will also be made to the lock’s cill, brickwork and walls.

British Waterways has started unveiling a 200-year old Georgian masterpiece by removing the trees, bushes and years of graffiti which has hidden the Grade I listed Lune Aqueduct in Lancaster from full view.

As part of a £2.4m restoration, specialist contractors will abseil 53 feet from the John Rennie-built Lune Aqueduct to carefully remove years of vegetation which has taken hold and has been undermining the structure’s masonry.

The Lune Aqueduct was the most impressive feature of the Lancaster Canal which was the main conduit for the economic development of Cumbria and Lancashire for over 100 years.

Hanwell Flight project is part of £50m works programme which will form solid foundation for new national waterways charity
 
British Waterways has completed a two week programme of repair and maintenance work on the Grand Union Canal’s historic Hanwell Flight in west London. The work to the locks 91 and 92 involved replacing and repairing parts of the locks’ mechanisms to stop them leaking, making them easier and safer for boaters to use.

Repairs were also made to the locks themselves and the fabric of the canal. The project is part of British Waterways’ long term programme of work on the Hanwell Flight which ensures that this Scheduled Ancient Monument is protected and preserved for boaters, local people and visitors to enjoy today and for years to come.