Welcome

Welcome to the Summer issue of Waterways.

I’m writing this as we reach the latest milestone in the easing of the pandemic lockdown – a day that has been marked in my diary for some time. I planned to go for breakfast at our local canalside café, which has ample outdoor space to safely celebrate both this stage of the country’s roadmap back to normal and also the resilience of our waterside businesses. I hadn’t reckoned on the snow falling overnight but, out of respect for the e orts that have gone into keeping businesses alive during the past 13 months, I’m certainly not going to let a li le inclement weather put me o .

I’m delighted that so many waterways businesses, charities and restoration trusts have weathered the storm. Perhaps it is something to do with the long-term timeline that seems to pervade everything to do with the waterways. In the recent BBC Countryfi le programme featuring the canals, the legacy of the UK’s canal network was recognised both in terms of the resilience of the in astructure and heritage that the Industrial Revolution provided and the adaptabili of the network in supporting the changes we’ve seen in the past 75 years. As we look to the future to ensure the continued regeneration and sustainabili of the waterways network, I am proud, as every member of IWA should be, that we are continuing to underpin that legacy for generations to come.

I hope you will enjoy reading the IWA 75th anniversary pull-out feature in this issue of Waterways. It serves to emphasise the long-term nature of our work and that, while it might be di cult to make rapid progress across the whole network, as long as we are steadily progressing, even slowly, we will see signifi cant results in time. I have only been involved with IWA for seven years – not one-tenth of the time that the Association has been active – but even in that short period I have seen the results that we can achieve when we work together as a well-organised, supportive and commi ed team.

The regeneration of the waterways has been a constant theme over the past 75 years and will continue to be well into the future. As we look ahead, that regeneration will be built on the principle of sustainabili , both in terms of the environmental impact of our use of the waterways and the resilience of the organisations that are working to achieve that regeneration.

Your support as an IWA member over whatever period you have been part of the Association contributes to the legacy we are creating. Thank you for the part that you’re playing in the future of the waterways. Our members, volunteers and supporters are the lifevolunteers and supporters are the lifeblood of the Association but, more than that, you are helping to transform the waterways into what they need to be for the next 75 years.

And so, as we begin to emerge into the new normal, I hope that every member of IWA will be able to do their part in continuing the legacy that our canals and navigable waterways o er to the country as a whole. Please enjoy the waterways across the country over the coming months as ‘staycations’ remain the norm.

Thank you and stay safe!

Paul Rodgers, IWA National Chair