Issue 14, Autumn/Winter 2021
Waterfront The Canal & River Trust Magazine
Walk on the wild side Helping nature recover and thrive along the Nottingham & Beeston Canal
Canalchester Making city living better for everyone in Manchester
Coventry canal culture Celebrating this year’s City of Culture
NEW Campaign Launch Help make your area blue, green and better #ActNowForCanals
Welcome Welcome to your new issue of Waterfront magazine. It’s been wonderful to see our canals so well-used and full of life in recent months. And in this issue, we’re celebrating the launch of our #ActNowForCanals campaign so that together, we can continue creating blue, green and better canal spaces for everyone to enjoy and nature to thrive. Our campaign wants to inspire everyone who enjoys spending time by water to get involved and support our charity by donating, volunteering, litter picking or simply caring for their local canals. We need more people with the same commitment as you to help us look after our vulnerable but vital canals. To find out more visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/actforcanals. That’s why this issue of Waterfront highlights some of the many ways your gifts are already helping to transform canals and enrich the lives of people living on or near them. Thanks to your support, we’re making a real impact, reviving blue and green spaces right in the heart of our biggest towns and cities. In this issue, we show you how you’re transforming the Rochdale and Ashton canals of Manchester. You’re also helping wildlife recover along the towpaths and canal banks. We walk along the Nottingham & Beeston Canal with our heritage and environment manager, Richard Bennett, to find how he and his team are bringing wildlife back into our urban areas.
There’s something about the stillness of water that has a positive effect.
Thanks to you, people are also starting to spend time by water on prescription from their GP, as our community wellbeing coordinator, Carol Burrell, explains. We hear how your support will enable schoolchildren to take lessons in wellbeing on canals this summer, after a difficult few months of learning at home. From helping to restore Birmingham’s Roundhouse, to celebrating Coventry’s UK City of Culture 2021, your support has made a huge impact in the West Midlands recently, allowing people to take real pride in the past and present of their home towns. We hope you enjoy reading about the huge difference you’re making by caring for our canals. As ever, we’d love to hear your stories of time spent by the water and feature them in our upcoming Waterfront magazines and emails. Please share why canals mean so much to you by sending your pictures, art or experiences to supportercare@canalrivertrust.org.uk.
Created by the Canal & River Trust and Cherry Tiger Ltd. All content is owned by the Canal & River Trust and may not be reproduced in any form without permission. Contact: Darroch Reid, Canal & River Trust, National Waterways Museum Ellesmere Port, South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 4FW. UK registered charity: 1146792.
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See how you’re helping to transform city canal spaces in Manchester
“ The activities such as paddle boarding, canoeing, walking tours, or volunteering that Carol runs are only the ice-breaker.” Julie Ellender, community connector Nottingham City Council
In this issue: 4-5 Canalchester How your support is reviving blue and green spaces in Manchester
6-7 A walk on the wild side Join us for a nature walk along the Nottingham & Beeston Canal
8-9 Canals on prescription How time by water is helping to improve health and wellbeing
10-11 Outdoor classrooms on canals How our Explorers programme is helping children find wellbeing by water
12-13 Fully rounded history Birmingham Roundhouse marks a significant heritage milestone
14-15 Keaveny’s canals Hear how BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Shaun Keaveny loves the radio silence of the waterways
16-17 Restoration in action Join us on the Grantham Canal as we celebrate volunteers’ progress
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18-19 Coventry canal culture
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14-15
Meet canal visitors celebrating this year’s City of Culture
20-21 Paddling through the city Paddle up to Sheffield to see how free events brightened up our summer
22-23 Cut on the cut The films and TV programmes that are making canals the star of the show
24 Passing on a blue and green future How a major project on the River Severn is leaving a legacy to nature
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Canalchester Manchester is falling back in love with its canals as the city regenerates along the twin ribbons of the Rochdale and Ashton canals. Right now, your support is helping to revive these blue and green urban spaces, giving city dwellers more outside space to enjoy, connecting up more of Manchester and making city living better for everyone. 4
“I think with Manchester, we’re really in it for the long haul,” muses James Long, North West urban engagement manager. “It’s not going to come overnight, but it is happening. It’s really exciting to see.” As James explains, the regeneration of the canals is part of a wider city renaissance, encompassing new city-centre housing developments, transport links and improved local services. He tells us: “The number of people living in city-centre flats has just exploded, but these developments are still very built-up. Especially in lockdown, the canal has given people their only outside space where they can sit, relax, walk, run or cycle. That’s why we’re working so hard to make Manchester’s canals cleaner, greener and safer.” will be able to pick an apple off a tree when they are fully grown.”
The ‘cleaner’ part comes from our workboat. It’s a familiar and reassuring sight as the team and volunteers pick litter, remove graffiti and steam-clean the towpath. Recent works on
To deliver the vital safety part, James and his team are working hard to install barriers, rescue equipment and signage. Most importantly, they are actively talking to students, young people and bar customers to help keep them safe.
© Biomatrix Water
Lock 83 in the Northern Quarter uncovered over 100 tonnes of debris. Yet the cleaner canals get, the less litter is dropped as local people want to protect it and spend more time on the towpath. The ‘greener’ part is where ecologist Tom King is involved. “Manchester is quite tough,” says Tom. “It’s all brick and concrete. So we have to make our own green space, putting floating reedbeds on the water, building planters on the towpath and adapting the planting to the conditions. We’ve built fern gardens in shaded areas between tall buildings. We’re bringing trees into the city, by planting them on top of the floating reedbeds and putting in fruit trees on the towpath to attract Manchester worker bees to the blossom. People
These are the first three crucial steps in reviving blue and green space in our cities and already they are showing results. New towpaths are providing a tranquil route through the city centre, making them an ideal walking, cycling and commuting route. Audio walking tours, telling the story of how the canals helped build Manchester’s rich industrial heritage are in development. And James is keen for the canals to mark the city’s cultural heritage too: “This is a city of innovation, so we want the canals to be a venue to celebrate that.” Month by month, year by year, Manchester’s canals are changing along the Rochdale Canal from Ancoats up to Newton Heath. And there are even more ambitious plans along the Ashton Canal, linking the city centre to the Etihad Stadium and the new housing and entertainment arena being built nearby. There’s even talk of restoring sections along the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. So how long does James think it will be before the revival of Manchester’s canals is complete? “In ten years’ time, Manchester and its canals will be unrecognisable. It’s all happening.” 5
A walk on the wild side Slowly but surely, nature is making its way into the heart of Nottingham, thanks in part to your support. Our heritage and environment manager, Richard Bennett, talks us through the wild work his team are doing as we walk along the riverside at Trent Bridge towards the famous castle.
© Alamy
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“I’ve got a lovely historical quote from around the time the canal was built,” says Richard enthusiastically, as we begin walking north along the Nottingham & Beeston Canal. “Back then it was said that ‘the mile that separated Trent Bridge from Nottingham was the most beautiful mile near any town in Great Britain.’ You might not use that phrase now,” he quips. He’s right. Today, the canal runs past an area known as ‘The Meadows’, dominated by a major road, housing and smaller manufacturing businesses. But as the name implies, it was once all beautiful fields rolling down to the Trent, offering an unrivalled view of Nottingham Castle standing proud above the city. This is Richard’s inspiration as he, with the help of local colleagues and volunteers, brings wildflowers back to the towpath. As he explains, work began here a couple of years ago. “Initially we said, ‘Let’s just stop mowing and see what happens.’ When the grass banks were allowed to grow naturally we discovered we had Bee Orchids within them. But pecking geese were still trampling down a lot of vegetation, so we decided to fence the banks off, dig them over and sow locally suitable wildflowers to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies. Now we’ve got
River Trent Carrington Street Bridge 7
arf C a s tl e W h
Castle Wharf
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over 20 species of grasses, and wildflowers here. In June there was a carpet of Oxeye daisies and other flowers along the canal. Later in the year, we’re planning a volunteer pollinator count and hopefully we’ll see a real jump in bee and insect numbers, even though we’re right by one of the busiest roads in Nottingham. We’re also working with others to reintroduce Nottingham Crocuses, which once flowered across ‘The Meadows’ and gave nearby Crocus Street its name. Richard’s ideas for nature in the city don’t stop there. At the top of London Road the canal turns sharply left. This is an area of redevelopment known as the ‘Island Quarter’ which will open up the canal banks to waterside walkways, bars and housing. There are exciting plans for green walls, street art and floating reedbeds on the offside that will help clean up the water and attract more fish, dragonflies and birds onto the canal. The work here is all part of the Nottingham Canal Improvement Partnership, and many local organisations are offering their help to ‘green-up’ the city. We walk further along the canal under the new tram track, past canalside cafés and new landscaped buildings towards Castle Wharf, the heart of canal life in Nottingham. Richard says: “There’s a small area
Follow Richard’s walk along the Nottingham & Beeston Canal, from just above the railway station to just below Nottingham Castle.
here off the canal that we’ve planted up. We’re going to use it for pond-dipping events to see what kind of wildlife we’ve attracted in. It’s also accessible which means we’re also using it for kayaking and paddleboard taster sessions. You see things like goose nests on the water you just don’t see from the towpath.” As we continue past the imposing British Waterways building, Richard points out another new area for wildlife in the city. After Castle Lock, there’s an area called ‘Tinker’s Leen’ where volunteers have thinned some of the woodland understorey creating small glades where bulbs and wildflowers can bloom each spring. We reach Castle Marina where resident boaters have been working to ‘upcycle’ life rings to make floating nesting islands for the local geese, swans, common terns and moorhens. We could carry on right along the canal past Beeston Lock where the canal meets the River Trent again, towards the wonderful Attenborough Nature Reserve. For now it’s satisfying enough to have a cup of tea and drink in all the wonderful green space and wildlife your support is helping bring into the city.
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Carol Burrell, community wellbeing co-ordinator
Canals on prescription With many research studies showing that time outside can be a wonderful tonic for our mental and physical health, many people working in the social care, health, and voluntary sectors have been offering opportunities to spend time in green space for some time. Now the Canal & River Trust are getting involved too with ‘social prescriptions’ of activities by water. All designed to help people make friendships, build confidence and improve their health and wellbeing outdoors. It’s our community wellbeing co-ordinator, Carol Burrell’s job to deliver our programme. “Really it’s about having time for people and getting to know what their concerns are,” reflects Carol when we ask her to define what ‘social prescribing’ is. “To help improve people’s wellbeing, GPs can now refer people to us through a link worker like my colleague, Julie Ellender, who is a community connector for Nottingham City Council. It’s Julie’s job to foster links with organisations like us who can offer wellbeing support.” As Carol explains, both she and Julie act as that listening ear: “There’s huge variety, but you 8
might have someone who is struggling to cope after they’ve lost a partner. Or you might have someone who’s just lonely and feeling isolated, especially after lockdown. You can’t solve everything for everyone. But you can give them that space to clear their mind and open-up. There’s something about spending time by water that has a positive effect. It releases those endorphins. Gives people clarity, confidence and strength.” When we speak to Julie, she points out: “The activities such as paddleboarding, canoeing, walking tours, or volunteering that Carol coordinates are only the ice-breaker. Over a
four-week course, people who may be isolated and anxious beforehand, come together, make friendships and connect with others. “The paddle instructors are outstanding,” continues Julie. “So patient, kind and understanding, with people who sometimes haven’t been outside their four walls for years. And the confidence people get from the activities really helps them continue to make other big changes in their lives.” Carol and Julie put us in touch with Mark, who is being helped by local social services. He’s eager to tell me how much he’s benefitted by spending time by water. Mark tells us: “I’m very intelligent. I have a BSC (Hons) in environmental science. And I’m a songwriter too. But I have big highs and big lows. I find being outside really helps me. I like the canal for the tranquillity. It’s timeless isn’t it? I call the canal the ‘lungs of society’.” Others in the group have taken to the water so well, they are now planning to
take on more responsibility and volunteer as canal rangers, looking out for problems on the towpaths. And as Carol explains, there are many more people living in the heart of the city that she wants to reach. “Part of my remit is to work with people across all communities and ethnicities in Nottingham who have been affected by Covid-19. I would like to see the diversity of the city reflected on our towpaths and I want to support people to access the activities they can take part in. If this last year has taught us anything, it is that being outdoors is good for us. I’m a very strong and motivated person. A professional fitness coach. But even I stopped exercising for a time. But fortunately, I got my mindset right and got moving again. And that’s what I want to pass on to everyone. Share my knowledge about keeping active and getting outside and getting some of that vitamin D into your body, which is so good for your wellbeing.”
“The activities such as paddle boarding, canoeing, walking tours, or volunteering that Carol runs are only the ice-breaker.”
“There’s something about the stillness of water that has a positive effect.”
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Outdoor classrooms on the canals Children love to spend time by water. Fishing or pond-dipping from the bankside. Playing pooh-sticks on a bridge. Perhaps taking to the water on a narrowboat or discovering how a lock works. And thanks to our Explorers education programme, our waterways are becoming wonderful outdoor classrooms. “There’s so much to explore on the canal for children of all ages,” explains our participation
manager for learning and skills, Annette Simpson. “We can help younger ones build their own canal in sand as part of a transport topic. Or learn about waterway wildlife as they look at nature and habitats. For the older children, there are STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) lessons all around you on the canal network. At different levels, children of every age need to learn about the history and geography of canals that helped create the place they live. There are important life lessons to learn too, especially around water safety, wellbeing and citizenship.” After the Explorers programme had to go online during lockdown to support teachers, children and home-schooling parents, Annette is delighted to be helping children get back outdoors again. “Obviously lockdowns due to Covid-19 had a massive impact on children’s wellbeing. Teachers and parents are really understanding that learning by the canal is a great way to help them feel calm and happy again. “That’s why we’ve just launched a five-day wellbeing learning activity programme that teachers can deliver themselves using their local canals. We encourage children to explore
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“ The canal ticks so many boxes. Their mental health, self-esteem, general fitness and wellbeing. There is nothing else like this.” Primary school teacher
nature around them and the impact this has on their wellbeing. They take part in canal and river yoga, striking poses in the shapes of bridges, frogs, boats and butterflies. There’s a mindfulness exercise that’s just about sitting still, breathing, listening and noticing. For the older groups, we offer activities like canoeing or kayaking that are great fun and really good for building confidence and a sense of adventure again.” One of Annette’s newest areas of work came from listening to what matters most to the children themselves. She explains: “They’ve told us they are really interested in things like climate change and want to be actively involved in doing something to help. So now we’re looking into more age-appropriate volunteering opportunities on the canals, six-week or six-month proenvironmental programmes helping out on the canal. Not just for schoolchildren but also for uniformed groups like Scouts or Guides too. At the same time, we’re launching a School Plastics Challenge and pocket adoptions. Schools or groups can adopt a short stretch of their local canal and the children can design their own improvements. They might plant a mini-garden where they grow their own fruit or vegetables or create an artwork or nature area.
They have some control over it and decide what they want their canal to look like.” So it’s shaping up to be a busy few months of learning on our canals. And there’s room for the children’s guardians to get involved with hundreds of free activities and ideas to download from the Explorers website. Alternatively, if you have experience working with children, you might want to help young Explorers as one of our education volunteers. Visit the Explorers website to find out more.
Explorers in numbers • Over 3,000 schools are located within just 1km of a canal or river
Thanks to your support: • Over 500,000 children have participated in the Explorers programmes since 2012 • Over 12,000 students took part in our online learning sessions during lockdowns
Learn more at canalrivertrust.org.uk/explorers 11
Heritage comes full circle The reopening of Birmingham’s Roundhouse this summer, marks an important milestone in our efforts to rescue and repurpose notable historic canal sites. The sensitive revival places a beautiful building back at the heart of the local community in Ladywood, where it will draw in many visitors from further afield.
The former horse stables will include space to learn about the history of the Roundhouse
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Back in 2004, our predecessor, British Waterways, had 125 heritage sites listed on Historic England’s ‘Buildings at Risk Register’. After years of methodical progress by both organisations, the reopening of Birmingham’s Roundhouse and the expected removal of the Whaley Bridge Transhipment Warehouse this summer leaves only one site on the list. And work on that remaining site at Hanwell Locks near Ealing continues apace. The £3 million restoration of the Grade II* listed Roundhouse is now complete and has been a real team effort between the Canal & River Trust, the National Trust and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Nonetheless, the horseshoe-shaped building had a fascinating role in the development of industrial Birmingham. Canal boats brought stone to this breaking yard, store and stables. Then the horses that may have inspired its architectural design would transport the stone around the city to build or repair roads. Now though, the building will supply new essential services to local people, contributing
to the wellbeing and civic pride of the city as visitors learn more about its role in the city’s history. Many events are already up and running and this September you can take part in guided walks around the Roundhouse itself and surrounding parts of the city centre. Feeling more active? You can choose from two kayak tours around local waterways. Or take a serene ride on our Heritage Working boat around local canal loops. Why not come along and see Birmingham, its history and our canals from a whole new perspective?
© Birmingham Museums Trust / Birmingham City Council
Much delayed by the pandemic, the building is now fully open to the public under the auspices of a new independent charity called Roundhouse Birmingham, who will run the space as an urban recreation hub and centre for waterside events on the nearby canal. Including offices, a café-bar and community spaces, the Roundhouse is designed to be alive with activity, rather than simply being a museum of the past.
To find out more visit roundhousebirmingham.org.uk/whats-on
The new space will include community meeting rooms, and a café-bar
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Keaveny’s canals Stopping off to talk to us in Little Venice, in London on his morning commute to his afternoon radio show, we meet DJ Shaun Keaveny in a reflective mood. Join us over a coffee as he looks back on his childhood waterway memories, wonders what’s around life’s next bend as he leaves BBC Radio 6 Music and fantasises about his ideal rock ’n’ roll crewmates. “Leigh is riven with canals,” explains Shaun drifting off to his childhood town in the Northwest. “Spending time by water is in my veins. I’m in danger of painting a picture of ancient times, but looking back, it was quite idyllic. All bikes and dens and just exploring the canals outdoors.
Actually, that’s only semi a joke because I am a deeply unfashionable man, musically. I’m an enthusiast, a generalist. The way I look at it, music is about liking a bit of everything. Most people at 6 Music are specialists; extraordinarily knowledgeable. My job is more about what happens between the songs.
When I moved to London 20 years ago, living by the canal in Stepney was important. I was very homesick at the time. Now, when I take the kids back up north, we have this little ritual of taking the bikes down to a waterside pub for crisps and cola. What’s mesmerising about it for kids hasn’t changed at all. It’s still the mystery of the water.
I just concentrate on talking nonsense, which is harder than it seems. It’s a bit like watching Les Dawson playing the piano so badly; there is a skill to it. It doesn’t come easily. Being comfortable on the radio just takes years of practice.”
But this end of the Regent’s Canal is a recent discovery for me. Back in February, I was recovering from Covid. Coming down to the canal was like the opening of a flower. I’d forgotten about nature; the restorative feeling of water. Those reconnections to your childhood. The tranquility in the water; like glass, the stillness of it. Of course, it’s a precious commodity in London.” As he talks for a living we asked Shaun whether time for himself was important: “Definitely. As one of my broadcast buddies, Mark Radcliffe, said the other day, ‘I’m not very talkative off air.’ You need peace and quiet. When I was a kid, my dad worked really brutal shift patterns. He’d be the same. One of the loveliest, funniest men you’ll ever meet. But he likes quiet. Now I finally get it.” He’s even thought about living on a boat: “I fantasise about that three times a week. But then I stop myself, because living on a boat needs a rudimentary level of practicality. That’s not me. So maybe more a canal side apartment. A little veranda … invite people over for a drink … watch the evening light glistening on the canal … are you with me?” And as for his favourite canal tunes? “Well, I’m like Covid,” comes the quick quip. “I’ve got very little taste. And that’s one of the reasons I’m leaving 6 Music.
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Speaking of talking nonsense, what about Shaun’s future on his fantasy canal boat? Who would be in his rock ‘n’ roll crew? “Okay, so Róisín Murphy. She lives near me. Like me, she’s got the Irish roaming spirit. Keith Richards. He has the right spirits, obviously. We’d have a little row of optics. Will Champion, the drummer from Coldplay, he’s big, set, sensible. Secretly fun. On bass, I would get my old mate Mark King, from Level 42, on board. He’s incredibly practical, Mark. Good at sumps and stuff. And I would want somebody like Gladys Knight too. ‘The Pips’ know their way around the ropes.” Maybe this could be the next career move Shaun is looking for? Pirate radio on a canal boat. “Yeah, maybe there’s a Radio 4 programme in that. Everybody’s got a story on the towpath or the waterway. Funnily enough, Johnny Marr texted me the other day. I must have said something on air about doing a show on a canal boat and he was like, ‘I’d be up for that’.” Look out Brandreth and Hancock. Marr and Keaveny are after your gig.
“ Canal wildlife has been an amazing “ T he tranquility in the water; like glass, healing resource during lockdown. the stillness of it. Of course, it’s a Instead of having to in goLondon.” out to the precious commodity country, people went down to the Shaun Keavenyand saw butterflies on their canal lunch hour or daily exercise.” Paul Wilkinson
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Restoration in action Work to bring back more of our historic canals never ends. Today, there are 97 ongoing or potential restoration projects underway in England and Wales, a number of these are being undertaken on our canals, including the Grantham Canal. We visited the beautiful Vale of Belvoir, where volunteers from Grantham Canal Society and Waterway Recovery Group have rebuilt locks 14 and 15 from scratch. With support from our experts Mark Owen and Karen Rice, and thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, these amazing volunteer groups have brought more of this stunning rural canal back to life.
waterways for 42 years, Mark was used to repairing locks with a skilled construction team within six weeks. Here were a bunch of keen, eager dentists, scientists and air conditioning engineers. Not a trained bricklayer among them.
“The first time we went down to the lock and met the Grantham Canal Society volunteers,” says site supervisor Mark Owen, “I thought ‘What the heck have I done’. But they have been absolutely fantastic.” Having worked on
Project manager, Karen Rice, picks up the story: “During the first few weeks I have an enduring memory of volunteers chomping at the bit needing a lot of training. And when we began to excavate the lock walls, we realised they were
“ Mark and Karen have given us focus and continuity between all the different volunteers. They’ve kept us going on the right rails.” Richard Caunt, Grantham Canal Society volunteer
“ A volunteer-led project on this scale was an experiment But we’ve all learned what can be achieved, when we put our minds to it.” 16
Karen Rice, Canal & River Trust project manager
beyond saving. The lock would need rebuilding from the ground up. Very quickly the project was an awful lot bigger than anticipated. Yet here we are today with two brand new locks. Lined with 32,000 perfectly straight bricks, supported by more than 600 cubic metres of concrete. It has been entirely put together by 440 different volunteers, who generously gave over 63,000 hours of their free time.” We asked Karen for her highlights. “Oh, the official opening of lock 15, when the first boat in 90 years went through, passing many of the volunteers and staff involved. As much as the lock itself, it’s the impact on the people. It’s changed us all. Many of the volunteers are recently retired, so that sense of still being a team is vital.” Dave Lane is one of those many volunteers who just happens to be working on the lock today. He says: “Proud? Yes, of course we are. When you think that on average, most of us are aged 70 plus, it’s an amazing achievement.”
We ask Dave and his volunteering colleague Richard Caunt, what’s next. And it turns out there is another pair of locks, numbers 12 and 13, that need another £1million of investment to bring them back into use. “Having built lock 15, restoring lock 14 was easier,” says Dave. “But the concerning thing is if we don’t get more funding soon, at our age, you could lose all the skill base that’s been built up for the last five years. Far better if we can move straight on to lock 13, keep the teams together and the momentum going.” In the meantime, the volunteers are keeping busy by reconstructing a nearby slipway and carrying out a variety of restoration, repair and maintenance projects along the canal. Having helped secure the original funding for the restoration of locks 14 and 15, we will use your vital support to continue to help the Grantham Canal Society keep the restoration moving ahead. But let’s return to Mark for one final reflection: “The old locks have been here 200 years. And now these new ones will be here for another 200 years. So that’s our legacy, isn’t it?”
“ It might have taken five years to complete, but they’ve been a great bunch and have done a wonderful job.” Mark Owen, Canal & River Trust site supervisor
“ Honestly, we’ve enjoyed ourselves. The one thing you miss when you pack up work is the camaraderie. The team of friends.” Dave Lane, Grantham Canal Society volunteer
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In preparation for the Coventry UK City of Culture 2021, our teams put in many months of hard work to revive the blue and green spaces along the Coventry Canal. One of the first City of Culture events to go ahead on the canal was a floating market, put on by the Roving Canal Traders Association (RCTA). We went along to speak to traders, shoppers and members of the local community. Join us for a chat with just a few of them as they enjoy time by water.
Talking on the towpath
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Haroon Mota
Rose and Blessing
Sue Meads
Marathon runner and community activist, Haroon, works in the Foleshill area of Coventry, helping local residents get more active on the canal: “In my youth I never used the local towpath. Now, I put my running shoes on and go. It’s flat, there’s no traffic. No need to plan a route and I can just see where the canal takes me. It’s a huge blessing on my doorstep. That mental space just to be on your own, reflect and contemplate is so valuable.”
Coventry residents, Rose and Blessing, visited the market after reading about it on the Coventry City of Culture website. “I’ve been to lots of markets,” says Rose. “But never to a floating market,” interjects Blessing excitedly. Rose continues: “I’ve lived in Coventry 20 years, but I’ve never been to Canal Basin ever before. I think Covid has made people slow down and explore what’s around them. I was always so busy, always passing through. But with Coventry City of Culture, I don’t want to miss out.”
Sue modestly denies being a big name in the RCTA. But she certainly runs one of the most popular stalls. Cheese Aboard had completely sold out by the time we spoke: “It’s been very good, considering the restrictions. Traders had to be resourceful and trade on the towpath where they could without events like these. It’s good to be back. And the Canal & River Trust team have done wonders with the canal. I would never have come here five years ago. I take my hat off to them.”
Lesley and Rob
Oliver and Lydia
Panditji Ravi Bhushan
Steampunk fans, Lesley, Rob and their dog Albie, were trading for the first time in two years due to the pandemic. Lesley explains: “After a career designing toothbrushes and packaging, I took a fine art degree. Now we tour the whole canal system, selling my illustrated canal maps and paintings of waterway wildlife.” Rob adds: ”It’s been a good weekend. Dressing up adds to the atmosphere and intrigues people. I write software and books about our misadventures, so between those and the art, we make a good living.”
Oliver is from just up the road in Nuneaton and grew up roaming the canals nearby, but his partner of six years, Lydia, is from much further afield. She tells us: “I’m from the States. Columbus, Ohio, in fact. We met online but with Covid we haven’t met each other for over a year. It’s been nice to come down and find some canal gifts to bring home.” Oliver says: “I love canals, ever since I learned about their history in school. So we just came to see what it was all about.”
As assistant treasurer of the local Lions Club and a respected member of his local community, Panditji now volunteers with the Canal & River Trust. His club colleague, Davinder Prasad explains the Lions are encouraging all local South Asian communities to get involved. “From childhood we are taught in our faith, in our culture to look after the environment,” says Davinder. “Today nature is not happy, because we are not respecting nature. So we are adopting five miles of the canal and all the faith groups will adopt one mile each.” 19
Paddling through the city It’s hard to believe there’s any open space close by as we drive across Sheffield’s huge M1 flyover, past shiny online warehouses and shopping centre car parks. Yet hidden amid the concrete, Tinsley Marina is an oasis of sparkling blue and verdant green. Built to carry iron ore into the city, and steel out of it, the canal is now being brought back to life. Today, it’s the venue for a ‘Let’s Paddle!’ event and Dan Crawford, our instructor, is busy explaining how to get going. “Paddle right to go left. Left to go right. Forwards to go backwards. Backwards to go forwards. And remember, screaming won’t stop you. Only paddling will.” As difficult as it sounds, as soon as we get on the water, paddling comes completely naturally. Soon, 13-year-old Joseph is ploughing eagerly ahead through this gorgeous ribbon of water. We are totally focused and at peace. Like wanderers in wilderness, looking for adventure around the next bend. “Snake! Snake!” goes up a shout ahead. Sure enough, a grass snake swims head above water across the canal. A truly amazing sight in the heart of Sheffield. Community roots engagement coordinator, Jade Wilkes, is responsible for putting on waterside events all year round. “We’ve got paddleboarding, walking, fishing and a ‘Let’s Lock-Keep!’ day coming up. There are street art days. Yesterday, I was running a Forest School session. Families might be a bit nervous at first, but every single time, they love the activities.
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With lots of free events running on our canals this year, people of all ages are paddling, pedalling, walking or exploring nature by water. We visited the Sheffield & Tinsley Canal to discover how these open taster sessions are helping people in urban areas get active right on their doorstep.
“There are some of the most densely populated areas of Sheffield along this stretch,” continues Jade. “People don’t have access to many places to go outside for fun. I remember one young family were terrified to even go near a puddle. But by the end they were all splashing through the puddles and getting muddy. All children love to be outside. They just need exposure to it. Where I grew up, there was no chance to do something like canoeing. So now, I’m keen to give people opportunities they wouldn’t normally have.” Meanwhile, volunteer team leader, Anthony Walker, is working hard with his volunteers to clear a wharf by the canal. He tells us: “We’re creating a canoe hub to help bring local families, students and people with learning difficulties down to the water.” It’s just one of many projects his volunteers deliver, from clearing up litter and fly-tipped debris, to planting bulbs and wildflowers and removing graffiti. “We are starting to get on top,” says Anthony. “The more beauty we create, or activities we run, the more people want to come to their canal.”
Join in! ‘Let’s!’ events are free, open to all and available right around the country. Get active by your local canal at canalrivertrust.org.uk/events 21
Cut on the cut We all know how beautiful and evocative our canals and rivers can be. That’s why more and more films and TV shows are featuring locations from the canals of England and Wales. Come on set with us as we take a closer look at some of the most recent and popular productions to use our uniquely beautiful locations.
On board with the Gyptians (actors Lucian Msamati and Anne-Marie Duff)
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Lyra setting sail (actor Dafne Keen)
Filming supernatural thriller, ‘His Dark Materials’, on location at Sharpness Docks
Killing Eve
His Dark Materials This magical, otherworldly drama burst onto screens in 2019. Adapted from Philip Pullman’s best-selling novels, the show follows the adventures of Lyra Belacqua as she battles dark forces in a parallel universe not too dissimilar from our own. Large parts of the action take place on the water, as Lyra teams up with the ‘Gyptians’, river-dwelling folk who spend their lives on canal boats. Her exploits take her along canals, wetlands and icy, arctic seas, eluding enemies at every turn. In reality, many scenes were shot at Sharpness Docks in Gloucester and on nearby stretches of the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. With the magic of CGI, the area was transformed to look like London Docks, and the same trickery was used to sail Lyra on a Lightship moored in the dock, all the way to the frozen north.
Capturing the action on a light boat at Sharpness Docks (His Dark Materials)
The Irregulars The latest television series set in the shadowy world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, arrived on Netflix in March. The action centres around a ragtag group of troubled teens as they negotiate the seamy underbelly of Victorian-era London, using their unearthly powers to crack cases for Holmes and Watson. Filmed predominantly on location in the north west, the show features several shots from the Trent & Mersey Canal near Stoke-on-Trent, as well as a breathtaking apocalyptic harbour scene, filmed at the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port.
The Eternals October 2021 sees the hotly anticipated release of Marvel’s latest blockbuster, ‘The Eternals.’ With an ensemble cast including stars like Angelina Jolie and ‘Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington, the film follows a band of immortal
superheroes as they fight to save humanity from a looming apocalypse. The bulk of the filming took place at London’s Pinewood Studios, but for several key action sequences, director Chloe Zhao moved production to Camden Locks. One particularly jawdropping chase scene sees the characters pursued along the Regent’s Canal towpath onto Camden High Street, surrounded by pyrotechnics, attack drones and exploding stunt vehicles.
All photos © HBO, BBC & Bad Wolf
The BBC’s adaptation of Luke Jennings’ ‘Villanelle’ novels has been the breakout hit of the last few years, thrilling audiences and critics on both sides of the Atlantic. The jet-black comedy-drama exploring the twisted world of international espionage takes us to some of the most glamorous locations in Europe, including Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam. Yet, as the main thread of the story plays out in London, our capital’s canals often provide a striking backdrop to the drama. In the latest series, we follow investigative journalist, Kenny, along the tree-lined towpath of Regent’s Canal, and witness an explosive scene on the banks of the Grand Union Canal as an angry Villanelle confronts her handler, Konstantin.
That’s a wrap! With over 2,000 miles of stunning canals, towpaths and locks, it’s no wonder that Hollywood has come calling. With new seasons of ‘Killing Eve’ and ‘His Dark Materials’ slated for release next summer, and new film and TV projects being touted all the time, we hope to see many more thrilling scenes play out on our canalsides in the months to come.
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Creating a vital blue and green future
“ There are over 160 sites across our network where fish still find it difficult to pass. The work we’ve done on the River Severn is wonderful, but only the start.” Jason Leach, Canal & River Trust programme director
With wildlife declining at an unprecedented rate, we need to help nature recover like never before. Our canals and rivers play an important role in turning the tide. By considering a gift in your Will, you could help bring nature back across our waterways for future generations to enjoy.
Now, thanks in part to your support, the ‘Unlocking the Severn Project’* is righting this wrong for wildlife. The new passes include a viewing gallery so local people can connect with their river wildlife and see adult twaite shad and other species head upstream each spring.
Helping endangered fish to climb past weirs and reach their spawning grounds has been at the heart of a major engineering project undertaken on the River Severn over the past 12 months. Two newly opened ‘fish passes’ will help twaite shad, a rare and beautifully iridescent member of the herring family, reach their traditional breeding grounds for the first time in more than 170 years. The passes circumnavigate weirs at Diglis and Bevere near Worcester, which were built by the Victorians to deepen the river for boat traffic. Sadly, these weirs stopped this endangered species in their tracks, causing their numbers to collapse.
The multi-million pound project will deliver two more fish passes by the end of 2021 and its legacy will be a healthier, better-connected and wilder River Severn. But our work is far from done. Waterway wildlife desperately needs all the support we can give. A gift in your Will can help us undertake many more projects to help wildlife recover across England and Wales. Your gift could help us realise our long-term vision for blue, green and better waterways.
To find out how a gift in your Will can transform the future of canals visit
canalrivertrust.org.uk/giftsinwills
and download our new information pack. Thank you.
© Alamy
* Unlocking the Severn is being delivered by Canal & River Trust, Severn Rivers Trust, Environment Agency and Natural England, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the European Union LIFE programme. See www.unlockingthesevern.co.uk for more information.
