Canal And River Trust
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The Canal & River Trust (CRT), branded as in Wales, holds the guardianship of 2,000 miles of canals and rivers, together with reservoirs and a wide range of heritage buildings and structures, in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
. Launched on 12 July 2012, the Trust took over the responsibilities of the state-owned
British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotlan ...
in England and Wales.


History

The concept of a National Waterways Conservancy was first championed and articulated in the 1960s by Robert Aickman, the co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association, as a way to secure the future of Britain's threatened inland waterways network. The idea was revived by the management of
British Waterways British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotlan ...
in 2008 in response to increasing cuts in
grant-in-aid A grant-in-aid is money allocated from a central/state government to subnational governments to provide specific services or fund specific projects. Such funding is usually used when the government and the legislature decide that the recipient ...
funding, a drop in commercial income after the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
and growing calls by waterway users for a greater say in the running of the waterways. On 18 May 2009, launching 'Twenty Twenty – a vision for the future of our canals and rivers' on the terrace of the House of Commons, British Waterways proposed a radical overhaul of waterway management and a transfer from public corporation to not-for-profit organisation. The event was supported by speakers from each of the three main parties: Charlotte Atkins MP, Peter Ainsworth MP and Lembit Opik MP. British Waterways' chairman, Tony Hales, said: "The private sector built the canals, the public sector rescued them and I believe the third sector can be their future". In November 2009, British Waterways published another paper 'Setting a New Course: Britain's Inland Waterways in the Third Sector'. This promoted the original suggestion by British Waterways, that it should become a private company, inheriting all of the property and other waterway assets held in public ownership by British Waterways. On 24 March 2010, the Labour government announced its decision to mutualise British Waterways, a commitment which was repeated in Labour's 2010 manifesto: "To give more people a stake in a highly valued national asset, British Waterways will be turned into a mutually owned co-operative". Following the 2010 general election, the incoming
coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...
reaffirmed its support for status change on the waterways, as an example of the Conservative Party's commitment to the so-called Big Society. Waterways Minister Richard Benyon MP stated on 21 June 2010 the government's "intention to move British Waterways to the civil society, subject to the outcome of the spending review." Between March and June 2011, Defra ran a public consultation 'A New Era for the Waterways' on the overall structure of the proposed new body, the potential inclusion of the river navigations under the management of the
Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
(another public body), and the abolition of the Inland Waterways Advisory Council. In October 2011, British Waterways announced a name and logo for a charitable trust which would inherit its English and Welsh operations: the Canal & River Trust, branded in Wales as Glandŵr Cymru (meaning Waterside Wales) — the Canal & River Trust in Wales. The Trust received charitable status in April and received parliamentary approval in June. In July 2012, all British Waterways' assets, liabilities and responsibilities in England and Wales were transferred to the Canal & River Trust, which was launched officially on 12 July. At the same time, the Canal & River Trust merged with the English and Welsh operations of The Waterways Trust, a charity previously affiliated to British Waterways, to avoid confusion and as both charities had similar aims. BWML, a private company limited by guarantee, was formerly owned by the Canal & River Trust and managed some 20 marinas. It was sold in December 2018 and subsequently rebranded Aquavista.


Scotland

In
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, British Waterways continues to operate as a stand-alone public corporation under the trading name Scottish Canals.


Access to waterways and towpaths

Waterways in the care of the Canal & River Trust are accessible for use by boats, canoeists,
paddleboard Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. Paddleboarding is usually performed in the open ...
ers and other
watercraft A watercraft or waterborne vessel is any vehicle designed for travel across or through water bodies, such as a boat, ship, hovercraft, submersible or submarine. Types Historically, watercraft have been divided into two main categories. *Raf ...
upon payment of an appropriate licence fee. Walkers and cyclists can use the extensive network of
towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, Working animal, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mod ...
s that run alongside the canals and rivers without payment of a fee. Horses may not be ridden or walked on a towpath unless it has been formally designated as a
bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...
. Access by motorbikes and other motorised vehicles is not permitted.


Structure

The trust is headed by a board of 10 appointed and unelected trustees with a chairperson, which is legally responsible for overseeing the work towards the Trust's charitable objectives and sets strategy for the trust. The trust has a 28-member council which referees the business of the trust and whose construction reflects the range of waterway users, from boating and angling through to walking and conservation. Finally, an executive team and six regional directors are collectively concerned with the ordinary running of the trust.


Council

The Canal & River Trust has a governing council of 28 members. Members of the first council included a mix of nominated and elected individuals. Council advises on shaping policy, raising and debating issues, providing guidance, perspective and a sounding board for the trustees.


Partnerships

For each of the trust's waterway areas there is a regional partnership drawn from local communities. In addition an all-Wales partnership considers issues relating to Welsh waterways and a separate partnership exists for the trust's museums and attractions.


Trustees

The trustees are legally responsible for ensuring that the trust meets its charitable objectives. Trustees are the unpaid board directors of the trust, taking collective decisions on policy and overarching strategy and providing oversight of the executive directors.


Management

Executive directors manage the everyday operation of the trust and develop policy and strategy for approval by the trustees.


Committees

The trust is supported through a number of advisory committees covering a range of different areas from freight and navigation to volunteering and heritage. These groups provide advice direct to the management of the trust. The trust's head office is in
Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...
. It operates 11 local offices that deal with the general maintenance of the waterways in their area. These offices are based on the Waterways Partnership regions which are: *East Midlands region, based at Newark, Nottinghamshire *London and South East region, based at
Little Venice Little Venice is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, around the junction of the Paddington Arm, Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin. The junction, also k ...
and
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
*North West region, based at
Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
, Lancashire *Wales and South West region, based at
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
*West Midlands region, based at Cambrian Wharf, Birmingham, West Midlands. *Yorkshire and North East region, based at
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...


Finance

The Trust receives a fixed grant from the
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and r ...
over the 15 years commencing 2012. Its major other sources of income are from utilities (including fibre optic data connections and water sales) and property rentals from a £500 million property endowment granted by the government. It also receives an income from issuing licences for boats using and mooring on the waterways; this is one of the largest income streams that Canal and River Trust Limited has, after the government grant and has been given a funding pledge by the People's Postcode Lottery of over £1 million.


Supporters and corporate partners

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
is the patron of the Canal & River Trust and the actor
Brian Blessed Brian Blessed ( ; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor. He is known for his distinctive bushy beard, booming voice, and exuberant personality and performances. He portrayed PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars''; Augustus in the 1976 BBC television ...
supports the trust's volunteer appeal. In June 2012 the trust announced three major corporate partners to support the Canal & River Trust: *
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
partnered with the Canal & River Trust to include the UK's
towpath A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, Working animal, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge. This mod ...
s on
Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...
. This includes highlighting access points, bridges, locks and tunnels. Once the project is complete, members of the public will have the ability to plan journeys that include canal and river towpaths as well as roads. *The People's Postcode Lottery pledged to support the Canal & River Trust with £1m of funding. The charity lottery promised to support the restoration and conservation work of the Canal & River Trust over the next decade through the Postcode Green Trust. *
The Co-operative Bank The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. is a British retail and commercial bank based in Manchester, England. Established as a bank for co-operators and co-operatives following the principles of the Rochdale Pioneers, the business evolved in the 20th ce ...
and the Canal & River Trust work together to provide financial products that allow people to support the work of the Trust.


Waterways operated

The Canal & River Trust is the owner or
navigation authority A navigation authority is a company or statutory body which is concerned with the management of a navigable canal or river. Rights of a navigation authority Whilst the rights of individual authorities vary, a navigation authority will typically hav ...
for over 2,000 miles of waterways. These are: *
Aire and Calder Navigation The Aire and Calder Navigation is the River engineering#Canalization of rivers, canalised section of the River Aire, Rivers Aire and River Calder, West Yorkshire, Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Kn ...
**Wakefield Branch * Ashby Canal *
Ashton Canal The Ashton Canal is a canal in Greater Manchester, England, linking Manchester with Ashton-under-Lyne in Tameside. Route The Ashton leaves the Rochdale Canal at Ducie St. Junction in central Manchester, and climbs for through 18  locks, ...
*
Birmingham Canal Navigations Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) is a network of canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country. The BCN is connected to the rest of the English canal system at several junctions. It was owned and opera ...
**Old and New Main Lines **
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham ...
**
Dudley Canal The Dudley Canal is a canal passing through Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh network of connected navigable inland waterways and forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat cruising ro ...
s No. 1 and 2 ** Rushall Canal ** Tame Valley Canal ** Titford Canal ** Walsall Canal ** Wednesbury Oak Loop ** Wednesbury Old Canal ** Wyrley and Essington Canal ***Anglesey Branch *** Cannock Extension Canal ***Daw End Branch *
Bow Back Rivers Bow Back Rivers or Stratford Back Rivers is a complex of waterways between Bow, London, Bow and Stratford, London, Stratford in east London, England, which connect the River Lea to the River Thames. Starting in the twelfth century, works were ca ...
*
Bridgwater and Taunton Canal The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a canal in the south-west of England between Bridgwater and Taunton, Somerset, Taunton, opened in 1827 and linking the River Tone to the River Parrett. There were a number of abortive schemes to link the ...
* Calder and Hebble Navigation * Caldon Canal *
Chesterfield Canal The Chesterfield Canal is a narrow canal in the East Midlands of England and it is known locally as 'Cuckoo Dyke'. It was one of the last of the canals designed by James Brindley, who died while it was being constructed. It was opened in 1777 ...
*
Coventry Canal The Coventry Canal is a navigable narrow canal in the Midlands of England. It starts in Coventry and ends to the north at Fradley Junction, just north of Lichfield, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal. It also has connections with the ...
*
Droitwich Canal The Droitwich Canal is a synthesis of two canals in Worcestershire, England; the Droitwich Barge Canal and the Droitwich Junction Canal. The Barge Canal is a broad canal which opened in 1771 linking Droitwich Spa to the River Severn at Hawford ...
*
Erewash Canal The Erewash Canal is a broad canal in Derbyshire, England. It runs just under and has 14 canal lock, locks. The first lock at Langley Mill, Langley Bridge is part of the Cromford Canal. Origins The canal obtained its act of Parliament, ...
* Fossdyke *
Gloucester and Sharpness Canal The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal (also known as the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal) is a ship canal in the west of England, between Gloucester and Sharpness, completed in 1827. For much of its length the canal runs close to the tidal River S ...
*
Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...
** Aylesbury Arm ** Old Grand Union/Leicester Line ** Market Harborough Arm ** Northampton Arm **
Paddington Arm The Paddington Canal or Paddington Arm (also known as Paddington Branch) of the Grand Union Canal is a canal from Bull's Bridge in Hayes, Hillingdon, Hayes, west London, to Paddington in central London, England. Little Venice, London, Little Ven ...
** Slough Arm **Welford Arm ** Wendover Arm * Grantham Canal * Hertford Union Canal * Huddersfield Broad Canal *
Huddersfield Narrow Canal The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is an Navigability, inland waterway in northern England. It runs just under from Lock 1E at the rear of the University of Huddersfield campus, near Aspley, West Yorkshire, Aspley Basin in Huddersfield, to the ju ...
*
Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of Navigability, navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than sol ...
*
Lancaster Canal The Lancaster Canal is a canal in North West England, originally planned to run from Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in south Cumbria (Historic counties of England, historically in Westmorland). The section around the crossing of the River ...
including the Glasson Branch * Lee Navigation *
Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...
**Leigh Branch **
Liverpool Canal Link The Liverpool Canal Link is an England, English waterway link that connects the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, at the Liverpool Pier Head, to the city's South Docks. It cost £22m and was opened in March 2009. The new link adds of navigable wate ...
**Rufford Branch * Limehouse Cut *
Llangollen Canal The Llangollen Canal () is a navigable canals of the United Kingdom, canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, S ...
*
London Docklands London Docklands is an area of London encompassing the city’s former docks. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of London Borough of Southwark, Southwark, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets, London ...
including
West India Docks The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides, and warehouses built to import goods from, and export goods and occasionally passengers to, the British West Indies. Located on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first dock opened in 18 ...
. *
Macclesfield Canal The Macclesfield Canal is a canal in east Cheshire, England. There were various proposals for a canal to connect the town of Macclesfield to the national network from 1765 onwards, but it was not until 1824 that a scheme came to fruition. There ...
* Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal *
Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal () is a small network of canals in South Wales. For most of its currently (2018) navigable length it runs through the Brecon Beacons National Park, and its present rural character and tranquillity belies its ...
*
Montgomery Canal The Montgomery Canal (), known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown, Powys, Newtown via Llanymynech and ...
*
Nottingham Canal The Nottingham Canal is a canal in the English counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. As built, it comprised a long main line between the River Trent just downstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham and Langley Mill in Derbyshire. At the sam ...
*
Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to th ...
*
Peak Forest Canal The Peak Forest Canal is a narrow ( gauge) locked artificial waterway in northern England. It is long and forms part of the connected English/Welsh inland waterway network. Route and features General description The canal consists of two leve ...
* Pocklington Canal *
Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in ea ...
* Ribble Link * Ripon Canal *
River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...
* River Ouse * River Severn Navigation *
River Soar The River Soar () is a major tributary of the River Trent in the East Midlands as well as the principal river of Leicestershire, England. The source of the river is midway between Hinckley and Lutterworth. The river then flows north throug ...
* River Stort *
River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...
* River Witham *
Rochdale Canal The Rochdale Canal is in Northern England, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes. The Rochdale is a broad canal be ...
*
Sankey Canal The Sankey Canal in North West England, initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later the St Helens Canal, is a former industrial canal, which when opened in 1757 was England's first of the Industrial revolution, and the first modern ...
* Selby Canal *
Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation The Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SY) is a system of navigable inland waterways ( canals and canalised rivers) in South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, England. Chiefly based on the River Don, it runs for a length of and has 27 lo ...
**
New Junction Canal The New Junction Canal is a canal in South Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation (S&SYN), although it was jointly funded by the Aire and Calder Navigation and was opened in 1905. It links the River Don ...
* Sheffield Canal *
Shropshire Union Canal The Shropshire Union Canal, sometimes nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. It is the modern name for a part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company network. In the leisure age, two of the branches of that netwo ...
**
Middlewich Branch The Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal is located in Cheshire, in the north west of England, and runs between Middlewich, where it joins the Trent and Mersey Canal, and Barbridge Junction, where it joins the main line of the Shrop ...
** Shrewsbury Canal *
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the The Midlands, England, Midlands of England. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent a ...
* Stainforth and Keadby Canal * Stourbridge Canal *
Stratford-upon-Avon Canal The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England. The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the ...
* Swansea Canal * Tees Navigation *
Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middl ...
* Ure Navigation *
Weaver Navigation The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1721 and the work, which included ...
*
Worcester and Birmingham Canal The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn (just after the river lock) and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long. There ...


Museums

The Canal & River Trust operates several museums and visitor attractions that relate to canals and waterways. *
National Waterways Museum The National Waterways Museum (NWM) is a transport museum, at Ellesmere Port in the English county of Cheshire, which concentrates on the history of Britain's navigable inland waterways. Until 2010, the Waterways Trust operated three sites, incl ...
,
Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south-eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal. In the 2021 Unite ...
, Cheshire * The Canal Museum,
Stoke Bruerne Stoke Bruerne is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, about north of Milton Keynes and south of Northampton. The civil parish population at the 2011 Census was 373. History Stoke Bruerne ...
, Northamptonshire * Gloucester Waterways Museum,
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
* Anderton Boat Lift, Anderton, Cheshire * Standedge Tunnel & Visitor Centre, Marsden, West Yorkshire


Controversies

In December 2016, ''
Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised ...
'' magazine reported that the Canal & River Trust had seized a historic retired lightship which had been moored for ten years at the docks near the maritime museum in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, following a dispute over unpaid berthing fees. The ship, named ''Planet'', had served as the country's last crewed lightship until 1989, when it went to a museum and later to Liverpool's docks, where it was restored and used as a cafe and volunteer-operated maritime radio museum. The ship's owner reportedly owed overdue berthing fees, which were subsequently paid but not before the trust had towed and impounded the boat in Sharpness, Gloucestershire, thereby incurring further hefty fees. The Merseyside Civic Society launched a petition to bring the vessel back to Liverpool but the trust later sold it for £12,500, less than its estimated scrap valuation of £70,000. The trust faced possible legal action over the seizure and sale of the ship. In November 2019, the Trust was criticised for not acting on calls to open a sluice gate in
Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located south of Doncaster, south-east of Sheffield and north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbys ...
during extensive flooding in the area. The gate was eventually opened by the fire service, several hours after the first request to the Trust. The gate is within a building (not owned by the Trust) which the Trust considered to be unsafe.


See also

*
Canals of the United Kingdom The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a History of the British canal system, varied history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the ...
* Scottish Canals *
Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Canal and River Trust Waterways organisations in the United Kingdom Charities based in Buckinghamshire Private companies limited by guarantee of the United Kingdom Inland waterway authorities Transport charities based in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Milton Keynes