Inland Waterways Feature - Published 15th February 2006

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Many individuals were, and still are, fascinated by the waterways and worked incessantly to keep stretches in water and open to any boat traffic ........... their potential in the burgeoning leisure industry was about to be recognised. The years that followed saw an ever increasing desire on the part of enthusiasts to restore the canals; to foster commercial use where possible but also to make them available to small boat owners just for the pleasure of cruising the quiet waters purely for enjoyment. As the canals were cleared, the broken lock gates replaced, and breaches repaired, the canals returned to life. Small wooden or glass fibre pleasure craft, dayboats, and cabin cruisers for longer trips, converted working boats and the steel narrowboat, which would become the attraction in every hire fleet, all began to appear.

Many canal junctions or basins of historic significance are now the sites of Waterways museums and heritage centres; to name but a few: The Boat Museum at Ellesmere Port, near Liverpool; the Waterways Museum at Stoke Bruerne near Towcester; the Black Country Museum near Dudley; Etruria Industrial Museum near Stoke on Trent; and, of course, Ironbridge on the River Severn, near Telford in Shropshire. Instrumental in this upsurge of interest in the canals was the Inland Waterways Association which was founded in 1946; one of the inaugural members was Tom Rolt, writer of the classic book, Narrow Boat, which fired interest in the disregarded and often forgotten waterways. At that time it was still possible for some of the privately owned canal companies to make a profit carrying goods but many canals, especially the more remote ones, were in desperate need of maintenance.

The IWA (Inland Waterways Association) committed itself to not only promoting the use of waterways, for both commercial and leisure activities, but also to the restoration of the 'lost' navigations. To this end they work closely with the many local groups of canal-enthusiasts that sprang up in the next few years. It was a long, hard, often demoralising fight for these groups. Money was difficult to find; outside confidence in success was often lacking; it was often a case of '2 steps forward, 2 step back' but, although progress often appeared painfully slow, there was progress and now, at the start of the 21st century, the canals and waterways are enjoying unprecedented use again. Along most canals, hire boat companies have established their bases and assembled fleets of boats, in all sizes, to suit every need - narrowboats, cruisers, steel, glass fibre, wooden; whatever!

Canal festivals, rallies and gatherings are a regular feature, now, on most canals. At these events boats from all over the country will converge for a few days to celebrate the way of life on the canal; to offer traditional crafts; to watch travelling theatre groups and folk musicians; and promote the use and enjoyment of the canals