...or become a heritage officer

A heritage officer works with branches to encourage an appreciation of the heritage of our inland waterways in the widest sense: buildings, navigation structures, boats, skills and traditions, people and archives.

The role includes producing and maintaining a list of remaining heritage sites and supporting branches in campaigns for their retention. An officer will also campaign to prevent developments whose scale or character will have an adverse impact on the appearance of the waterways.

“I have a keen interest in the historic development of our waterways... IWA is full of people with wide-ranging knowledge and expertise and I particularly enjoy attending meetings, learning from others and feeling that I’m making a contribution,” said Derek Humphries, heritage officer, IWA London Region (pictured, right).