Behind-the-scenes tours at winter open days
SIX of the winter projects taking place across 48 Canal & River Trust waterways have been chosen to open up to the public with free tours.
Heritage works and repairs at a number of sites will also be filmed to give online audiences a tour of the works programme.
In total, 172 winter projects will be taking place across Canal and River Trust’s 2000 miles of navigable canals and rivers.
CRT chief executive Richard Parry said: “We are running a series of free open days so people can see this working industrial heritage up close, hear from the teams involved and find outmore about the essential work to keep this important part of the nation’s history flowing.”
Face-to-face open days started on the Hanwell LockFlight onNovember 26-27 where the lock gates are being replaced at Lock 94 on the Grand Union Canal in London.
On December 3, CRT will be hosting tours at its lock gate workshop at Stanley Ferry in West Yorkshire where many of the 120 lock leaves being replaced across the network this winter have been hand crafted.
There will also be a 30-minute guided walk from the workshop to Lock 3 on the Wakefield Branch of the Aire & Calder Navigation where the 200-foot-long lock, one of the larger locks on the network, will have been drained for important maintenance works.
In the new year, open days showcasing locks drained for gate replacements will also take place at Gallows Inn Lock on the Erewash Canal ( January 28-29), Greenham Lock on the Kennet & Avon Canal at Newbury (February 11), and the Rochdale Canal in Manchester (March 4).
Other open days still to be confirmed for the new year include an event in Kidderminster on the Staffordshire& WorcestershireCanal.
The programme of online ‘behind the scenes’ tours will include filming of works on the Grand Union Canal at Hanwell and the Grand Union Canal Leicester Line, Wolverley Lock on the Staffordshire& WorcestershireCanal, Crofton on the Kennet& AvonCanal, the Rochdale Canal in Manchester, and at Stanley Ferry/Lock 3 on the Aire & Calder Navigation.
Richard Parry added: “We are calling on the public and the Government to support the waterways so we can continue to protect and preserve this incredible network and keep the waterways navigable and available for people to benefit from for generations to come.”