Despite no longer being a freight waterway, the Lancaster Canal has found a new lease of life as a leisure amenity. The ever increasing popularity of pastimes such as boating, angling and walking mean that the Lancaster Canal is far from dead and forgotten.
The number of pleasure cruisers on the waterway has increased quite dramatically over the past 25 years, whilst newer activities such as punting have become established in Lancaster. Although not navigable by larger boats, the short lengths of the northern reaches above Tewitfield are accessible to smaller trailed boats, and are often used by canoes and dinghies.
Right: Pleasure boat on the northern reaches of the Lancaster Canal, near Farleton
"Building the Lancaster Canal" Robert Philpott (Blackwater Books)
"The Complete Guide to the Lancaster Canal" Lancaster Canal Trust
"A Walker's Guide to the Lancaster Canal" Robert Swain (Cicerone Press)
"Lancashire Waterways" Gordon Biddle (Dalesman Books)
"Fast Packet Boats on the Lancaster Canal" Andrew White (Lancaster City
Museums)
"Walton Summit and Branch Canal - The Last Phase" Winifred M Gibbs
(Miss W M Gibbs)
"The Shell Book of Inland Waterways" Hugh McKnight (David & Charles)
Lancaster Maritime Museum,
The Old Custom House, St George's Quay, Lancaster Tel:01524-64637
Visit their web-site at http://www.lancaster.gov.uk
The Lady Fiona
Aldcliffe Basin, Lancaster Tel: 01524-39279
The Water Witch, Crooklands Basin, off the A65 at Crooklands, Near Kendal (Summer Sundays only from 1st May to the end of September - operated by the Lancaster Canal Trust)
Right: A peaceful section of the canal at Crooklands
Charitable group campaigning for the restoration of the Northern Reaches of the Lancaster Canal - visit their web site at http://www.lancastercanaltrust.org.uk
Charitable group working towards the joining up of the severed end of the Lancaster Canal to the main inland waterways network via a new link being built at Preston - visit their web site at http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/jclegg/rlthome.html
Managers, on behalf of the nation, of around 2,000 miles of inland waterways in Britain, including the Lancaster Canal. The Lancaster waterway office is at Main Road, Galgate, Near Lancaster. Telephone: 01524 751888
The main BW web site is at
http://www.British-Waterways.org/
Navvies Anonymous are a group of highly-skilled volunteers (part of the Waterway Recovery Group) who have worked on various projects on the Lancaster Canal, as well as many other waterways throughout the British Isles. Their work on the Lancaster Canal includes the restoration of the Sedgwick Aqueduct and lock 4 at Tewitfield, the creation of the picnic area at Hincaster, repairs to the steps at Burton, and the uncovering of the wharf at Crooklands. Working weekends are held throughout the winter months, more information if available on their web site at www.wrgna.mcmail.com/
Copyright: Canalcaholic 1999
Last revised: October 2004