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, Scotland and Wales.[2]
On 2 July 2012, all of British Waterways' assets and responsibilities in England and Wales were transferred to the newly founded charity the Canal & River Trust.[3][4] In Scotland, British Waterways continues to operate as a standalone public corporation under the trading name Scottish Canals.
The British Waterways Board was initially established as a result of the Transport Act 1962 and took control of the inland waterways assets of the British Transport Commission in 1963. By the final years of its existence, British Waterways was sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in England and Wales, and by the Scottish Government in Scotland.[5]
British Waterways managed and maintained 2200 mi[6] of canals, rivers and docks within the United Kingdom including the buildings, structures and landscapes alongside these waterways. Half of the United Kingdom population lives within five miles of a canal or river once managed by British Waterways.[7][8] In addition to the watercourses, British Waterways also cared for and owned 2,555 listed structures[9] including seventy scheduled monuments.[9] A further 800 areas have special designation and a further hundred are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
Through its charitable arm The Waterways Trust, British Waterways maintained a museum of its history at the National Waterways Museum's three sites at Gloucester Docks, Stoke Bruerne and Ellesmere Port. Since the transfer of the assets and responsibilities of British Waterways to the Canal & River Trust, The Waterways Trust in England and Wales has merged with the Canal & River Trust. It continues, however, as an independent charity in Scotland.[10]
History
Formation
During the early 20th century, the canal network was in decline because of increasing competition from the railways and road transport. Until the 1950s, freight and other cargo was still carried on the canals, by then owned by the railway companies. When the railways were nationalised in 1948, the canals they owned were also incorporated into the new British Transport Commission.[11] The Commission focused on encouraging commercial traffic to the waterways, but with the construction of motorways in the 1950s, and legislation such as the Clean Air Act 1956 affecting the coal carriers using the waterways, that policy could not be sustained. The last regular coal long-distance narrow-boat-carrying contract, from Atherstone to the Kearley and Tonge jam factory at Southall near London, ended in October 1970,[12] although lime juice continued to be carried by narrow boat from Brentford to Boxmoor until 1981, and aggregate from Thurmaston to Syston from 1976 until 1988.
Under the Transport Act 1962
Organisation
British Waterways operated from headquarters in Watford, with additional administrative offices in Leeds and thirteen regional waterway offices.[21]
At the strategic level, there were ten non-executive board members, who were led by the chairman (in the final phase of operations, Tony Hales), and appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Government (eight by the former and two by the latter).[22] In addition, there were nine executive directors led by Robin Evans, the Chief Executive.[23]
At a regional level, British Waterways was divided into thirteen regional waterways; each appointed a waterways manager. These regions were:
- Scotland (Highlands)
- Scotland (Lowlands)
- North West Waterways
Finance
British Waterways was funded through a mixture of commercial activities, government grants and grants and donations from charitable bodies. In 2010/11, BW raised over £103.6 million from their commercial activities, including waterways licensing, received £58.9 million from a government grant, issued via the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and gained a further £14 million through third party contributions. However, operating revenue for the company was at a deficit of £3.7 million, a result of a large cut of 16 per cent in the government grant given to BW, and through the continuing programme of renovation and works costing £92.1 million.[24]
British Waterways owned a large canalside property portfolio which made a considerable contribution to the funding of the waterway network. This amounted to £130m in the five years prior to 2008. As of 2008, a HM Treasury team was reviewing the management of this portfolio in terms of public sector savings and efficiencies.[25] Another source of revenue contemplated by BW in October 2008 was the installation of 50 wind turbines on waterside land, generating around 100 megawatts.[26][27]
Waterscape
As part of British Waterways' commitment to promote the canals to users other than boaters, BW set up the Waterscape website in 2003 to be an official information and leisure resource for UK inland waterways. The website worked alongside the Environment Agency and the Broads Authority[28] and covered all canals, rivers and waterways in England, Scotland and Wales.[29][30][31][32]
The Waterscape website was taken down on 3 July 2012 and was replaced by the new website of the Canal & River Trust.
Waterways operated
The following waterways and dockland were under British Waterways' ownership and care:
- Aire and Calder Navigation
- River Aire
- Ashby Canal
- Ashton Canal
- Birmingham Canal Navigations
- Birmingham and Fazeley Canal
- Bow Back Rivers
- Bridgwater and Taunton Canal
- Calder and Hebble Navigation
- Caldon Canal
- Caledonian Canal
- Chesterfield Canal
- Coventry Canal
- Crinan Canal
- Cromford Canal
Other inland waterways in Britain
The Environment Agency is the navigation authority for the non-tidal River Thames, rivers in the Fens and East Anglia and some other waterways. The Port of London Authority is that for the tidal section of the Thames. The Broads Authority is the navigation authority for the Norfolk Broads. The Manchester Ship Canal, Bridgewater Canal, Basingstoke Canal, Neath and Tennant Canal, Cam and Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation were managed by other authorities.
See also
- Canal & River Trust
- Canals of the United Kingdom
- History of the British canal system
- List of navigation authorities in the United Kingdom
- List of rivers of the United Kingdom
- Narrowboat
- World Canals Conference
- Thames21
External links
- British Waterways website – corporate information, document downloads (archive)
- Association of Inland Navigation Authorities (AINA)
References
- Waterways World, December 2011 issue, Article on Canal and River Trust logo^
- The Committee Office, House of Commons. House of Commons – Public Accounts – Forty-Second Report Parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk, retrieved 2010-05-13^
- Thank you everyone – Canal & River Trust canalrivertrust.org.uk, retrieved 1 May 2018^