An update on the Llangollen Canal

An update on our response to the Llangollen Canal breach

As you may be aware, in the early hours of the 22nd December, a breach occurred on the Llangollen Canal near New Mills Lift Bridge, Whitchurch. While we are relieved to report there have been no casualties, we were heartbroken to see two boats were washed into the breach hole, with another two boats very close by. A further six boats close to the breach site are currently not in water.

Our teams responded immediately, securing the site and assisting the affected boaters. We have since dammed the affected section of the canal, and the canal and towpath continue to be closed to the public to ensure everyone’s safety.

We will seek to return water levels either side of the breach as soon as possible, and we are providing support to the boaters affected, and those in the immediate area either side of the breach.

Despite the scale and age of our network, breaches of this scale are relatively rare, and our people are investigating to understand exactly what caused the canal embankment to be undermined and breach in this way. Our team will then begin the mammoth task of repairing and rebuilding the canal, making sure our network is stronger than before.

Thanks to donations from people like you, our teams were able to jump into action as soon as this devastating incident occurred.

If you would like to further help us in our response to the Llangollen Canal breach, and incidents like it, please contribute through the button below. 100% of the funds we raise go towards supporting our work, including our response to storms and unplanned incidents such as this. Last year we allocated nearly £500k of donations to our responses to the impacts of storms and other incidents on the network, and this year we are likely to be allocating even more.

We do not yet have accurate estimates of how much it will cost to repair this breach, but we know it will be costly, and we appreciate every donation that helps us respond.