It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I draw the House’s attention to the funding of canals, particularly in an area of my locality called the Northern Reaches, just north of Carnforth in a place called Tewitfield—a place I know very well. Back in January 2011, I tabled an early-day motion highlighting the need to restore the canal system between Carnforth and Kendal known as the Northern Reaches. The EDM read:
“That this House notes that the Northern Reaches is an historic waterway begun in 1792 linking Preston, Lancaster, Kendal and the Lune Estuary via a branch to Glasson Dock; further notes that since the Second World War the waterway has declined and parts have been filled in; applauds the work of the Lancaster Canal Restoration Partnership in working towards reopening the Northern Reaches; and calls on the whole community to support this important project, rebuilding a unique part of the UK’s industrial heritage.”
I thought it was a shame that part of our heritage was lost to time and transport changes in the last mid-century. The Northern Reaches was not in my constituency, so I could not do anything constructive to help the growing number of volunteers dedicated to restoring this heritage gem until now, as the Northern Reaches is coming into the new constituency of Morecambe and Lunesdale.
Last Friday I was invited to celebrate the completion of the Stainton aqueduct and Lancaster canal towpath trail project, hosted by the Canal & River Trust. The successful £2.5 million project was made possible by the generous grants of £1.3 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and £400,000 from the Rural Payments Agency, and by contributions from Cumbria County Council and the Ramblers Association.
I met the volunteers and explained that, over the years, I have been watching their amazing efforts and progress in restoring the local waterways. I showed them the research I have commissioned over the years from the House of Commons Library and the obscure books I have collected about the Northern Reaches, as little is known other than the rumour that it was filled in with rubble from the building of the M6 motorway back in the 1950s and ’60s.
The volunteers have an encyclopaedic knowledge, and they have already restored a significant portion of the reaches over the years at the Kendal end. Post covid, the jobs, tourism and general wellbeing that can be realised by the restoration of this facility are now needed more than ever, especially with the Eden Project on the horizon in my constituency, as the original towpath can be reutilised as a walking path or rural cycle lane concocting Lancaster and Kendal, which fits in with my holistic vision of the green tech and tourism that my area can offer to the rest of the UK.
The volunteers I spoke to were astonished that the “Eden MP”, as I was flatteringly called, has been deeply interested in their cause. They were also amazed that I had already secured a debate in the House of Commons on canal funding in the week of the King’s Speech. I told them it will focus on the Northern Reaches, and I touched on my idea of water security distribution for the population via the canal system.
The Lancaster canal was constructed between 1792 and 1819, a very long time ago, with the Glasson branch link to Glasson dock being added in 1826.The canal originally extended from Kendal, in the north, to Aspull, near Wigan, in the south. The Lancaster canal was constructed primarily to move coal and limestone. The merchants of Lancaster wanted to improve the supplies of coal from around Wigan into north Lancashire and to supply the south with limestone. Another import from Wigan was me, into my constituency, but that is for another time.
The Act of Parliament
“for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from Kirkby Kendal in the County of Westmorland to West Houghton in the County Palatine of Lancaster”
was obtained in 1792. In the following year, another Act was obtained to build a branch from the canal near Galgate to the recently completed Glasson dock. When first built, the Lancaster canal was 69 miles long. The canal between Preston and Tewitfield, just north of Carnforth, was opened in November 1797. The route north from Tewitfield to Kendal—the Northern Reaches, as we now know it—was built from 1813 and was completed in 1819. Coal was the most important commodity carried on the canal, but in practice anything was carried. Several packet boats were established specially to move people and small parcels. Speed was of the essence, especially when the canal was competing with the railway lines from the 1830s onwards.
A little-known aspect of the canal’s history is that in 1940 its central section was fortified to form a defensive stop line—this was relatively common in the south but perhaps unexpected in the north-west. The purpose was to protect the north-south communication lines. Many of the bridges were altered, and tank traps and other impediments were installed, many of which are still visible to this day. The final half mile of canal into Kendal was closed in the early 1940s.
Sadly, in 1947, the last commercial boat sailed on the canal carrying coal from Preston to Lancaster. The canals were nationalised in 1948 and the Lancaster canal became part of the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive of the British Transport Commission. The canal was closed above Stainton Crossing bridge, above Stainton aqueduct, following the Transport Act 1953. This is all very technical and it all started in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Then, during the 1960s, as I alluded to before, the construction of the M6 motorway cut the canal above Tewitfield in several places. Later, the canal was further cut by the construction of the A590 link road to Kendal.
The canal between Preston and Tewitfield remained classed as a “cruising waterway”, whereas the Northern Reaches was deemed to be “remainder waterway”, following a 1955 Act of Parliament, and the canal was carved up by further road transport. If restored, the Northern Reaches would connect to the Millness to Stainton section of the Lancaster canal. The name Northern Reaches refers to a 14 mile stretch of the Lancaster canal that was isolated during the 1960s when the M6 motorway was built. Importantly, the Fraenkel report recommended that the towpath be kept clear from the amenity development by local authorities at this time. However, with hindsight, most will see all this as cultural vandalism. Obviously, I would like to ask my friend the Minister whether there are any costings on the reinstatement of the Northern Reaches canal network. The Lancaster Canal Trust stated in its 2019 restoration report that it had raised £13,000 for the restoration of the “first furlong” of the Northern Reaches, which I will talk about later. Are any further funds in place to improve the towpath in its entirety, as outlined in the 1950s Fraenkel report?
The Lancaster Canal Trust is planning a strategy to maximise the opportunities to secure the funding likely to be required to make the restoration of the Northern Reaches to Kendal a reality. Originally founded to oppose the closure of the canal to navigation in the 1960s, the trust is now dedicated to its restoration. I believe that work is complete to restore the “first furlong”, a 200 metre section between bridges 172 and 173, near Stainton. I believe further works are being planned for a further 400 metres. This trust is exemplary; it actually gets things done, which I really like to see in my community.
Indeed, I was excited to be invited to the celebration of the completion of the Stainton aqueduct and Lancaster canal towpath, hosted by the Canal & River Trust. The successful £2.5 million project was made possible by a generous £1.3 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Lancaster Canal Regeneration Partnership has arranged funding to upgrade the towpath between Hincaster and Stainton to a multi-use route, and it is already a public right of way.
In June 2023, Westmorland and Furness Council awarded the trust a lawful development certificate, as I mentioned, confirming that it could line and rewater another 400 metre section between bridge 173 and the A590. These may just be points on a map to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, but they are very important to my community.
Separately, the Lancaster Canal Regeneration Partnership was registered as a community interest company in December 2022. The LCRP includes the Lancaster Canal Trust, the Canal & River Trust, the Inland Waterways Association and local authorities. The LCRP had previously sought to fully rewater the Northern Reaches and restore it to cruising standard. However, its current focus is on restoring the towpath along the canal between Lancaster and Kendal. Background to those proposals and progress to date are set out in a report to South Lakeland District Council.
Our canals have truly seen a renaissance over the past 70 years, and recovered from the dark days of decline and dereliction of the mid-20th century. With more boats on the waterways and the use of the towpaths more popular than ever, we are seeing their benefits realised on a grand scale once again, repurposed for leisure and recreation, health and wellbeing. That must be made permanent.
Canals play a wider role. At a time when our water supply has never been more critical, because of our changing climate and the increased risk of drought, the trust’s canals improve the resilience of the nation’s water security. They have inadvertently come back into fashion because of global warming. They currently move water around the country to support water supplies for approximately 5 million people, including those in Bristol and parts of Cheshire, and the trust can support more such water transfer schemes.
About half the trust’s planned asset spend is now on reservoir safety, adding nearly £100 million to its priority expenditure over the next five years to 2027. As a not-for-profit charity, the Canal & River Trust is arguably the largest urban blue space provider in the UK. A rigorous evaluation, summarised in the recently released “Valuing our Waterways” report, evidenced that it delivers £4.6 billion-worth of social welfare value for the nation each year, plus £1.5 billion per year in economic value, supporting 80,000 jobs. That is very significant.
Our inland waterways are a national treasure and a critical part of our national infrastructure. As outlined, I would like to see the Northern Reaches restored in its entirety, but I realise that it has taken the brave volunteers decades to preserve and improve in part what is already there. Will the Minister write to me with an estimated cost for the full restoration and a breakdown of what can be achieved in the short term, for example with the towpath? What funding streams are available to assist the trust and volunteer groups?
I will soon dedicate a full day to taking a walk along the Northern Reaches—I can’t wait—with Bill Froggatt, from the Canal & River Trust, who has helped me immeasurably with this speech, along with chief executive officer, Richard Parry. In the future, I am sure they, along with the fantastic volunteers, will become like a new family to me, post Eden campaigning.