Canal- and Waterway-Related Organisations

Lists only the most important organisations. For the UK, more complete listings are found in the annual Canalmanac publication of Waterways World magazine.

International

• Inland Waterways International
• International Institute of Marine Surveyors

• Government Agencies - National
• Government Agencies - Local
• Commercial Organizations
• Societies - National
• Societies - Local
• Societies - Specific Types of Boats and Specific Historic Boats
• Societies providing boat holidays for the disabled and youth organisations

• Voies Navigables de France - French waterways' authority - VNF. Site in French and English
• Inland Waterways Association of Ireland
• Royal Canal Amenity Group (Ireland)
• Waterways Ireland
• Cruising Association - European Inland Waterways Section
• Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine - (en) (fr) (de) (nl)

• American Canal Society
• Canadian Canal Society/Société des Canaux du Canada
• See also the North American Canals page

• Australian Canal Society

Government - UK - National

• British Waterways (BW) - no longer exists as of July 2012. Replaced by the Canal & River Trust (a charity), and by the Scottish Canals Board, a government agency. See further details at links below.
• The Association of Inland Navigation Authorities (AINA)
• Broads Authority
• Environment Agency - in charge of inland rivers, estuaries and harbours in England and Wales
  • River closures, restrictions and conditions
  • Incident hotline: 0800 80 70 60 (Freephone, 24 hour service)
• Inland Waterways Advisory Council - abolished
• Scottish Canals - 24-hour emergency hotline number – 0800 072 9900

Government - UK - Local

• Avon Navigation Trust - "statutory navigational authority for the river avon"
• Basingstoke Canal Authority
• Conservators of the River Cam
• Gloucester Harbour Trustees
• Middle Level Commissioners - "The Middle Level is the central and largest section of the Great Level of the Fens ..."
• Port of London Authority

Commercial - UK

• Anglia Boatbuilders Association - industry group for boat builders of Norfolk & Suffolk
• Association of Boat Safety Examiners
• the Association of Pleasure Craft Operators (APCO) is now British Marine Inland Boating
• Boat Retailers & Brokers Association (BRBA) - subgroup of British Marine Federation; "represents all companies and individuals involved in the sale of new and second-hand craft ... all of whom must adhere to the BRBACode of Practice (pdf file). Also provides Boat Buyer's Guide (pdf file).
• British Marine Federation
• Canal Boatbuilders Association - Website defunct
• Commercial Boat Operators Association
• Roving Canal Traders Association
• Wooden Boatbuilders Trade Association
• Association of Yacht Brokers and Yacht Agents - "members work to the ABYA Code of Practice"

Societies - UK - National

• Canal & River Trust - trust replacing British Waterways in England and Wales
• Scottish Waterways Trust - Scottish successor to The Waterways Trust (which, in England & Wales, merged with the Canal & River Trust).
• The Inland Waterways Association (IWA)
  

  Branches - incomplete list - there are many more branches!

  • IWA - Cambridge Branch
  • IWA - Chiltern Branch
  • IWA - North & East London Branch
  • IWA - Ipswich Branch
  • IWA - Milton Keynes Branch
  • IWA - Northampton Branch
  • Official Waterway Recovery Group page
  • Waterway Recovery Group - Navvies Anonymous - "so anonymous they've disappeared" - Essex WRG Bulletin Jan 2012
  • Waterway Recovery Group NorthWest

• Angling Trust

• Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs

• Boaters Christian Fellowship

• Boating Association - focused on river cruising

• Boat Jumble Association

• Boat Museum Society - in Spring 2018, became the Waterways Museum Society - see below

• Canal Card Collectors Circle - "British Canals and Inland Navigations through picture postcards old and new" - no longer has website

• Friends of The Canal Museum - supports the work of The Canal Museum at Stoke Bruerne

• Kent and East Sussex Canal Restoration Group (KESCRG)

• Milestone Society - 'identify, record, research, conserve and interpret for public benefit the milestones and other waymarkers of the British Isles"; interests include canal milestones

• Narrow Boat Trust - charity for restoring and preserving narrowboats

• National Association of Boat Owners (NABO)

• National Bargee Travellers Association - "seeks to represent the interests of all live aboard boat dwellers"

• National Community Boats Association - "... encourage and support community boating organisations within the UK ..."

• NWPG (Canal Restoration Group)

• Railway & Canal Historical Society

• Residential Boat Owners Association

• Save Our Waterways

• Scottish Waterways Trust

• Seagull Trust - free canal cruising in Scotland for disabled people and helping revitalise the decaying Lowland Waterways

• Waterways Liaison Service - helps UK waterway-related organisations to avoid event scheduling conflicts

• Waterways Museum Society - supporting the National Waterways Museum at Ellesmere Port; before Spring 2018, was the "Boat Museum Society"

• Waterways Science Group - interdisciplinary academic organisation, interested in inland-waterway related industrial archaeology & heritage, civil engineering, architecture & planning, ecology, zoology, and environmental science.

Societies - UK - Local

• Airedale Boat Club - Website defunct - (on L&L)

• Ashby Canal Trust - "promote the restoration of the Ashby Canal from Snarestone to Moira"

• Ashby Canal Association

• Aylesbury Canal Society

• Barnsley, Dearne and Dove Canals Trust

• Basingstoke Canal Angling Association

• Basingstoke Canal Boating Club - Website not working

• Basingstoke Canal Canoe Club

• Basingstoke Canal Society - until 2012, this was the Surrey And Hampshire Canal Society

• Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust - an entirely new waterway!

• Beverley Beck Boating Association

• Birmingham Canal Navigations Society

• Blisworth Canal Partnership - Blisworth Arm & Junction

• Bridge 19-40 Canal Society - covers the Union Canal (Scotland) between Bridges 19 and 40

• Broads Society

• Broxbourne Cruising Club - R. Lee

• Bude Canal and Harbour Society

• Inland Waterways Protection Society Ltd. - Bugsworth Basin Restoration and Museum Project

• Bure Navigation Conservation Trust - 2 Nov 2019 - Website restored!- Aylsham Navigation

• Burslem Port Project - restoration of the Burslem Branch Canal (a 3/8 mile arm of the Trent and Mersey Canal in Stoke-on-Trent)

• Byfleet Boat Club - on R. Wey in W. Byfleet, Surrey

• Buckingham Canal Society

• Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust

• Camboaters - "formed ... to represent the rights of residential boaters on the River Cam"

• Cambridge Motor Boat Club

• Friends of the Chelmer Canal Trust

• Cheshire Locks Project - project concerns "increasing use of this famous flight" on the T&M

• Chesterfield Canal Trust

• Chichester Ship Canal Trust

• Coombeswood Canal Trust - the Dudley Number 2 Canal

• Cotswolds Canals Partnership - Website defunct

• Cotswold Canals Trust

• Coventry Canal Society

• Friends of the Cromford Canal

• Daventry Canal Association - Website not working

• Derby and Sandiacre Canal Society

• Docklands Canal Boat Trust

• Driffield Navigation Amenities Association

• Droitwich Waterways (Pamela May) Trust - successor to the Droitwich Canals Trust, now that canals restoration is complete

• Dudley Canal Trust

• East Anglian Waterways Association - "campaigning for the preservation, restoration and good management of all inland and tidal waterways in East Anglia"

• Erewash Canal Preservation and Development Association

• Forth & Clyde Canal Society

• Foxton Inclined Plane Trust

• River Gipping Trust - "preserving the historic heritage of the Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation"

• Specialist Lodges: Masonry on the canal - the Grand Junction Lodge

• Friends of the Grand Western Canal

• Grantham Canal Society, apparent successor to the Grantham Navigation Association and the Grantham Canal Partnership; has trip boat

• Great Ouse Boating Association of England

• Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust

• Hollinwood Canal Society

• Huddersfield Canal Society

• Islwyn Canal Association - preservation and restoration of the Crumlin Arm of the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal

• Jericho Wharf Trust - "campaign to acquire and develop the Castlemill Boatyard site [in Oxford] on behalf of the community"

• Kennet and Avon Boating Community

• Kennet and Avon Canal Trust

• Lancaster Canal Trust - has tripboat

• Lapal Canal Trust

• Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society

• Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust

• Linlithgow Union Canal Society Scotland

• Longwood Boat Club - on Birmingham Canal Navigations

• Louth Navigation Trust

• The Macclesfield Canal Society

• Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group - restoring the old Thames channel through Maidenhead

• Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal Society

• Manchester & Stockport Canal Society

• Marple Locks Heritage Society - Disbanded in 2016 - here's a brief History of Marple Locks Heritage Society - thanks to "Mr Red" for pointing this out

• Unofficial website of the Melksham, Calne and Chippenham Branch of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust

• Melton & Oakham Waterways Society

• Mersey Motor Boat Club (on Leeds and Liverpool Canal)

• Friends of the Montgomery Canal

• Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canal Trust

• Neath and Tennant Canals Trust (S. Wales)

• Association of Nene River Clubs

• Norbury Cruising Club

• North Cheshire Cruising Club

• Northern Reaches Restoration Group - Website defunct - "Restoring the Lancaster Canal to Kendal"

• North Walsham & Dilham Canal Society - Norfolk

• Old Union Canals Society - (GU, Leicester section); consolidated into Foxton Inclined Plane Trust

• Oundle Cruising Club (Peterborough)

• Peterborough Yacht Club

• Pocklington Canal Amenity Society

• Rammey Marsh Cruising Club

• Friends of Regent's Canal

• Retford and Worksop Boat Club - (on Chesterfield Canal)

• Rickmansworth Waterways Trust

• Ripon Motor Boat Club - Littlethorpe, North Yorkshire, on Ripon Canal

• River Foss Society - (flows through York)

• Rotherham & Sheffield Canal Association

• Runcorn Locks Restoration Society

• Saltisford Canal Trust

• Saul Junction Boat Owners Club

• Sankey Canal Restoration Society - Website defunct

• Severn Navigation Restoration Trust - has shut down - see details

• Severn Rivers Trust - "preserving and caring for the Severn catchment"

• Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust

• Shropshire Union Canal Society Ltd

• Sleaford Navigation Trust

• Soar Boating Club

• Somerset Waterways Development Trust - Website defunct

• Somersetshire Coal Canal Society - official website

• Southampton Canal Society

• Stafford Boat Club

• Stover Canal Society - (Devon)

• Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society

• Stratford and Warwick Waterways Trust - Website defunct - "... towards ... the extension of navigation on the River Avon from Stratford-upon-Avon to beyond Warwick, to join the Grand Union canal". [Would provide a much-needed connection for broad-beam boats.]

• Stratford upon Avon Canal Society

• Strawberry Island Boat Club - on The Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation

• River Stour Trust

• Stourport Yacht Club - Link not working

• St Pancras Cruising Club - "situated in the heart of London"

• Surrey And Hampshire Canal Society - see Basingstoke Canal Society, above

• Sussex Ouse Restoration Trust

• Tamworth Cruising Club

• River Thames Society

• River Thames User Groups - Website defunct

• Thames Motor Yacht Club

• Middle Thames Motor Yacht Club

• Association of Thames Yacht Clubs

• Thames and Medway Canal Association

• Thrupp Canal Cruising Club - Thrupp, on S. Oxford Canal

• Tuesday Night Club - Middlesex

• Watch House Cruising Club (Manchester)

• River Weaver Navigation Society

• Well Creek Trust - in the Middle Levels

• Wendover Arm Trust

• West London Motor Cruising Club

• Wey and Arun Canal Trust

• Weyfarers Rowing Club - R. Wey

• Wheelton Boat Club (on L&L, nr. Chorley, Lancs.)

• Whilton and Buckby Locks Association - promotion and protection of the Whilton and Buckby flight of locks on the Grand Union

• Whitchurch Waterway Trust - restoration of the Whitchurch Arm of the Llangollen Canal

• Wilts and Berks Canal Trust

• Worcester Birmingham & Droitwich Canal Society - new name for the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Society

Societies - UK - Specific Types of Boats and Specific Historic Boats

• The Barge Association - "For all those interested in ex-commercial barges or any other type of broad-beam inland waterways craft"

• Beverley Barge Preservation Society

• British Canoe Union

• Daniel Adamson Preservation Society - "Restoring the last surviving British steam tug-tender"; offers trips

• Dawncraft Owners Club

• D & J Narrowboats Owner's Club - - Website defunct

• Duchess Countess Trust - This trust has "ceased to be" - "recreate the famous canal packet-boat 'Duchess Countess' as a full-scale working replica"

• Electric Boat Association

• Friends of President - "President, the preserved steam narrowboat, is owned by the Black Country Living Museum at Dudley."

• Friends of Raymond - Society has restored the wooden butty "Raymond", and is now working on "Nutfield", the boat that used to tow Raymond

• Historic Narrow Boat Owners Club

• The Horseboating Society - horsedrawn boating

• Steve Hudson Narrowboat Owners Club (Unofficial) - Yahoo group

• Humber Keel and Sloop Preservation Society

• Irish Canoe Union

• Narrowboat Lucy - Website defunct - "brief history of a famous wooden narrowboat and the plans to preserve her" [not actually a society, but appropriate here near other boat restorations]

• Newark Heritage Barge - historic barge restoration

• Norfolk Wherry Trust - Society interested in the restoration of the Norfolk wherry "Albion"

• Piper Owners Club - for owners or past-owners of boats built by David or Simon Piper

• Friends of Purton - investigation of the remains of the Purton Hulks, beached in 1909 on the Gloucestershire bank of the R. Severn

• Save the Royal Iris Petition - derelict Mersey ferry

• Sea Otter Owners Club

• Shropshire Union Fly-Boat Restoration Society - operates Saturn, the last horse-drawn Shropshire Union Canal Fly-boat

• Steam Boat Association

• Thames Traditional Boat Society

• Thames Vintage Boat Club

• Thames Sailing Barge Trust

• Viking Owners Club

• Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust - protecting, restoring and sailing three historic wherries (Norfolk Broads)

• Wilderness Boat Owners Club

• Wooden Canal Boat Society