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
UK
Europe
North America
Australia
Government - UK - National
[Links manually checked 29 Sep 2023]
Government - UK - Local
[Links manually checked 29 Sep 2023]
Commercial - UK
[Links manually checked 29 Sep 2023]
Societies - UK - National
[Links manually checked 20 Oct 2023]
Most "important" organisations (and subdivisions if any) first, then
others alphabetically.
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).
CEASED OPERATION in 2019 due to financial difficulties.
The Inland Waterways Association (IWA)
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
Kescrg Canal Restoration Group
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 "working" narrowboats i.e. ones
that transported cargo
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) - their previous web addrees (nwpg.org.uk)
is no longer registered to anyone, but NWPG seemed to have worked with the
IWA in 2023
Railway & Canal Historical Society
Residential Boat Owners Association
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
[Links for A-S manually checked 21 Oct 2023]
[Links for T-Z manually checked 22 Oct 2023]
Note: additional information on
specific waterways may also be found on the
Specific Canals and Waterways of the British Isles page .
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 - no longer exists
Birmingham Canal
Navigations Society
Blisworth Canal Partnership
- Blisworth Arm & Junction; DISSOLVED 2022
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
Bugsworth Basin Heritage Trust
- formerly known as the Inland Waterways Protection Society Ltd.
Bure Navigation Conservation Trust
- 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
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 - Website defunct
Driffield Navigation Amenities Association - Disbanded
Driffield Navigation
Trust
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"
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 - Website defunct
- 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; facebook page
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
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) - Website defunct
Association of Nene River Clubs
Norbury Cruising Club) - Website defunct
North Cheshire Cruising Club
Northern Reaches Restoration Group - Website defunct
- "Restoring the Lancaster Canal to Kendal"
North Walsham & Dilham Canal Society - Norfolk
- archival website - the society’s functions have be absorbed into the
North Walsham & Dilham Canal Trust
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 - Website defunct
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
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 - archival site; society shut Mar 2022
Stafford Boat Club
Stover Canal Society
and Stover Canal Trust
- (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 - Website defunct
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 - No longer has publicly
accessible website
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.)
- Website defunct
Whilton and Buckby Locks Association - Website not working
- 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
Many individual canals have their own societies. I would be happy
to provide listings for them here. No web site is required!
Societies - UK - Specific Types of Boats and Specific Historic Boats
[Links manually checked 23 Oct 2023]
See also Canal & Waterway Internet Resources- General- Specific Types of 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 Canoeing ,
formerly the British Canoe Union
Daniel Adamson Preservation Society
- "Restoring the last surviving British steam tug-tender"; offers trips
Dawncraft Owners Club - facebook
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)
- was Yahoo group, but Yahoo closed them all, and I see no trace of
this groups anywhere else
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
Link to main canals page .
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Text, graphics, and photos Copyright © 1995-2023 by George Pearson.
This Page Last Modified: Monday, 23-Oct-23 10:50 am EDT