You are here:

News

Award for East End Canal

17th Aug 2005

Canal workers Colin Wright and Suresh Basra have won British Waterways’ Waterway Length competition for their work to maintain the historic Hertford Union Canal in East London. They were competing against 20 other teams caring for 100 miles of canals and rivers across London.

Now in their 49th year the annual Waterway Length and Lock & Bridge Awards recognise individual achievements in the management, maintenance and improvement of Britain’s 200-year old network of locks, bridges and waterway lengths.

Colin has worked for British Waterways for eight years and Suresh for two. Their duties range from day-to-day maintenance work like removing litter, grass mowing and painting lock gates to undertaking skilled engineering work like replacing lock gates and rebuilding waterway walls.

“We are delighted to receive this award,” explained Colin. “The Hertford Union canal provides a green and pleasant place to visit. Our job is to maintain it to the highest standard possible, to help keep it safe and attractive for everyone who visits.

"Recently we’ve created a pretty new mooring area for our workboats at Bow Wharf. We cleared away tonnes of scrub and pulled an old dory rowing boat out from the bottom of the canal. We repainted it and planted it out with flowers. We’ve had lots of positive feedback from local residents about the improvements we’ve made.”

Suresh added: “So many people enjoy the waterways for all sorts of activities from simply walking the dog or taking a stroll to cycling to work, visiting the capital by boat or spending the day fishing. I like working outdoors and looking out for wildlife. There are often surprises, for example last week we spotted a rainbow trout in the canal which must have swum up from the Thames.

"We clear about 27 tonnes of floating litter every month. We hope the work we do to keep the canal looking good will encourage local people to value it and do their best to look after it too.”

The Hertford Union Canal is 1¼ miles long, has three locks and borders Victoria Park for most of the way. It is part of the Regent’s Canal and was built in 1830 by Sir George Duckett, so is often referred to as Duckett’s Cut. It links the Regent’s Canal at Bow Wharf in Bethnal Green to the River Lee Navigation in Hackney.

Last updated: 22/10/2008