WikiProject United Kingdom Waterways
From OpenStreetMap
Mainland Britain has between 3,000 and 4,000 miles of waterways that are commonly considered "navigable" by powered boats. Added to this are numerous derelict canals which can still be traced on the ground, and also many, many more miles of canoeable rivers (see also WikiProject Whitewater Maps).
Mapping the waterway system involves judgements such as:
- Is it a canal, a freshwater river, or a tidal river?
- Is it navigable by powered craft?
- Is there a towpath? (On which side? Is it open/suitable for cyclists? Where are the access points?)
- Where are the locks and bridges? (In which direction do the locks rise? What are the limiting dimensions of these structures?)
Many of the relevant tags are found under Key:waterway
Contents |
Progress to date
Canal progress map (only zoom levels 6-11) steve8 16:33, 30 Mar 2008 (BST)
Navigable waterways (England/Wales system)
The main connected waterway system in England is roughly south of a Lancaster-Ripon-Hull line, and north of a Bristol-Reading-London line - though there are a few extensions in either direction. It extends a little way into the Welsh borders. There are many more 'isolated' waterways, particularly around the coast.
| Waterway | Line | Locks | Bridges | Notes | Changes since NPE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aire & Calder Navigation | Some small diversions due to mining | ||||
| Ashby Canal | 50% | - | Northern section under restoration (inc. new lock) | ||
| Ashton Canal | |||||
| River Avon (Warwickshire) | 100% | ||||
| Basingstoke Canal | Unnavigable from Greywell west | ||||
| Birmingham & Fazeley Canal | 100% | ||||
| Birmingham Canal Navigations | Many sections now unnavigable | ||||
| Bridgewater Canal | - | Runcorn Locks unnavigable | |||
| Calder & Hebble Navigation | |||||
| Caldon Canal | 30% | End of Leek branch unnavigable | |||
| River Cam | |||||
| Chesterfield Canal | Norwood Tunnel-Chesterfield unnavigable or under restoration | ||||
| Coventry Canal | 100% | ||||
| River Derwent | Stamford Bridge is limit of navigation | ||||
| Erewash Canal | |||||
| Fossdyke Navigation | |||||
| Gloucester & Sharpness Canal | 100% | New route around southern bypass | |||
| Grand Union Canal | 90% | ||||
| Grand Union Leicester Line | |||||
| River Great Ouse | New Relief Channel etc. | ||||
| Huddersfield Narrow Canal | Fully restored, some locks resited | ||||
| Kennet & Avon Canal | 100% | ||||
| Lancaster Canal | Ribble Link now built; mostly unnavigable Tewitfield-Kendal | ||||
| River Lee | |||||
| Leeds & Liverpool Canal | 90% | Walton Summit Branch closed; link to Albert Dock being built | |||
| Llangollen Canal | 100% | Prees Branch may be shorter | |||
| Macclesfield Canal | |||||
| Manchester Ship Canal | |||||
| Middle Level Navigations | |||||
| Montgomery Canal | 30% | Under restoration, several sections closed | |||
| Oxford Canal | 100% | Old 'loop' arms generally no longer navigable | |||
| Peak Forest Canal | |||||
| Pocklington Canal | Unnavigable above Melbourne | ||||
| Regents Canal | |||||
| River Nene | |||||
| River Ouse (Yorkshire) | |||||
| Rochdale Canal | Fully restored, some locks/channel resited (e.g. Tuel Lane, M60, M62) | ||||
| River Severn | |||||
| Sheffield & S Yorks Navigation | Significantly rebuilt in 1970s/80s | ||||
| Shropshire Union Canal | 100% | ||||
| Staffs & Worcs Canal | 90% | ||||
| River Stort | |||||
| Stourbridge Canal | |||||
| Stratford Canal | 100% | ||||
| River Thames | |||||
| River Trent | |||||
| Trent & Mersey Canal | 90% | ||||
| River Weaver | |||||
| River Wey | |||||
| River Witham | |||||
| Worcester & Birmingham Canal | 100% | Small realignment around M42 |
- River Thames is marked through London, and some bits through Oxford. See the River Thames page for details
- Oxford Canal done around Oxford, and the parts that have a cycle route along them (perhaps 40-50%)
- Wey Navigation from the Thames to New Haw is done 80n 23:48, 24 Aug 2006 (BST)
- Basingstoke Canal from New Haw to Woking is done 80n 23:48, 24 Aug 2006 (BST)
- River Severn from the coast to source(?). Some riverbanks (inaccurately) marked around Shrewsbury. Higgy 11:25, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
- Regent's canal connected Camden Lock to Little Venice (through Maida Hill tunnel) -- Harry Wood 10:30, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
- River Wey from the Thames to Byfleet is done 80n 23:48, 24 Aug 2006 (BST)
- Rochdale Canal all locks and bridges 1 to 50 done --POHB 16:32, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
Navigable waterways (England/Wales isolated)
(add table)
Navigable waterways (Scotland)
Scotland has its own coast-to-coast waterways, principally the Forth & Clyde and Union canals (Glasgow-Falkirk-Edinburgh) and the Caledonian Canal (Fort William-Inverness).
(add table)
- Forth and Clyde Canal (Glasgow Spur) complete Smsm1 01:50, 1 July 2007 (BST)
- Forth and Clyde Canal from Bowling to Croy complete (Croy to the Carron Sea Lock still to do) Smsm1 01:50, 1 July 2007 (BST)
- Union Canal from Edinburgh to Linlithgow complete (Linlithgow to Falkirk still to complete, and small part in Edinburgh near basin to fix). Smsm1 01:50, 1 July 2007 (BST)
- Monkland Canal completed plus canal paths, 22 April 2008 marscot
- Gartsherrie & Hornock & Summerlee Canal Added ( well whats remains of this spur of the Monklands canal.
- River Avon(South Lanarkshire) from Source to the Clyde completed 22 April 2008 marscot
- River Clyde from coast to source completed marscot
- Luggie Burn completed to the river Kelvin. 6th June 2008
- River Kelvin from the River Clyde to Achinstary has been done. Still around 2miles to map.
- River Tweed from Source to the coast completed 13 May 2008 marscot
Waterway datasources
Large rivers, estuaries, and lakes are already uploaded as part of the coastline database: Almien coastlines (PGS)
Out-of-copyright maps are usually not out-of-date when it comes to the position of rivers and canals, though accuracy is limited (e.g. NPEmaps available via Potlatch and JOSM/Plugins/WMSPlugin)
Other datasources of rivers? What does DEMIS use?
You can find out more about the UK waterway system at Waterscape, British Waterways' leisure website, which used to be edited by Richard :) .
Categories: Projects | UK
