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Canals In Deep Freeze As The Canal Network Ices Over

As the arctic weather continues to grip the country, Britain’s canals and river navigations have iced over.

Almost 90 per cent of British Waterways’ 2,200-mile network has frozen solid. British Waterways is warning that although the snowy waterways look safe to walk or play on, any attempt to go on the ice is extremely dangerous.

We are frozen in on Maid of The Mist at Market Drayton on the Shropshire Union Canal and have witnessed a dog that strayed on to the ice around some ducks, fall through the ice where it thinned at the middle of the canal, fortunately freeing itself as rescuers approached. British Waterways’ message for visitors is to stay SAFE by Staying Away From the Edge.

The frozen canals provide some stunning sites for filming or photography to illustrate the wintry weather. Anne Head on narrowboat Snoozie thought you might like to look at a few pictures of the big freeze at Whixall Marina at the end of the Prees Branch of the Llangollen Canal, where Adrian, the BWML manager, is looking after the moorers very well.

Like Anne, we are looking forward to being able to carry on cruising, stoppages permitting, as soon as we are free of the ice.

Some particularly picturesque locations include:

Caen Hill flight, Wiltshire - The Falkirk Wheel, Scotland - Little Venice, London - Liverpool Canal Link - Bingley Five Rise, Yorkshire - Foxton Locks, Leicestershire - Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, North Wales

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British Waterways can provide spokespeople for interview on the subject of winter safety by the canals and rivers. Their regional teams can discuss suitable filming locations across the UK, for details visit BW PRESS CONTACTS