More green flag awards

Published: Friday, 15 October 2021

THE Canal & River Trust has announced that '40 new miles of waterway have been awarded prestigious Green Flag status by Keep Britain Tidy'.

Of the 40 new miles, adding to the 400 miles that already hold the award, Julie Sharman, Chief Operating Officer at Canal & River Trust, comments:

litter1Local community action

“Our efforts to win Green Flags are founded on the principle of local community action. Canals offer amazing green and blue spaces on our doorsteps teeming with nature and wildlife, but we do need the community to act now to help look after these 200-year-old special places.

“I’d like to thank and congratulate everyone who works or volunteers with the Trust, including those in the community who do their ‘little bit’ to help look after their local canal. The Green Flags are thanks to those efforts. Every action makes a difference, from picking up the odd piece of litter on a towpath walk, getting involved in adopting a stretch of canal, or making a donation to help fund the repairs and maintenance that keeps the canals open and available for people to use. We welcome everyone who wants to come along and make positive changes in their local community.”

CollectingRubbishBikeThe awards

The awards include a stretch of the Rochdale Canal in the heart of Manchester between Dukes Lock on Castle Street and the Aytoun Street Bridge that has been added to the existing award, with 12 miles of the city’s canal now holding Green Flag status. This is an astonishing transformation in an area that has previously suffered from antisocial behaviour. In Saddleworth in Greater Manchester, a stretch of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal also gained a Green Flag. 

2021’s City of Culture, Coventry, has another reason to celebrate, with five and a half miles of the Coventry Canal receiving a Green Flag, while the Trent & Mersey Canal is bringing quality blue-green space into Stoke, with just over seven and a half miles awarded a Green Flag.

With one keen fella even collecting on a waterborne bike!

Other waterways achieving Green Flag status include Foxton Locks on the Grand Union Canal, Wigan Lock Flight on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, Red Bull to Harding’s Wood on the Trent & Mersey Canal, and a further stretch of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal.