THIS year Canal & River Trust is creating more moorings along the London waterways.

This is part of the the London Mooring Strategy with the trust creating three quarters of a mile of new towpath mooring space in central London, installing approximately 150 rings along the Grand Union Canal, Regent’s Canal and Limehouse Cut.

Work is due to commence in February. Vegetation will be cut back on the Limehouse Cut to make new and existing rings accessible as part of this work.

This is following the investigation into potential sites that took place in 2021.

Dredging survey

The trust has also carried out a dredging survey which identified a half mile stretch at Norwood Top Lock where dredging would significantly improve the ability to moor. This work is currently being scheduled for this spring.

Additionally, early in 2022, there will be spot-dredging and installing new mooring rings at Steele Road in West London so that boaters can moor up to use the waste facilities there.

To balance out the environmental impact of the installation of new moorings and potential habitat loss due to shading from boats, the Trust will be installing marginal habitat on the Regent’s Canal below Ben Johnsons Lock. This will mature into a reed bed within five years creating habitat for juvenile fish, invertebrates, nesting birds and amphibians.

New service facilities

The trust tells it is carrying out Investigations into the feasibility of potential new or improved customer service facilities this year and again in 2023. It has run initial checks and service searches on ten potential sites and will be exploring six of these further over the coming months to see if any are viable for development (Enfield, Steele Road, Old Ford Lock, Old Oak Lane, Horse & Barge, and Eastwick).

Four other sites, including Bull’s Bridge, Paddington Basin, Springwell, and Pickett’s Lock, were investigated but have proved not to be viable.