A COMMON-SENSE ALTERNATIVE—Rebuilding navigation operations from the ground up, by Ralph Freeman.
The current administrative overhead and top-heavy management structure of our canal network continue to swallow resources while basic physical maintenance falls behind.
Is it time to consider a decentralised, practical operational model that places hands-on care back in the hands of local people?
This proposal takes inspiration from the proven achievements of the Chesterfield Canal Trust. At sites such as Staveley, this trust has demonstrated what targeted, local dedication can achieve—delivering complex civil engineering works, lock construction and channel reinstatement through direct labour, clear local oversight and lean operational costs.
Using the 93½-mile Trent & Mersey Canal as a working blueprint, this model applies that same ethos on a larger scale: replacing corporate bureaucracy with local accountability, rapid response and streamlined central services.
1 The core infrastructure: 12 local lengths
The canal is divided into 12 operational sections based on natural navigation boundaries, lock flights and access points.
Each section is looked after by a dedicated lengthsman, based at a secure, insulated 20ft container depot. Located near key access points, these depots house essential hand tools, timber, pumps and maintenance equipment, providing an immediate physical presence on the towpath.
Section 1: Derwent Mouth to Dallow Lock
Section 2: Dallow Lock to Fradley Junction
Section 3: Fradley Junction to Rugeley
Section 4: Rugeley to Great Haywood
Section 5: Great Haywood to Stone
Section 6: Stone to Trentham
Section 7: Trentham to Stoke-on-Trent
Section 8: Stoke-on-Trent to Church Lawton
Section 9: Church Lawton to Wheelock
Section 10: Wheelock to Middlewich
Section 11: Middlewich to Northwich
Section 12: Northwich to Preston Brook
2 Operational delivery: 3 regional hubs
To support the lengthsmen without creating additional layers of local bureaucracy, the 12 sections are grouped under three regional hubs: Northern, Central and Southern.
Each hub provides the skilled trade support required for larger jobs.
Southern Hub (Fradley): Covers Sections 1–4. Focuses on river control equipment, deep locks and flood gates.
Central Hub (Stone Yard): Covers Sections 5–8. Focuses on central workshops, lock gate fitting and urban corridor maintenance.
Northern Hub (Middlewich): Covers Sections 9–12. Focuses on heavy lock mechanics and tunnel structures.
Hub-based tradesmen work directly alongside local lengthsmen on scheduled structural repairs, reducing the need to employ costly external contractors for routine civil and mechanical work.
3 Oversight and Support: One Central Services Unit
To keep administrative costs as low as possible, a single Central Services Unit supports the entire operation. By concentrating back-office functions within one small team, local staff are free to focus on physical work on the Cut.
The Central Services Unit handles four specific functions:
Procurement and Buying: Negotiates bulk trade accounts for timber, lime mortar, aggregates and steel, allowing lengthsmen to obtain materials locally without unnecessary administrative delays.
Legal and Land Administration: Manages boundary agreements, riparian obligations, statutory compliance and environmental permitting.
Machinery and Plant Fleet: Manages heavy equipment, including mobile cranes, workboats, piling rigs and high-capacity dewatering pumps, dispatching machinery and specialist operators to local sections as required.
Finance and Accounts: Handles supplier invoices, payroll and grant accounting directly, without unnecessary layers of approval.
Conclusion
By stripping away excessive management layers and building on the practical, volunteer-and-trade-led approach demonstrated by organisations such as the Chesterfield Canal Trust, this model offers a way to restore local accountability, reduce administrative expenditure and put resources back where they are most needed—maintaining the physical infrastructure of the navigation.
Above all, it puts responsibility for the condition of the canal back into the hands of people who know their local stretch, understand its problems and have the skills and equipment to do something about them.