Major breach at Whitchurch on Llangollen

[Stroudwater1]

It looks like someone has acted very rapidly to shut most water off to that area, otherwise it’s a Bridgewater scenario. Credit probably to CRT I imagine. 

[frangar]

2 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

It looks like someone has acted very rapidly to shut most water off to that area, otherwise it’s a Bridgewater scenario. Credit probably to CRT I imagine. 

I saw a post from someone moored in the Whitchurch arm to say they were floating again so yes prompt action from CRT. I guess the lift bridge there might have plank grooves…not sure about down stream though. 

[1st ade]

18 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

I think its just a section of piling lying over the roof of the boat. 

 

 

To which the boat still (just!) on the drained section appears to have been moored - a lucky escape for them...

[David Mack]

10 minutes ago, Gybe Ho said:

 

I know but what water source feeds the Trent & Mersey at Middlewich? It is downhill from Hurleston to Middlewich, so with the Llangollen not contributing water is there a general problem for the area? The Caldon Canal junction is at the watershed highpoint for the Trent & Mersey.

T&M at Middlewich is fed from the Caldon and Macclesfield and from the Middlewich Arm. The latter is fed from the Shroppie Main Line  (which gets its feed from reservoirs, Wolverhampton sewage works and from the BCN) as well as from the Llangollen. At this time of year, with plentiful rainfall, reservoirs filling and few boat movements, water supply will not be a problem. By next year's 'cruising season', temporary arrangements will be in place until the breach is repaired. So water supply problems from the breach aren't going to affect boating.

[phantom_iv]

Road access to that site should at least be fairly easy, hopefully it won’t take long before those boats can be rescued.

[Gybe Ho]

48 minutes ago, David Mack said:

That's the last thing you would do! No way do you want the integrity of the canal repair compromised by the inclusion of bits of random metal in the embankment.

As others have said, getting a crane in to lift them out is the way. It won't happen immediately. But road vehicle access into the site will be needed for the reconstruction work anyway, so that will provide crane access.

 

If you eyeball the earlier photo, the gunnel height of the two narrowboats in the hole is well below the original canal bed height probably 2 to 3 ft.  = plenty of working height to reform a new canal bed. Having seen the latest photos I reckon getting in heavy plant for a lift now looks even more problematic than when I posted. If the hulls are sitting on a collapsed culver they need to be removed otherwise its cheaper to slice off the cabin tops and fill them with hardcore as the rebuild progresses. Why add two months and £1 million to the rebuild costs just to rescue two narrowboats that probably need to be written off if they buckled a few inches during the downward slide?

[agg221]

3 minutes ago, phantom_iv said:

Road access to that site should at least be fairly easy, hopefully it won’t take long before those boats can be rescued.

I was trying to work out the exact location to see what road access looked like. Are the narrows for the lift bridge just visible in some of the photos?

 

Alec

[mrsmelly]

Another nail in the coffin 

[Tonka]

2 minutes ago, agg221 said:

I was trying to work out the exact location to see what road access looked like. Are the narrows for the lift bridge just visible in some of the photos?

 

Alec

By the bridge near a cafe according to Facebook 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Update from CaRT.

Quote

Descriptions

Update 22 December 2025, 10:45am

 

A breach on the Llangollen Canal near New Mills Lift Bridge, Whitchurch, happened in the early hours of this morning (22 December).

Our teams are on site and have dammed off the affected section of canal. The priority is the safety of boaters and those in the immediate area. The towpath and canal at this point are now closed to public access.

We are carrying out initial investigations into the possible cause of the breach and will provide more details in due course. We will also seek to restore water levels either side of the breach as soon as possible and are providing support to the boaters affected and those in the immediate area either side of the breach.

 

[Gybe Ho]

10 minutes ago, David Mack said:

... the Shroppie Main Line  (which gets its feed from reservoirs, Wolverhampton sewage works and from the BCN) as well as from the Llangollen. 

 

 

I have often thought it odd that a popular major canal is principally filled from the output of a sewerage works, is this just local lore or for real?

[robtheplod]

With this type of breech, is it possible to predict/prevent?  Is a survey capable of picking this up?

[frangar]

1 minute ago, robtheplod said:

With this type of breech, is it possible to predict/prevent?  Is a survey capable of picking this up?

There should be culvert inspections by whoever has responsibility for the culvert. And CRT have asset

 checkers who inspect structures. A lot depends on what actually failed here. 

[Hudds Lad]

18 minutes ago, agg221 said:

I was trying to work out the exact location to see what road access looked like. Are the narrows for the lift bridge just visible in some of the photos?

 

Alec

Looking at pics, i reckon approx HERE

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

With this type of breech, is it possible to predict/prevent?  Is a survey capable of picking this up?

 

On the Llangollen :

 

There was a culvert collapse in 2021 - warning signs would have been seen if it had been inspected,

 

There was a significant leak in 2024 (which required boats to be escorted past) - which was found before it became a breach. There was some suggestion that Badgers were responsible - again, if there had been anyone (Lengthsman) waking the canal signs of digging would have been spotted.

[Gybe Ho]

4 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Looking at pics, i reckon approx HERE

 

So right over a minor watercourse in a valley, that will complicate the repair and create a flooding concern in the shortterm.

[Tonka]

18 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

On the Llangollen :

 

There was a culvert collapse in 2021 - warning signs would have been seen if it had been inspected,

 

There was a significant leak in 2024 (which required boats to be escorted past) - which was found before it became a breach. There was some suggestion that Badgers were responsible - again, if there had been anyone (Lengthsman) waking the canal signs of digging would have been spotted.

Do badgers only dig when the canal is awake

[nb Innisfree]

BBC News - Major incident declared over Shropshire canal 'sinkhole' - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2lvq0yk9dko?app-referrer=push-notification

[Wafi]

30 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

Looking at pics, i reckon approx HERE

I think you're right. Looking at the OS map, the area to the left of the aerial photo drains through a culvert in the vicinity of the breach, and there's housing in that area at quite a low level. That culvert will need to be kept/made operational as a priority to avoid a serious flooding risk.

[Hudds Lad]

Nearby Whitchurch Marina has a sizeable crane if memory serves, so a stable base for hoiking out those trapped once dams are in place, or putting stuff into the canal etc.

 

I'd guess for waterflow they'll just pipe it as they do down at Pontcysyllte when it's having work done, repair may not be so quick.

[Alan de Enfield]

25 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Do badgers only dig when the canal is awake

 

They do not take the spoil back in with them during the day.

When digging they put the soild down their touser legs and drop it away from the site during the night - Ala "The Great Escape"

Edited December 22, 2025 by Alan de Enfield

[Mike Tee]

From the photo on the BBC site the bollards and mooring sign show the breach is only a few yards from the lift bridge

Eta - there is a short video on there now

Edited December 22, 2025 by Mike Tee

[PeterF]

1 hour ago, Gybe Ho said:

I have often thought it odd that a popular major canal is principally filled from the output of a sewerage works, is this just local lore or for real?

Why would we make this up, travel past and you will see the feeds into both the Shroppie and the S&W.

[PrincesWinsdor]

How can a crane access the site? The entire area looks unstable. And after they lift the narrowboats out, they need to find a way to load them onto long trailers. It doesn't seems like there's enough space.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, Gybe Ho said:

 

I have often thought it odd that a popular major canal is principally filled from the output of a sewerage works, is this just local lore or for real?

 

There are many canals and rivers that receive sewage works output.

C&RT charge for the discharge into their waterways, and, their income for water extraction (farmers etc) and discharge (sewage works etc) is almost the same as the income from all boaters.