British Waterways At A Glance

British Waterways manages 80 per cent of the canals and rivers in England, Scotland and Wales, caring for 2,200 miles of our canals and rivers. In the past decade 200 miles of new waterways have been opened, the first time the network has grown since the mid-19th century.
Half the population of the UK lives within five miles of a British Waterways canal or river
Approximately 35,000 leisure boats, including narrowboats and pleasure craft, and a further 30,000 canoeists regularly take to the waters
Around 380 million visits were made in 2009
In 2009/10, British Waterways directly spent £143 million on the waterways
Our property portfolio includes 1,654 locks, 54 tunnels, 3,115 bridges, 417 aqueducts and 91 reservoirs
Some 500 miles of fibre-optic cables have been buried beneath British Waterways' towpaths
Each year we sell nearly £5 million worth of water
We remove approximately 30,000 tonnes of fly tipped rubbish and visitor waste from our waterways every year weighing more than 4,000 Routemaster buses
British Waterways also looks after the 137 miles of waterways in Scotland – for more information visit www.scottishcanals.co.uk

Every year, our canals and rivers provide £67million worth of vital flood defence and drainage that helps to deal with the effects of climate change. Canals relieve flooding by transferring, intercepting and storing water
Our waterways hold almost 200,000 mega litres of water – enough to fill 80,000 olympic-sized swimming pools. Half of this water is recycled and supplied to commercial users, including farmers and fire brigades
British Waterways is making a valuable contribution to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint by producing renewable energy projects, with Partnership for Renewables
Some large scale projects are in the pipeline and one of the first to come to fruition is already giving us an idea of how successful the canal can be at reducing carbon footprint. GlaxoSmithkline’s canalside HQ works with British Waterways to dissipate 1 megawatt of heat into the canal. The savings to the environment are significant, equivalent to taking 409 family-sized cars off the road
We are the first public corporation to explore opportunities for wind turbines and small-scale hydro power schemes. We believe that our waterside land could host around 100 megawatts of renewable energy capacity

Almost two million tonnes of freight is carried on the waterways each year
At London’s Olympic Park, British Waterways’ newly built Three Mills Lock has restored the East End’s Bow Back Rivers to transport, creating a green gateway for barges entering the Olympic Park and reviving water transport in the area for the first time in 50 years
Three Mills Lock has opened up the rivers in the area for the sustainable movement of materials by water, providing access for barges carrying construction traffic and recyclables between Stratford and the Thames. In the longer term the works will allow new opportunities for leisure boats, water taxis, trip boats and floating restaurants creating a major boating destination in the area

British Waterways and its joint venture partners are currently working on more than 70 waterway schemes worth £10 billion of regeneration.
200 hectacres of brownfield land
Delivering almost 17,000 new homes, with over 9,500 created on our land, and of which 2,000 will be affordable

Up to 400,000 inactive people are likely to benefit from physical activity because of a canal
60 per cent of waterway visitors say they exercise more regularly because they live near a canal – 26 per cent of these increased their physical activity by a large amount
When towpaths and immediate environments are improved, they are used more and often use doubles
Almost 20 million cycle visits are made to the canals every year
Water based recreation and tourism generates some £1.1 billion expenditure in local economies
24,000 jobs are supported in local economies
50 million visits are made by children aged under 15
Now, with at least 13 million people visiting waterways every year, the network is thriving.
With approximately 35,000 boats afloat, our canals and rivers are actually busier now than they were at the height of the industrial revolution
The hire boat industry contributes £61 million to local communities every year and supports 1,521 jobs
It is estimated that every year, visitors from overseas who are in Britain for a boating holiday, spend £16 million whilst they’re here

British Waterways is the largest owner of listed buildings in the UK after the National Trust and the Church of England. It is also one of the largest owners of wetland sites, scheduled buildings, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and conservation areas in the country
Our waterways pass through World Heritage Sites, historic battlefields, registered historic parks and thousands of archaeological sites
In 2009, 91 per cent of British adults agreed that canals are an important part of the nation’s heritage