How are canal festivals affected by the drought?

With the West Midlands officially in drought and water levels dropping in some areas, closures on parts of the canal network meant some visiting boats had to take longer routes in order to reach a canal festival, organisers said.

The Environment Agency recently declared that more than half of England was experiencing a "flash drought", as the hot and dry weather took its toll on the country's water supplies.

Despite drought-related restrictions on the canal network, organisers said festivals like Brownhills Canal Festival have not been significantly affected by low water levels.

Christine Howles, from the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust, which organises the event, said some boaters travelling to the festival had to go the "long way around" to get there.

"The drought has caused issues with certain parts of the canals being closed, but all of the boats that have got to us have planned their journeys to get round those," she said.

The Canal and River Trust (CRT), which manages the waterways, said they have seen reservoir levels, river levels and canal feeders drop across their network, with temporary restrictions or closures brought in to manage water levels.

Several lock flights across Birmingham were also closed to preserve water including Brades, Minworth, Rushall and Tame Valley and Wolverhampton, the charity added.

"We know restrictions and closures are hugely frustrating for both boaters and canal businesses, and we're sorry for the disruption they cause," said CRT chief executive Campbell Robb.

Brownhills Canal Festival, held on the third weekend of August each year, takes place on the Wyrley and Essington Canal at Silver Street, Walsall, on Saturday and Sunday.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the popular event, which features dozens of floating traders, historic narrowboats and some stalls on land.

Howles said it was the heatwave that had caused problems for some of the older boats attending the event, with two boats built in the 1930s forced to cancel their appearances due to engine issues.

"The floating traders have all been OK," she said. "But the historic boats... they're the ones that have found it difficult.

"We've had two that were on their way but have turned back because they [have] engine troubles because of the heat."

Howles said organisers have planned ahead to make sure visiting boats could attend, with the canal basin expected to be filled to capacity.

"Yes, the water is down, but not that much because there aren't many locks on the Brownhills stretch," she explained.

"When you've got lots of locks [that move the water down] and the water's going down, that's when you get the difficulty. So it hasn't been much of an issue."

Organisers of Whitchurch Canal festival, which takes place on 5 and 6 September in Shropshire, also said the drought "hadn't really had any impact".

"Mainly because the canal we're on, the Llangollen Canal, is fed by the river and so the levels on that actually are not significantly lower," explained Doug Sealy, one of the festival's organisers.

"Whereas of course, other canals, quite a few of the canals... are starting to suffer problems with levels," he added.

The festival, which also features a Miniature Canal Regatta and a free family trail with miniature narrowboats - will also have live music and community stalls.

Sealy, vice chairman of the Whitchurch Waterway Trust, which manages part of the Llangollen Canal, said the huge canal breach was the "big issue" and had caused more of an impact instead of the drought.

The breach, in December, saw a major incident declared on a stretch of the canal after a giant hole emerged, with two narrowboats left at the bottom of a trench and a third teetering over the edge.

Sealy said the canal would usually be quite "nose to tail with boats" at this time of the year.

"Last year, we had, I think, 25 or 26 boats at the festival, trading," he said.

"This year, I've got I think about 12 boats altogether, so it is definitely limiting what we can do in that respect."

He said they were expecting about 3,000 people to attend, possibly even more because of the breach.

The festival has been running since 1993, apart from a break during the Covid pandemic.

"We're putting on more in the way of activities, more sort of shore-based things," he said.

"Canal festivals... they are fantastic opportunities for local people to get involved. All the music will be local musicians, all the food stalls are local traders."

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