Canal maps and canal cruising guides
to British inland waterways.
Our canal route maps
cover the most popular English, Welsh and Scottish cruising canals and
navigations. Click on the canal or the blue nameplate to see
our cruising guides & route maps. We also have links to canal holiday advice and
information.
British
inland waterways are a network of over 2000m (3000km) of man
made waterways which were built over 200 years ago. They include some
rivers which have been made navigable over many hundreds of years. New engineering techniques
had to be developed to build the inland waterways and canals made the
Industrial Revolution possible by allowing goods and raw materials to be
moved between the new ‘factories’ and the new ‘consumers’. When the
railways took over that role, about 100 years ago, British inland
waterways went into slow decline and now carry very little commercial
cargo. However there are more boats afloat than ever before because
canal cruising is such a popular leisure activity. Most canals are
managed and maintained by British Waterways which is a public
corporation and enthusiastically supports their leisure and tourism use.
Our canal route maps
cover the most popular English, Welsh and Scottish cruising canals and
navigations. Click on the canal or the blue nameplate to see
our cruising guides & route maps. We also have links to canal holiday advice and
information.
