The annual series of campaigns by Fund Britian’s Waterways to raise awareness about the plight of our rivers and canals is now in full swing.

The main campaign cruise to Liverpool is taking place now until the end of July, despite planning issues caused by various stoppages around the country.

The first group left Strawberry Island Boat Club in Doncaster on May 12th and will meet up along the route to Ellesmere Port with other groups from Ashby and Birmingham and other starting points.

Here the flotilla will gather in late June at the National Waterways Museum, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, before crossing the tidal Mersey to Liverpool Docks.

As the boats progress across the country they will be visiting boat clubs and events along the way to help spread the word, including Ashby and Birmingham groups cruise on the Macclesfield, Peak Forest and Huddersfield Narrow Canals via Whaley Bridge to Stalybridge to attend the Russell Newbery Register Rally while the Strawberry Island group heads back down the Caldon Canal and up the Trent & Mersey Canal onto the Bridgewater Canal to Runcorn, Lymm, via the Middlewich Branch and then the Shropshire Union Canal to Ellesmere Port.

You can follow all the campaigns and progress on the FBW’s new website: fundbritainswaterways.org.uk