A Breath of Blue & Green: Why Canals Still Matter in Our Cities
When you walk beside these industrial waterways, you get a sense of history and heritage. You feel the rhythms of urban life slowing down, you start to notice the lapping of the water and the birdsong. It is when you stop beside a canal that you truly start to appreciate the role they play in keeping the built environment green. Parks are green recreation islands, there to be enjoyed, but isolated pockets of green none-the- less. Canals are different.
I was riding along the Worcester to Birmingham canal. A blustery day but I was protected by the "cut". As I pedaled from Diglis, lost in the wonder of the canal system, I found myself weaving past quiet locks and red brick bridges. It is late spring and the waterways are buzzing with new life. Insects skimming over the water, the occasional fish jumping, the ducklings and the cygnets.
This was when it hit me: canals aren't just a part of our heritage - they're a part of our future. Let me explain.
Cooling Our Cities
Climate change has seen an increase in city temperatures. The "urban heat island" effect means cities like Worcester trap warmth, making hot days even hotter. The canals offer an opportunity to fight back against the heat. Through evaporation - water evaporation and plants releasing moisture - canals are like the refrigerators for our concrete urban jungle. They help to cool the air naturally. They are slow-moving, silent air conditioners built into our city landscapes.
We have all experienced those incredibly hot and sticky summer nights. There feels like there is no escape from the heat and you can't settle - sleeping becomes uncomfortable. Canals and water courses are always noticeably cooler - have you ever walked down into a dip in the landscape and felt that sudden change in temperature? These are known as cold sinks - canals are generally cut into the landscape, following contours - hence the term "the cut" meaning canal. Homes built near water fair better in scorching summer heats compared to those away from watercourses.
Wildlife Highways
These green and blue superhighways provide habitat for vast numbers of insects, birds, aquatic creatures and wildlife. They are nature's motorway in the city - linking urban, suburban, and countryside together. From the statuesque heron in the reed margins, the bees buzzing in and out of the wildflowers, to the birds nesting in the trees - all can live and move about freely. In a time when biodiversity is ever decreasing, these blue ribbons are vital.
I stop my ride near a lock, as I do a mother swan and her seven cygnets glide over to me, in the hope of securing some easy food. Along the sides of the water, nestled into the bank, wildflowers grow from the gaps between the bricks - hardy survivalists determined to hang on to their home.
Low-Carbon Living
The canals and waterways offer opportunities for more sustainable living. Narrowboats have been used to transport goods between industrial centres for over 200 years. These days people are the cargo - some just passing through on holiday, whilst others call them their home. Canals remind us of how people travelled, slowly, efficiently, without the constant hum of combustion engines in the background. Even now, the diesel engines of the narrowboats are softer, more rhythmic heartbeats rather than the constant roar of land based vehicles. With technological developments comes electric narrowboats - the canals are slowly returning back to their silent idylls.
Canals are so much more than low-carbon transport hubs, the water itself can be tapped for its heating and cooling properties via water sourced heat pumps. Canalside buildings could tap into the natural energy store by drawing water from the canals and passing it through the system before returning the water back to its source. A great opportunity to decarbonise heating and cooling systems along the waterfronts. That's smart, clean energy, already flowing through our waterways.
Managing Water, Managing Risk
Worcester is a city built next to water with the River Severn passing through its very heart. Building a city next to water doesn't go without its risks - flooding is a regular problem, which is now being compounded by climate change. Floods bring with them damage and disruption. Sudden deluges of heavy rain put enormous pressure on the city's drainage systems - after a time they fail because the volume of water exceeds the drainage capabilities. Canals can be part of the future solutions to the surface water flooding issue. They are, by nature, managed waterways with the levels being carefully controlled. They have the capabilities to offer additional stormwater management through absorption of excess water. They can slow the progress of water entering the river systems. In a world increasingly at the mercy of erratic weather, these pre-built water management systems are like gold dust.
As I quietly ambled along, it had started to rain. I took shelter under one of the many bridges that criss-cross the canal. I noticed the drainage holes in the bridge wall and realised these little dark circles were there to allow water to drain into the canal from the road above my head. As I watched and waited, a trickle of water began to run, crossing the brick pathway, and down into the canal. There are 20 bridges along the canal in the Worcester area and most carry traffic. I pondered just how much water could be taken out of the cities storm drains. Pollution could be a concern, but the technology exists to create filters to catch pollution before it enters the canal system. It seems incredulous to me that we don't make more of the old technology that exists around us - rather than keep trying to find the answers with the current knockdown and build policy, so fondly favoured by our government.
Space to Breathe and Move
The canal towpath has become one of my favourite ways to move about the city - on foot and on two wheels. To me, the canal isn't just a route - it's a refuge. A place to think, to pedal without pressure from other road users, a place to hear the wind in the willow trees. For walkers, runners, cyclists, even kayakers, canals offer respite from the chaos of modern life - they remove you from the daily grind without having to make any effort. They promote active travel and mental wellbeing. And unlike roads, they don't come with the roar of engines and pollution. They are safe havens - places to commute without risk.
The Worcester to Birmingham canal is part of the National Cycle Network. NCN 45 is a much-loved piece of active travel infrastructure that links the city centre with the northern half of Worcester. It passes by shops, businesses and homes. It has created opportunities for new businesses to spring up - from those aimed for the boaters to the cafes that offer sustenance to the weary traveller. I pondered the number of people who use this active travel corridor everyday - on their commute to work, school, or the shops. It is always busy. How many of those people have spared a thought about the important role the canal plays in their lives?
Regeneration and Revival
In my role as a broadcast journalist, I get to spend time in really interesting places. I was returning home along the canal after spending time working with a colleague in the Diglis Basin area. A place that has undergone massive regeneration since the oil basin finally closed its doors in the 1990's. The derelict site quickly became homes for people - places with a waterfront view. Once brownfield sites, no longer loved and a pollution threat to the waterside landscape - now a place buzzing with cafes, artists and communities. Investment into waterside spaces, long written off, has meant they are now places to gather, create and thrive.
The regeneration is good news but it does come at a price. Developers rush to cram in as many housing units as they can - from flats to maisonettes. Each with at least one occupier and their car. Parking becomes an issue as people fight to park near their homes. This adds to the disruption to the wildlife corridors that are the canals and rivers. Diglis is a prime example of over development - with blocks of flats standing tall above the river. Green buffer zones have been created to soften the edges of these brick monoliths that are wedged into the landscape. The question for me: just how much regeneration is acceptable? What are the costs to the landscape and the wildlife? Don't get me wrong, we have made great progress in building with ecology in mind, but I do think we can still do much better.
Stories That Flow
The Worcester to Birmingham canal has many tales to tell. Born from the industrial revolution, they have become places of industry, resilience and reinvention. From the days of the horse-drawn boats, to the forgotten hay days, to regeneration and community cleanups - canals have seen it all. As we have seen, they are places vital to the future lives of the generations to come. Canals and rivers need our protection. We need to be safeguarding the heritage and tradition, the environment and all that calls the waterways home. When we protect them - we conserve them for future generations. We need to do more to protect our sense of place - but there is a problem. A very large elephant in the room.
A Worrying Undercurrent
Despite all the benefits that I have explored so far - despite the climate benefits, the wildlife, the wellbeing, the heritage - there is a serious crisis unfolding. A crisis that threatens the very nature of our precious waterways.
The Canal & River Trust, the charity responsible for maintaining over 2000 miles of inland waterways, is facing a significant shortfall in government funding. The current central government has announced plans to reduce support by over £300 million between now and 2037. That is not a budget cut - it is a slow bleed that threatens our waterways. These vital community resources are already under threat from pollution. The private water companies have been given free reign to pollute at will - with very little comeback from those in the corridors of government. They pollute and continue to make massive profits that keep their shareholders happy. Is it not about time that they were forced by government to put their hands in their pockets and contribute to the conservation of our waterways?
What is the risk of the funding cut? After all, canals have been around for over 200 years. The issue is the aging infrastructure that requires constant maintenance. Funding cuts mean the potential for infrastructure collapse - we have already seen that over the last winter. The risks are more far reaching than just a loss of infrastructure - we risk losing active travel corridors, habitats, and increased flooding. This isn't just about people who live on boats - it's about entire communities losing those green and blue spaces that keeps them well, connected, cool in summer, safe on their commute. The irony is painful because canals offer extraordinary value for money. If they are neglected now, then the costs will be financial, environmental and social further down the line.
As I turned off the canal and said my farewells, I stopped to consider what the canal means to me and the people who use it. The canal is not just water quietly flowing through our cities and countryside. It is a record of our history, nature, the way the climate is changing, and the lives of the communities that follow its course - all flowing together.
I don't live near the canal but I do use it daily. Often on two wheels, sometimes on two feet (with four paws thrown in for good measure). I see our canals not just as a route, but as a roadmap. They are our gentle guides that hint at the types of cities and urban centres that we could live in. We need the people who love these special places to recognise the threats and stand tall. We need to ensure we fund better, build better, embrace slower, embrace greener, but above all remain connected to our waterways. We must invest in them - once they're gone, we can't build them back.
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