Canal anniversaries in 2026
Every year there are anniversaries celebrated across the canal network
There are some exciting canal anniversaries in 2026, including the 200th birthday of the Lancaster Canal.
We’ve listed canals and structures celebrating birthdays in 2026, that you can reach on a Drifters boating holiday:
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal main line is 210 years old
Completed in 1816, at 127 miles long the Leeds & Liverpool Canal is the longest single canal in the country. Construction was authorised in 1770 and began at once with John Longbotham as engineer. The canal crosses the Pennines and links the wide waterways of Yorkshire with those of Lancashire and the River Mersey. The Leeds & Liverpool main line has 93 locks and two tunnels. Drifters has bases on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal at Silsden and Barnoldswick.
The Stratford Canal is 210 years old
Completed in 1816, the 25-mile long Stratford Canal (also known as the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal) has 54 locks. It’s a narrow canal so only one narrowboat at a time can go into each lock. The Stratford Canal links Shakespeare’s Stratford and the River Avon in the south, with the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Kings Norton Junction. We have a base on the Stratford Canal at Wootton Wawen, and you can reach the Stratford Canal on a short break from Alvechurch.
The Llangollen Canal is 220 years old
Completed in 1806, the 41-mile long Llangollen Canal crosses the border between England and Wales. It links the historic market town of Llangollen in the Welsh Mountains with the Shropshire Union Canal at Hurleston Junction in Cheshire. It travels through the Shropshire Lake District and in 2009, an 11-mile section of the waterway from Gledrid Bridge to the Horseshoe Falls in Llangollen was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. This includes the awesome Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, one of the Seven Wonders of the Waterways. We have bases on the Llangollen Canal at Trevor, Chirk, Blackwater Meadow, Whixall, Whitchurch and Wrenbury.
Braunston Tunnel is 230 years old
Completed in 1796, at over a mile long (1,867 metres/2,042 yards) Braunston Tunnel on the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire is one of the longest canal tunnels in Britain. It takes around 20 minutes to navigate and is wide enough to accommodate passing narrowboats. Our nearest bases are at Braunston, Napton and Stockton.
250 years ago permission to build the Caldon Canal was granted
The Act of Parliament giving permission to build the Caldon Canal was passed in 1776 and it opened in 1779. This 18-mile long waterway runs from the Trent & Mersey Canal at Etruria in Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall Wharf in the Staffordshire Moorlands. There are 17 locks along its length. We have base at Stoke-on-Trent and you can also reach the Caldon Canal on a week’s holiday from Great Haywood.
