National wonders or damp squibs?

More than 50 years ago Robert Aickman, co-founder of the Inland Waterways Association compiled the original list of the ‘Seven Wonders of the Waterways.’ With our descent of the Caen Hill a flight last Saturday we have now travelled through or along each of these, and we would take issue with Aickman on several of his list.



1. The river in the sky is his first. The awesome Pontycyllte Aqueduct carries the Llangollen Canal a towering 125 feet high above the River Dee for 1,000 feet.

Thomas Telford and William Jessop’s astonishing feat of engineering is, like the Great Barrier Reef, a World Heritage site. Walk across it, and you have railings between you and the drop to the river. Boat across as we last did in March 2022, and you realise that the aqueduct is a mere trough, and you have no guarding railings between you and that plunging view.



2. The longest, deepest, and highest canal tunnel in the country, is the Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. At nearly three and a half miles long, 645 feet above sea and 638 feet below the Pennines, it is remarkable. Being accompanied through by Trevor Ellis, who documented the Tunnel’s history, was a highlight of our boating life.

3. On then to our most recent wonder whose place in the list we would dispute. The Caen Hill Flight is a 16-lock wide flight that forms part of the longer 29-lock flight at Devizes to climb 237 feet over 2 miles.

The locks and their side ponds are designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument – the same level of heritage protection given to Stonehenge.

I’d argue about them – look at the longest 30-lock flight, the Tardebigge, which we completed in September 2022 with the help of wonderful lock wheeler Kat James. Currently closed because of brickwork collapse we hope it reopens soon for others to enjoy.





4. Over then to the wonder on a private canal – the Barton Swing Aqueduct over the Manchester Ship Canal.  It pivots to allow larger boats to pass underneath. The aqueduct is a trough that seals at either end and moves with 800 tons of water on board. It is a feat of engineering but sadly always seems to be a highlight for litterpicking whenever we have travelled along it.

5. The Anderton Boat Lift is undeniably astounding. It was built in 1875 to carry cargo boats 50 feet up and down from the River Weaver to the Trent and Mersey Canal and back. It has two water filled caissons, which transport boats up and down on a remarkable journey, one we took in June 2023.

6.  Bingley Five Rise Locks in Yorkshire is another which I would dispute should be included in such a wonders list. They are a staircase flight of 60 feet where one leads into the next without a pound in between. They were completed in 1774, but I would argue their place should go to Foxton instead, a staircase flight we know so well with 10 locks opened in 1805.

7. Burnley aqueduct. This mile-long stretch of embankment carries the Leeds and Liverpool Canal 60 feet above the centre of this industrial mill town. Perhaps the constant drizzle that accompanied us along its length in May 2021 led us to not being as suitably impressed as we should have been!

So now I find myself wondering what we would say are the wonders of the waterways today. There are so many contenders, so many beautiful and breathtaking places and sights, impressive feats of engineering and restoration available today that compiling a new list is certainly something we need to get on with! What would you want to include?