This is the first canal breach post since 29th January 2026 when the last one was done! However I have kept a continual monitor upon what has been happening and made lots of notes and screencaps and links to various videos and the different stages of the work to begin to set up the Whitchurch site in terms of a substantial works compound and the long task ahead in order to remove the disastrous sandy embankment and begin the job of reconstructing the canal. The breach has significantly impacted local tourism and navigation, with the Canal & River Trust undertaking fundraising in order to assist with the costs of repair.
There’s no doubt the repairs for the December 2025 breach on the Llangollen Canal near Whitchurch (Shropshire) will continue throughout most of 2026, and costing millions of pounds. The works are (in theory) expected to take until November 2026 – for this is when temporary restrictions on the by-pass to the west of the site are to end. The Whitchurch by-pass now forms the major access route to a new, and temporary, roadway that leads down into the breach site area itself.
The Whitchurch breach sire just a couple of weeks or so ago. Screencap from You Tube – Kieran and Lottie Photography.
The LLangollen canal and towpath are closed between Morris’s Bridge and Grindley Brook, hence there is navigation only on the eastern section from Hurleston to Wrenbury for larger narrowboats and beyond for smaller narrowboats. And then navigation is available from the winding hole just past Whitchurch Marina to the current end of navigation at Crickheath bridge via Frankton and the partially restored Montgomery canal, as well as the main canal route to Llangollen. There are estimates decreeing that around 350 wagon loads of material will be needed to rebuild the breach. That all depends on the final plans that will be made. Whether it will be a traditional embankment or a concrete channel or a bit of both is not known exactly yet.
The Canal & River Trust (CRT) is managing the entire repair operation using various contractors. This involves extensive earthworks, then rebuilding the embankment, and reinforcing the structure to prevent future failures. CRT have undertook inviestigation works at some of the canal’s other embankments, although it seems these (including Whitchurch and Hampden Bank) are some of the canal’s far lesser examples – and that because the Llangollen canal has what are the most massive embankments ever to be built on Britain’s waterway system! If one of those very examples were to go it would be a far worse calamity than the one at Whitchurch.
Key Aspects of the Repair Plan (2025-2026):
- Site Stabilization: Temporary dams have been installed to secure the site and reduce the amount of water lost.
- Investigation: The cause of the collapse is currently under investigation, with possibilities including heavy rain or structural degradation.
- Reconstruction Strategy: Following the removal of affected narrowboats, work involves rebuilding the embankment using compacted layers of material. The breach, which is in a section of sandy ground, requires significant engineering work to rebuild the embankment.
- Site Challenges: The repair requires moving roughly 7,000 cubic metres of material, potentially requiring over 350 wagon loads due to the scale of the damage.
- Timeline & Cost: Repairs are estimated to take most of 2026, with costs likely running into several million pounds.
- Infrastructure Improvements: The Trust is exploring making the embankment wider and more resilient than the original 1790s structure.
- Immediate Actions: Following the 22 December 2025, collapse, initial steps focused on installing dams, securing the site, and recovering boats.
What appears to be a marked out route for contractors vehicles to reach the Bridgewater canal site. Screencap from Youtube – CCOverview.
The breaches at Whitchurch and Dunham Massey have now been joined by one on the Rochdale Canal at Miles Platting. So there’s a lot happening in terms of waterways about the Cheshire Plains! What is happening with the Miles Plating one isn’t certain at the moment. however those at Whitchurch (Llangollen canal) and Dunham (Bridgewater canal) now both seem to be getting underway – although the Llangollen one has been continually progressive since the new year. Its now getting to a stage where the whole site has been altered beyond recognition, whilst the Bridgewater one has been a mark of extremely slow progress with little being done for weeks on end – although at the time of writing (this being the end of April 2026) contractors have now moved in to begin construction of a lengthy roadway that will cross the various fields in order to reach the central sections of the breach site.
The culvert that’s no longer a mystery! I discussed this culvert on Xmas Day 2025 – many refuted the culvert even existed! Now everyone accepts it exists! Screencap from You Tube – Kieran and Lottie Photography.
Again, in terms of Whitchurch, well there’s that the mysterious culvert (which I spoke of just three days after the actual breach – and many asserted there wasn’t another culvert under the canal at all. I even spoke of how the embankments were built of sand as a cheap method and where that sand was got from. So many have, late in the day been explaining all that. Yet despite my involvement in previous Llangollen and other canal breaches, the whole world has gone about as if its all somehow completely new stuff etc etc!) Anyway that culvert has now been uncovered and there’s definitely a substantial puzzle about it. CRT and the contractors involved later asserted it’s existence – but that it didn’t have anything to do with the breach because its not even where that calamity happened. The culvert certainly drains water but it doesn’t come out the other end. It may well be that this an anomaly has something either directly or indirectly connected with the huge breach that occurred on December 22nd 2025. It may indicate there is another drainage route beneath the embankment and this might have caused eventual collapse. CRT have already made a preliminary report giving their initial findings on the cause of the breach – but in light of this anomaly, their analysis may well have to change to take this culvert into account.
Video channels worth watching re the Llangollen Breach:
Kieran and Lottie
Riley Robey
CCOverview
Video channels worth watching re the Bridgwater Breach:
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