Kieran & Lottie Photography who began documenting the Whitchurch canal breach a few days ago and have come up with a new video daily, published their latest one from this morning (7th January 2026) and the scenes show workers digging at the ground about N/B Sefton also there’s no doubt they took a look inside the boat too because its rear and side hatches are open. They were also removing the coal bags which had been bundled up against the boat’s front entrance. It was clear at one point they were trying to determine the depth of the mud involved as one of the workers had a space and he could be seen stabbing at the mud with it. No doubt because the mud is now considerably frozen, it seemed quite futile to even attempt to ascertain the quantity of mud that will need to be shifted from both around the boat and from the inside of it – there’s no doubt the narrowboat’s front bows are completely submerged in this frozen quagmire.
Image screencapped and merged out of two separate scenes from Kieran and Lottie’s latest video.
Interesting to see the Youtubers Kieran and Lottie have also asserted the culvert was not responsible for the breach because it is in working order. As I have pointed on on this series of blog posts (and also on other Youtube comments) people are making the error that there is only ONE culver that is involved and because its working its not even responsible for the breach!
I have detailed that is an error. As one can see from the above quote I have tried to correct that error. One must also remember in one of the first interviews given to the media the day after the breach occurred, Canal and River Trust’s Julie Sharman indeed cited there were TWO culverts underneath the embankment in question. Its not the one that’s working (eg the Staggs Brook one) but in fact another one whose upper end cannot be seen because besides having collapsed, its a reason why the field beyond is now flooded. Three posts ago I showed a screenshot from Narrowboat Life Unlocked who had inadvertently filmed this lesser known culvert. There’s every clear evidence it has previously worked but now the water from it is just stagnant and that is because the culvert has collapsed.
Not only that, if the alignment of N/B Sefton is taken into account, its possible that very culvert has been absolutely smashed – besides having also failed initially thus causing the breach – and that by the weight of Sefton bearing upon the brickwork.
Have seen the Taylors Aboard a Narrowboat latest video but there’s nothing to suggest any work has actually begun despite the video’s click-bait title.
Update: 19.00 on 7th January 2026.
Like the Bridgewater the news on this one is drying up too! All the things the emergency teams (including United Utilities and CRT) could have did has been done. A number of people are saying news is drying up. Well it is! What else can anyone do? Apart from fly drones and hope something will show in order to garner yet more Youtube clicks?
The full repair (rebuild rather) of the breach site will take several months. One thing that is known is much of what remains of the existing embankment cannot be reused thus its clear the only solution is to build a completely new structure. I think CRT are potentially faced with a length of around 100 metres (328 feet) that needs to be built as completely new embankment because of how the entire structure curves and any existing material even if it looks reasonably good, will probably need to be excavated and replaced with something more sturdy because the movement of the water no doubt puts pressure on the curved section. They may need to line it completely with concrete – even so it will still need considerable work because it will have to be 100% concrete from the lift bridge to well past where the original cofferdam was – and possibly into the cutting that follows because there is also half an embankment that continues on the west side for a further 100 metres or so (and there’s a culvert under that too) – which easily makes more than 200 metres of new canal and earthworks that could be required.
“We will have to cut back the shoulders of this damaged area in steps and bring in new material of the right quality to rebuild the embankment up in levels. Compacting as we go to make sure it’s structurally sound, probably relining this section across this embankment with an impermeable layer. And then hopefully we’ll be reopening this canal later this year – but it will be towards the end of this year.” (BBC News).
The rescue of the boats down in the hole will take some planning and preparation and its thought only one of those (the green boat known as Ganymede) is worth recovering. The other, Sefton, as CRT say, has been inundated with water thus its not looking promising. The change in weather also poses problems – if it gets more snowy/freezing that will put a damper on things.
Both the BBC (yesterday) and now the Shropshire Star (this afternoon) report that N/B Pacemaker will be moved and re-floated in the coming days although no date is given. That possibly will be the next big event for Youtubers to cover – unless it too is undertaken at night time!
Update: 20.00pm on 5th January 2026.
Yesterday BBC News carried a report which basically says everything that has been said before, although the assertions made are quite unsurprising, including the fact the repair (or rebuild of the canal) will take most of 2026.
Julie Sharman, chief operating officer of the Canal and River Trust, said engineers were still investigating the cause of the “catastrophic” failure.
“Sometimes [the cause is] not definitive. Earth structures are quite complex, and there’s a number of thoughts as to what might be the cause but I’d rather not speculate. When you get a water path through an embankment it unravels as it goes and then it gets quite catastrophic as we can see here and the damage is significant.”
Other news – the emergency pumps at New Mills have been stopped and the pipes disconnected. The new system from Whitchurch marina is now the permanent installation – until such a time the canal is restored to navigation.
Update: 12.55pm on 5th January 2026.
The feature image is of Marbury Lock with swans. One of the views I took on the Llangollen canal the last time I ventured that way some years ago.
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