The latest news re Llangollen canal and Whitchurch breach (21st January) is several boats have been moved off the canal. A number of Youtubers have filmed these going ons. One of those is Pacemaker which has gone away for inspection and work. The hull didn’t look too bad, and that because having painted a number of narrowboat hulls myself, as well as preparation of brand new hulls for painting, its fairly easy to detect what sort of condition a hull is in. There was little pitting in the hull, there was some but not critical even. The hull looked good along the rubbing strakes and where the side plates met the bottom plate. The bitumen looked in good condition despite the usual spots where it would be worn down or removed completely. Nothing critical to say the least and besides it was quite clean on the bottom plate because of all the winching along the canal bed the boat had. Some were pointing out a huge gouge in the hull but I think that was partly the thick bitumen that had been scraped away by some obstruction. At least two sacrificial anodes need replacing.
Some of the other boats being removed were taken to a boatyard in the Nantwich area and craned back into the canal. That could be one of several yards so its not known which. Craning boats out is quite an excitement (probably more so than dry docking and blacking). Its even more so when one gets a lift in a lorry following one’s own narrowboat – as happened many years ago when boats had to be taken over Blisworth hill due to the prolonged closure of the tunnel during the 1980s. BWB paid for many boats to be transported either way past the closed tunnel and this took place over a week or so with several being done each day.
Those boaters today were not so lucky. They had to pay for the craning out and transportation themselves!
The other two boats Ganymede and Sefton are still where they were left. There’s not a lot that can be done with them currently because there’s no-where for them to be taken out. They would need to go to Whitchurch marina (currently impossible because its the other side of the breach) or Wrenbury (currently not possible because of the stoppage at Quoisley lock). I expect these boats will stay where they are until at least 13th March 2026 when the concerned stoppage gets lifted.
Update: 15.40pm on 21st January 2026.
Is there another breach on the way? Attention seems to be turning towards a hole that’s appeared underneath one of the cofferdams on the Bridgewater canal near the site of its massive breach which occurred a year ago.
The work done before Xmas on the Bridgewater’s Bolin embankment was clearly intended to reinforce the site with a solidly built dam and therefore allow the dodgy cofferdams to be removed completely. As we all know that work apparently wasn’t completed and the reason is unknown. It might have been the weather which was really bad before Xmas. But now its a month since they last worked on the site and nothing else has been done. The cofferdams look really dodgy now.
And there’s this hole that’s just appeared underneath the cofferdam! I discussed this last night when Explore with Ant’s latest video revealed the hole in existence.
The new ‘sinkhole’ on the Bridgewater canal directly beneath one of its cofferdams. Have enhanced the view to show the hole better. Screencap from CP Overview.
Update: 13.15pm on 19th January 2026.
There’s not a lot happening at the Llangollen canal in Whitchurch currently (this is am on the 19th January). Videos published since Saturday have largely been reviews of what had gone on up to Saturday or a rehash of previous footage in an attempt to keep up the huge ratings that have ensued as viewers desire yet more of the drama that has been filmed since the canal breach occurred on 22nd December 2025.
In regards to the copyright claim made by one Youtube vlogger against another, one can no doubt see in the instance of the Youtube video (link given below) that was published half an hour ago, similar footage has been used – and that is with the full consent of the originator.
The footage can be seen on Riley Robey’s latest video.
Riley Robey’s latest video acknowledges Court on the Cut’s footage. Unlike the miscreant who took similar footage evidently passing it off as his own doing. This resulted in a copyright claim by Court on the Cut. This was something I discussed the other day along with screencaps showing both original and unauthorised footage.
Update: 11.45am on 19th January 2026.
Explore with Ant discovered today what appears to be a new hole in the Bridgewater canal’s Bolin embankment. This new partial collapse of the canal bed is directly underneath one of the cofferdams where they were supposed to be constructing new, proper bunds. For months its been known that water has been making its way beneath the towpath and it leaches out into the half empty canal between the two cofferdams. This new ‘sinkhole’ appears likely to be a result of this water being pushed beneath the canal towpath. Provided it doesn’t get too big and cause some further calamity, it’ll be an extra problem to deal with because the extent to which the Bolin embankment can be classed a failure will now have to be extended past the Bolin underbridge to where the cofferdams and winding hole is.
Explore with Ant’s latest video covering this new anomaly was published around an hour ago.
Update: 21.50pm on 18th January 2026.
Its said narrow boat Sefton will be probably classed a ‘Constructive Total Loss.’
Bob who owns Sefton has said that it will probably be classed as a Constructive Total Loss (write off in car terms) and then it’s down to whether the cost of rebuilding it is worth it. Once out of the water it is being taken to a location near Chester.
Quote from Canal World Forum today.
At the moment nothing of any sort of excitement is happening at the Whitchurch breach site. The two boats Ganymede and Sefton are floating and all seems quiet. The biggest noise probably comes from the traffic on the nearby Whitchurch by-pass. Unless numerous drones from Youtubers and the likes come to collect above the site at some point – and then that might be a case of the traffic being droned in silence!
Update: 14.20pm on 18th January 2026.
The videos shown today are mainly static. Some are of the site currently which appears to be shrouded in foggy weather. No work is ongoing as far as one can see. Thus the workers have all earned a day of rest! Tomorrow will no doubt see a bit more work and then after than things might quieten down after that once the boats and the remaining equipment has been removed.
I do hope things quieten down for a bit! Can’t keep writing updates on the Llangollen canal indefinitely! This is the longest series of updates I have ever done and its nearly approaching an entire month now for the breach occurred on December 22nd 2025.
12.30pm on 18th January 2026.
There have been a couple of videos this week where people have returned to the Bridgewater canal to see if there has been any progress. Nothing of course. Its like chasing the proverbial ark. A waste of time. The progress on the Bridgewater is perhaps the worst known since the breach at practically the same location in 1972. The Bridgewater might be one of the longest canals without any locks (and also its quite deep compared to other later waterways). But its breach repairs no doubt take an eternity and that cuts deep into the tourist industry.
I haven’t done any Bridgewater special since November 2025. I had intended to write about the recent work and had prepped a post as well as pictures – but I kept my bets off because I wanted to see something more conclusive – because even with that work they were doing nothing was conclusive. What on earth were they doing it for? And why were they building three bunds, each one of those considerably below the level of the canal? If there was another canal burst (eg one of the cofferdams failed) there would simply be no way of stopping the next Biblical flood!
Update: 11.00 am on 18th January 2026.
One of the videos released on Friday had some amazing shots of the night time rescue of Sefton and it certainly impressed many people – including me. The only problem is it wasn’t even the publisher’s work! It wasn’t a mere screencap but rather the use of sixteen seconds of actual video and the way it was presented looked as if it had been their own video work. Strangely I had seen the original video it was lifted from that morning and when I viewed the same scenes some nine hours later I did not even realise this and those in the earlier video were the same exact scenes.
If one goes to this Youtube video page expecting to see a video by Beagle Bum called – Salvage Operation: Saving the Stranded Boats at Whitchurch Canal Breach – they will find the video no longer exists. That is because this video had used sixteen seconds of Court on the Cut’s own work.
Court on the Cut’s copyright claim made against Beagle Bum.
Court on the Cut at Whitchurch. This is a screencap from Court on the Cut’s Youtube video – and which the copyright material was lifted from.
The next day (Saturday 17th January 2026) the video in question was taken down and the holding page in question (shown below) cited this was due to a copyright claim by Court on the Cut.
The night time scenes from Court on the Cut’s video (Whitchurch Canal Breach – Saving the Boats) were published at around 08.00 on 16th January 2026. The unauthorised use of the film was published in a different video released around 17.00 on the 16th January 2026. This video was entitled Salvage Operation: Saving the Stranded Boats at Whitchurch Canal Breach and this new video had in fact used sixteen seconds of Court on the Cut’s video published nine hours earlier. Plus it had voice over and subtitling that made it look as if it was somehow the other’s original footage.
When I saw this copyright claim page on Saturday 17th January whilst looking back at some of the videos that had been produced, I wondered what the fuss had been about. I set out to do some investigation and armed with screencaps, actual video, browser history and links I had copied, it was discovered why Beagle Bum’s video had been taken down. It had used Court on the Cut’s own original footage without any reference whatsoever. The video no doubt duped viewers because it wasn’t the presenter’s original work.
The video involved in the copyright claim had no doubt made it look as if the scenes were their own. Besides using the actual footage it was also cropped substantially thus reducing any possibility of recognition these had been sourced from someone else’s video (eg that made by Court on the Cut). Below are some screencaps showing the copyrighted scenes and the original video they were sourced from.
Salvage Operation: Saving the Stranded Boats at Whitchurch Canal Breach – starting at 01.00 on Beagle Bum’s video, the footage is actually from Court on Cut’s video.
Court on the Cut’s video footage starting at 11.47. One can see how this has been substantially cropped for the other video.
Salvage Operation: Saving the Stranded Boats at Whitchurch Canal Breach – starting at 01.10 and ending at 01.16 on Beagle Bum’s video, the footage is from Court on Cut’s video.
Court on the Cut’s video footage starting at 12.29. One can see how this has been substantially cropped for the other video.
Some of the Whitchurch canal rescue videos were used in others videos or even as a collab but that was all done with each channel’s full agreement/consent. The above example was one instance where neither consent nor permission had been sought for use of the footage.
Update: 02.20am on 18th January 2026.
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