There is a particular kind of adventure that only comes about because something has gone wrong, and this week’s update from Fund Britain’s Waterways is a fine example of it.

The long way round

Fund Britain’s Waterways reported that the campaign flotilla had made its way back from the Anderton Boat Lift to Ellesmere Port along the Manchester Ship Canal — the only possible route while the famous Lift is closed for repairs. Anyone who knows that stretch will appreciate what an undertaking that is: a fleet of narrowboats sharing the water with the wide, working expanse of the Ship Canal, simply because the usual way down was shut. You can see the post and photographs on the Fund Britain’s Waterways X feed.

It makes for a memorable picture, but there is a serious point underneath it. When a single piece of infrastructure like the Anderton Lift is out of action, whole journeys have to be rerouted or abandoned. Multiply that across a network where locks, bridges and aqueducts are all quietly ageing, and you begin to see why campaigners keep returning to the same theme.

Why the campaign matters

Fund Britain’s Waterways is a coalition of more than a hundred and sixty organisations speaking up for the hundreds of thousands of people who use and love Britain’s canals and rivers. Its case is straightforward: without sustainable, long-term government funding, the structures that keep our waterways navigable fall into disrepair, closures become more common, and the communities, businesses and wildlife that depend on the network all lose out. A rerouted flotilla is a cheerful reminder of a not-so-cheerful truth — that these routes only stay open if someone pays to keep them open.

If you would like to help, please sign the petition at change.org/p/fundbritainswaterways and share it on with #FundBritainsWaterways. Every name added is another voice for keeping our canals open and cared for.