on the
BCN Main Line in
Birmingham used by British Waterways
Formation During the early 20th century, the canal network was in decline because of increasing competition from the railways and road transport. Until the 1950s, freight and other cargo was still carried on the canals, by then owned by the railway companies. When the railways were
nationalised in 1948, the canals they owned were also incorporated into the new
British Transport Commission. The Commission focused on encouraging commercial traffic to the waterways, but with the construction of
motorways in the 1950s, and legislation such as the
Clean Air Act 1956 affecting the coal carriers using the waterways, that policy could not be sustained. The last regular coal long-distance narrow-boat-carrying contract, from
Atherstone to the Kearley and Tonge jam factory at
Southall near London, ended in October 1970, although lime juice continued to be carried by narrow boat from
Brentford to
Boxmoor until 1981, and aggregate from
Thurmaston to
Syston from 1976 until 1988. Under the
Transport Act 1962, the British Transport Commission was split into several new organisations, including the
British Railways Board and the
London Transport Board, with the inland waterways of Britain becoming part of the new British Waterways Board (BWB). Additionally, many of these remainder waterways were crossed by new roads and motorways without provision for boat navigation.
Late 20th century As the century progressed, leisure boating on the canals began to expand, with numbers reaching 20,000 by the early 1980s. In March 2010, the plans were given a boost when the government announced in the
Budget that it intended to turn BW into a
mutual organisation, but no further details were released. BW welcomed the announcement, with the chairman Tony Hales stating that the plan would preserve the canals and their associated infrastructure, and "safeguard against a return to the decline and dereliction which they faced in the last century". It would also "unlock the enormous public support that there is for them." By September of the same year, the proposals seemed likely to be enacted; a leaked list of
quangos that were due to be abolished was acquired by the
BBC, including British Waterways, with the note: "Abolish as a
non-departmental public body and mutualise". The following month saw an official announcement from British Waterways confirming the leaked list, and that a new charity would be established to tend the of canals and rivers in
England and Wales cared for by British Waterways. and the trust was granted charitable status on 5 April 2012. On 2 July 2012 all of British Waterways' responsibilities for waterways in England and Wales were transferred to the
Canal & River Trust. ==Organisation==