British Waterways

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British Waterways is a government body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Scottish Executive in the United Kingdom. It is the navigation authority for the vast majority of the inland waterways in the UK. It was founded in 1963 to assume control of the inland waterways assets of the British Transport Commission, which was itself set up on nationalisation in 1947. Half of the United Kingdom population lives within five miles of one of British Waterways' canals or rivers.^{[citation needed]}

British Waterways manages and cares for over 2000 miles (3219 km) of canals, rivers, docks, buildings, structures and landscapes. This includes 2800 listed structures, more than 130 Scheduled Ancient Monuments, more than 800 designated areas, as well as more than 100 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). It maintains a museum of its history within the National Waterways Museum at Gloucester.

[edit] See also

• History of the British canal system
• Crick Boat Show
• Continuous cruiser
• Narrowboat
• UK topics

[edit] External links

• British Waterway's business website
• British Waterways leisure website
• Association of Inland Navigation Authorities (AINA)
• Tales of the River Severn