WRG North West
Working party dates
Welcome to the webpage for Waterway Recovery Group North West
Waterway Recovery Group volunteers support waterway restoration projects across England and Wales. Our regional groups run weekend visits to restoration projects (and sometimes navigable waterways). Put simply, we dig canals!
Want to join us?
Below is a list of upcoming dates for both WRGNW organised, London WRG organised and other local society organised working parties. If you are interested in getting involved, please use the contact links or complete our enquiry form.
| date from | date to | canal & organiser | where | contact |
| various | usually every Tuesday plus first & last Saturday |
Shrewsbury & Newport Canal - S&NCT | Shrewsbury | Facebook website |
| various | usually every Friday & Saturday |
Shrewsbury & Newport Canal - S&NCT | Wappenshall | Facebook website |
| various | usually every first Saturday | Shrewsbury & Newport Canal - S&NCT | Newport | Facebook website |
| various | fortnightly on Wednesday | Shrewsbury & Newport Canal - S&NCT | Rodington | Facebook website |
| 11/04/2026 | 11/04/2026 | Sankey - SCRS |
Broadoak Basin meet at Sankey Valley Visitor Centre ///pitch.yard.edit |
Facebook website |
| 12/04/2026 | 12/04/2026 | Lancaster Canal | TBA | Facebook website |
| 17/04/2026 | 19/04/2026 | Cotswolds Canal - London WRG | Saul Village Hall | |
| 29/05/2026 | 31/05/2026 | Cotswolds Canal - London WRG | TBC | |
| 03/07/2026 | 05/07/2026 | Wilts & Berks - London WRG & KESCRG | Pewsham | |
| 18/09/2026 | 20/09/2026 | Cotswolds Canal - London WRG | Saul Village Hall | |
| 09/10/2026 | 11/10/2026 | Shrewsbury & Newport Canal - London WRG | Uffington | |
| 11/12/2026 | 13/12/2026 | Chelmer and Blackwater - London WRG | Creekview Lodge | |
| TBC | TBC | IWA - Manchester canals | TBC | Facebook website |
IWA Manchester Branch monthly open meetings - October - April
The talks are held at the Castlefield Hotel (part of the Y.M.C.A. complex) on Liverpool Road, Manchester, M3 4JR. The entrance is on the side facing towards Deansgate and overlooking the Castlefield outdoor events area. Please arrive by 19:15 for a prompt start as this will assist in the meeting not finishing too late. The talks are free to attend and everyone is welcome, though a donation towards the costs is appreciated.
| 13/04/2026 | Fore and Aft - The Purton Ships Graveyard | Paul Barnett |
| It was following intentional beaching of a small fleet of semi-redundant timber lighters, in the winter of 1909, to strengthen the nearby eroding canal bank, that the site, now know as the ‘Purton Ships’ Graveyard’, grew to form a collection of some 86 beached vessels, stretching from Sharpness to Purton. Paul Barnett initiated over twenty years of research which is now catalogued in a website and lead to the formation of the ‘Friends of Purton‘, a society dedicated to the research and protection of this and other ships’ graveyards. | ||