Sinkhole in Shropshire Union Canal

[contrex]

People have had to be rescued from canal boats fillowing the opening of a sinkhole 164ft x 164ft in the Shropshire Union Canal near Whitchurch. How often do incidents of this type happen?

More than 10 rescued after huge sinkhole opens in canal in ‘major incident’

People are being asked to avoid the incident on the Shropshire Union Canal in Chemistry, Whitchurch

www.independent.co.uk

 

[LYradial]

Looks like the canal is on an embankment and the side of the embankment has collapsed, so not actually a sinkhole.

not the first time a canal embankment has failed but on the same canal. “Llangollen branch of the Shropshire union”
but in september 1945 on the same canal near Llangollen the canal embankment was breached and took the railway alongside with it, sadly a train was derailed and the driver died and the fireman badly injured

 

[Ken X]

I haven't seen the fine detail but the breach appears to be the embankment just before the Whitchurch arm.

Canals often have culverts passing under them to transfer water locally. These have been known to fail allowing the canal water to enter the culvert. Rapid erosion ensues and a breach opens.

It will be interesting to see what transpires as the Llangollen Canal is unusual in that it flows, transferring water from the river Dee to supply water to the Nantwich and Crewe areas. My guess is that the water company will be heavily involved and probably install bypass pumps and pipework. They well may be financially liable for repairs to the canal which would assist C&RT in paying for the restoration of the waterway.

 

[Dai Corner]

This was the lead story on ITV News just now.

They had some aerial shots and it looked like it was a collapsed culvert to me, though I'm not a civil engineer. Water could be seen flowing through the remains of the culvert from one side of the canal to the other.

 

[ThirteenArches]

The 25" OS map (1880 edition, in the NLS collection) shows a water channel (perhaps two) passing beneath the embankment, with "Old Corn Mill" on the eastern side. I suspect this is the root cause.

Map on NLS site

 

[Taunton]

There have been several bank failures on that stretch over time, I remember one in the 1970s as well, where a length lay waterless for a good while until resolved it would be reinstated. I think there have been others.

 

[LYradial]

This tread is bringing back memories, we cruised this canal back in 1966 before much restoration had been done, in a little wooden boat powered by a Stuart turner 4 hp lawnmower engine, we got caught out by the manual lift bridge which could be seen on the news report, it takes both of you to heave on the rope to lift it and then you realise that you are not on the towpath side and cannot get back to the boat to move it.

oh happy days we were young and newly married but even so the er..domestic arrangemento… were a bit primitive

 

[Cowley]

There’s some footage on this chaps video around six minutes in that shows it unfolding during the night. Awful thing to go through if your boat was caught up in it.

 

[AndrewE]

I haven't seen the fine detail but the breach appears to be the embankment just before the Whitchurch arm.

Canals often have culverts passing under them to transfer water locally. These have been known to fail allowing the canal water to enter the culvert. Rapid erosion ensues and a breach opens.

It will be interesting to see what transpires as the Llangollen Canal is unusual in that it flows, transferring water from the river Dee to supply water to the Nantwich and Crewe areas. My guess is that the water company will be heavily involved and probably install bypass pumps and pipework. They well may be financially liable for repairs to the canal which would assist C&RT in paying for the restoration of the waterway.

Hurlestone treatment works can be supplied from boreholes as well as from the Llangollen canal, so it is not critical to restore the canal flow (in the short term.) I don't know what governs whether they take from the Dee above Llangollen or from groundwater...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

How often do incidents of this type happen?

There was a breach on the Bridgewater Canal near to Dunham Massey (Altrincham area) back in January 2025, this after heavy rainfall. Think a few boats were left high and dry on the affected half mile stretch, which isn't scheduled to re-open until end 2026.

 

[AndrewE]

There was a breach on the Bridgewater Canal near to Dunham Massey (Altrincham area) back in January 2025, this after heavy rainfall. Think a few boats were left high and dry on the affected half mile stretch, which isn't scheduled to re-open until end 2026.

The chap making the video in post#8 says he was caught up in that one too! I wouldn't moor near him from now on...

 

[Ken X]

It's a popular spot for mooring over winter. We have briefly popped in there several times, particularly if it's cold and the Whitchurch arm is frozen over. Handy for the local shops and pubs.

Breaches are more common than people realise. We now have two currently with several more since I started poling around in boats in the late sixties.

Really glad nobody was injured in this one. As in several areas of life, government funding has been decreasing and the aging infrastructure is starting to crumble somewhat.

 

[Pinus contorta]

This was the lead story on ITV News just now.

They had some aerial shots and it looked like it was a collapsed culvert to me, though I'm not a civil engineer. Water could be seen flowing through the remains of the culvert from one side of the canal to the other.

That's the first thing I noticed

 

[Taunton]

As in several areas of life, government funding has been decreasing and the aging infrastructure is starting to crumble somewhat.

I really wonder about this, regularly heard everywhere else it seems and yet government spending is for ever increasing. It does seem however that costs of doing things, not least costs of doing the SAME things as previously, are increasing ever faster, indeed often notably faster than any inflation index.

 

[Mawkie]

If I remember correctly, the Canal and River Trust had a long term funding deal with the government which runs out soon and would see the funding almost halved.

The Guardian made the point earleir this year that CRT are responsible for more than canals and the cut in funding could result in lives being lost.

CRT is facing serious financial pressure. The report shows a shortfall in funding, with an income of £237,300,000, but a total expenditure of £252,400,000.

The CRT does not only look after canals themselves, but weirs and reservoirs. There have already been problems with its ageing infrastructure; in Derbyshire in 2019 a dam at the Toddbrook reservoir nearly burst, leading to the town of Whaley Bridge being evacuated.

About 1,500 people were instructed to leave their homes immediately after heavy rain caused a large section of a nearby dam spillway at the reservoir to fall away. Emergency crews pumped water away from the reservoir and sandbags were dropped from RAF helicopters. A worst-case scenario predicted that the whole structure could collapse, wiping out the town.

 

[nwales58]

Initial funding was guaranteed for 15 years from the CRT coming into existence in 2012. It included a basic grant indexed-linked plus an additional element for asset management which reduced after 10 years. I am not up to date on any subsequent changes to funding.

I recall a happy assumption, for the Treasury at least, that this 'guarantee' to the trust meant that the cost to the taxpayer was capped and would reduce steadily as the trust would discover commercial revenue sources.

I do not recall 'but what if it goes wrong?' featuring in public discussion. My guess is that HMT assumed that the network would be reduced to bring costs in line with revenue.

What funded the unexpected Toddbrook reservoir costs?

 

[thejuggler]

Whenever I walk along the Leeds Liverpool around Riddlesden I'm always concious of the many residential properties which have been built below the canal towpath. The banks look solid, but as we are finding out 200+ year old structures do give way.

 

[StoneRoad]

Tiny bit of progress in sorting out the situation ---
They've pulled the boat back that was hanging over the edge, and put some water back

Boat stranded on edge of giant hole in Whitchurch canal pulled to safety

The boat, which is a family's home, will be refloated in the new year.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[swt_passenger]

Tiny bit of progress in sorting out the situation ---
They've pulled the boat back that was hanging over the edge, and put some water back

Boat stranded on edge of giant hole in Whitchurch canal pulled to safety

The boat, which is a family's home, will be refloated in the new year.

www.bbc.co.uk

The boat you’ve mentioned, located nearest the lift bridge, has been hauled along the canal bed, through the bridge, and then been refloated today. The two temporary dams have effectively been used as a lock.

The two boats lower down in the breach are expected to recovered by pulling them up in the other direction, there’s been online suggestions a less steep ramp will be dug in the canal bed.

There are also a few similar YouTube videos showing how today’s move was carried out, eg here:

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 Jan 2026 ==


Update 15 Jan

The other two boats have been hauled up onto the drained canal bed on the north side of the breach.
Should be refloated by tomorrow I’d expect.

 

[styles]

Not sure how off-topic this might be but, is anyone else concerned for CRT? They've been selling off assets for years now in order to do routine maintenance. At some point are they just going to run out of money?

If they do, will the government actually fund it or just say actually your boat fees are going to have to go up to cover it, or even just saying you'll have to close some canals and accept it's not critical national infrastructure any more?

 

[Llanigraham]

They are already putting up the cost of boat licences and are looking at different ways to licence different catagories of users.

And both boats have now been dragged out of the hole and are sitting close to the most decent dam. The next thing they intend to do is build another dam between them and the hole, fill that carefully with water to ensure the boats still float, using floatation devices if needed, and then tow the boats so they can be lifted and assessed.

 

[swt_passenger]

They are already putting up the cost of boat licences and are looking at different ways to licence different catagories of users.

And both boats have now been dragged out of the hole and are sitting close to the most decent dam. The next thing they intend to do is build another dam between them and the hole, fill that carefully with water to ensure the boats still float, using floatation devices if needed, and then tow the boats so they can be lifted and assessed.

Just seen a few videos showing both boats successfully floating earlier this evening, although they’ve since let the water level drop again. I presume that just reduces the risk of minor leaks into the boats overnight, and they’ll get moved through the original dam position tomorrow.

 

[Kite159]

Not sure how off-topic this might be but, is anyone else concerned for CRT? They've been selling off assets for years now in order to do routine maintenance. At some point are they just going to run out of money?

If they do, will the government actually fund it or just say actually your boat fees are going to have to go up to cover it, or even just saying you'll have to close some canals and accept it's not critical national infrastructure any more?

And boat fees are already quite expensive, push the licence fees to high and some people will decide enough is enough & sell their boats.

Maintenance of the canal & other inland waterway network must cost a lot for effectively leisure usage, with the occasional business use.

 

[thejuggler]

CRT was always going to need more money than could be generated from users. There are millions more users who use the network for free, compared to those who pay for the privilege, so it needs general taxation support.

 

[Lewisham2221]

CRT was always going to need more money than could be generated from users. There are millions more users who use the network for free, compared to those who pay for the privilege, so it needs general taxation support.

It just struck me that I couldn't recall ever seeing CRT asking for donations, in the same way that most other charities do. So I went to the website and it turns out it's the first thing on the page! I guess I've probably always been too focused on just trying to find whatever I was specifically looking for before!

What probably isn't doing them any favours (not that I imagine there are huge numbers of people queuing up to donate anyway) is that if you scroll further down their homepage, there's a donation section which defaults to suggesting a £5/month donation, along with the caption:

Your £5 a month could help create canal-side water vole habitats to provide shelter for this endangered mammal, whose population has fallen by 95% since the 1970s

Hardly a scream for support to help keep the network open in it's current form

 

[AndrewE]

CRT was always going to need more money than could be generated from users. There are millions more users who use the network for free, compared to those who pay for the privilege, so it needs general taxation support.

The country as a whole gets significant benefit from the canal network taking land drainage water. I remember in the 1960s (when canals were being abandoned) that they realised that it would cost much more to reorganise all the land drainage than it would to just keep the canal open, but not necessarily navigable though.

 

[Djgr]

CRT was always going to need more money than could be generated from users. There are millions more users who use the network for free, compared to those who pay for the privilege, so it needs general taxation support.

Yes. CRT was just a scam to flog off another national asset to satisfy political ideology.

 

[StoneRoad]

Yes. CRT was just a scam to flog off another national asset to satisfy political ideology.

more cynically - a way of offloading expensive maintenance from the black hole our taxes go into ...