October 2017 - With hundreds of new boaters every year and many of them inexperienced and young – and in or around London - it is, perhaps, inevitable that many of them need the skills of experienced tradespeople writes Peter Underwood.

Facebook pages and groups like London Boaters are stuffed to the gills with requests for recommendations for boat electricians, plumbers, welders and engineers but often it is a case of the blind leading the blind.

October 2017 - Canal & River Trust is cautiously non-committal about a major fish kill on the Grand Union canal, despite claims from local anglers that a nearby dredging operation by the Trust is to blame, but the incident has launched top level investigations at the Trust, as Peter Underwood reports.

The incident involves more than half a ton of fish on the Grove Church section at Leighton Buzzard and is being described as a 'level one' fish kill on the local newspaper's website - with local anglers convinced C&RT is the culprit.

October 2017 - Something C&RT's spin doctors describe as “The world’s first canal comic book” commissioned by the Lancaster Canal Regeneration Partnership (LCRP), with £15,000 of Arts Council cash, is to be launched at the Lakes International Comic Arts Festival in Kendal this October, reports Peter Underwood

October 2017 - The Canal & River Trust hit on the idea of awards to encourage volunteers, contractors and their own staff some years ago and the winners of the 2017 Living Waterways Awards were announced at a 'gala ceremony' in Birmingham, writes Peter Underwood

It has prevailed upon commercial contractors, Kier, Arcadis, CPC Civils, Land & Water, Vinci and Fountains to sponsor the awards that recognise the 'most exciting and inspiring waterway-based improvement projects across the UK'.