Neath & Tennant Canals Trust

Welcome to our website

The Neath & Tennant Canal Trust, originally The Neath & Tennant Canals Preservation Society was formed in 1974, to safeguard, restore and promote the canals. The Trust has since become a Limited Company and is a registered charity. It has been active in restoring the majority of the locks and associated pounds in association with Local Authorities and canal owners, and has ownership of the grade II listed Neath Canal Workshops at Tonna.

Much has been achieved but more remains to be realised. The Trust welcomes new members and if you would like to join please click the button below for an application form.

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News & Events

Feasibility study
We attended the stakeholder presentation on 4th December. We were satisfied with what was proposed.
We are extremely concerned about the Consultation exercise hence the letter below:

Ms Nicola Pearce,
Director of Environment and Regeneration,
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
 
Dear Ms Pearce,
Neath and Tennant Canals Feasibility Study – Public Consultation
I wish to register a formal complaint regarding the manner in which the Council’s consultation exercise associated with the Feasibility Study on the future of the canals is being conducted.
The introduction to the public consultation on the Council’s web-site states that ‘your ideas can help add definition to the main options that AtkinsRealis is exploring’. The four ‘main options’ referred to were constructed by the Council in its Scoping Document as the terms of reference of the Feasibility Study which was funded accordingly by NLHF. The Study is now underway and Options 1 – 4 formed the basis of presentations at the stakeholder and public workshops at Aberdulais on December 4th at which the questionnaire on which the public consultation is based was circulated. Option 4, which represents a commitment to restore both canals to full navigation, is not included.
 Notwithstanding the concerns expressed by the Trust from the outset, Options 1 – 4 form the basis of the Feasibility Study in equal measure. The Council cannot therefore choose to exclude Option 4 from the questionnaire– seemingly because its far-reaching commitment to restoring navigation might be viewed favourably by respondents.
As such, the omission of Option 4 serves to mislead the public, renders the consultation exercise meaningless and any conclusions derived from it to be invalid. At worst it has the potential to question the credibility of the Feasibility Study.
The Neath and Tennant Canals Trust was formed in 1974 to promote the regeneration of the canals. It was pleased to support the application to NLHF to fund a further Feasibility Study in the hope that it would promote a long-awaited commitment to realise the potential of the canals.
The omission of Option 4 from the questionnaire has served to undermine that aspiration and to question the Council’s objectivity in seeking ‘to build a long term future for the canals’.
 
Yours sincerely,
Dr G W Hughes, Chair
Neath & Tennant Canals Trust

 

Feasibility study

NPTBC have obtained funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a Feasibility Study on the future of the canals in Neath. The work on this has started and is being undertaken by W.S. Atkins and Moss Naylor Young. We look forward to seeing and commenting on the study in due course.

AGM

The Trust’s Annual General Meeting will be held  at Lock House(British Legion) at 10.30 am on Friday 26th July 2024.

Heritage Volunteer Fair

Our stand at the Fair displayed photos of before and after of the work achieved by the Trust’s volunteers over the last 50 years. Visitors were very impressed at what had been achieved. They all felt that the Neath and Tennant Canals were very important to Neath heritage and were of great benefit to the community. Nearly all enjoyed walking the canals and quite a few reminisced about boat trips they had taken on the canal. Boat trips were obviously missed.

In conversation we heard about the towpath cleanups that Sustrans  had undertaken and and learnt about a canoe owner who had cleared a great deal of debris from the water. We intend to keep in touch over clean ups.

Anniversaries

In 2024 the Trust will be 50years old. To view its achievements go to “Restoration” in the website. It is now concentrating on lobbying and influencing decisions being made by the local authority to ensure the future of the Neath and Tennant canals.

The Tennant Canal will be 200 years old in 2024.

 

 

 

 

Fund Britain’s Waterways

The Trust has joined this campaign, led by the Inland Waterways Association, to improve funding for all Britain’s waterways, not just those owned by the Canal & River Trust. Cuts are being made on funding to CRT but crucial to the Neath & Tennant Canals are  the cuts being made to local authorities hence the withdrawal of payment of access to the Neath Canal as has been reported in the press.
As well as the canals importance in Neath’s heritage, access to the canals for wellbeing – walking, cycling, enjoying its natural environment- is a major benefit for the local community.

 

Aberdulais Aqueduct

Articles have appeared in Swansea Bay News and the Evening Post about the Aqueduct. These refer to the Citizen Space Release by Natural Resources Wales detailing its flooding report and the response to it by the Inland Waterways Association, the lead partner, in the campaign to restore the Aqueduct.
The Trust’s response can be found under “About Us”  “Activities”  “Saving the Aberdulais Aqueduct”.

 

 

2024

On January 1st Neath Council gave up the lease on the section of the Neath canal from Resolven north. The Trust will be keeping a careful watch on what happens there. When Neath took over the lease of the canal above Resolven is was newly restored, its restoration having won a prestigious award. It is now in a sorry state, needing a great deal of work.

We look forward to the implementing of the Neath Heritage Strategy. A lot of time was spent last year in consultations with the intention of ensuring that the Canals place in Neath’s industrial heritage is properly acknowledged.

The Neath Canal is owned by The Neath Canal Navigation Company (c/o St. Modwen Properties, Tel: 07887821695)

The Tennant Canal is owned and managed by the Port Tennant Navigation Company (c/o Leeder Property Management, Tel: 01792 644699)

Concerns regarding the Neath Canal should be sent by email to Adrian.Andrews@revantage.eu