Deserted narrowboats still stuck in mud weeks after canal collapse

Deserted narrowboats are still stuck in the mud of a drained canal weeks after a dramatic embankment collapse.

Two boats remain stranded at the bottom of the breach, ahead of an operation to winch them clear due to begin later this week.

Only one boat has been successfully refloated by waterways engineers.

This comes after three narrowboats were dragged to the depths of a gaping canal collapse in Shropshire.

Fire crews helped around 12 people to safety after the crater, around 50 metres by 50 metres in size, started to develop last month in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch.

Firefighters were called to rescue occupants of three narrowboats after the section of the canal they were moored in was completely drained of water.

Two narrowboats fell into the hole and still sit on the canal bed, while the other boat was teetering over the edge. 

The stern of the boat that has been rescued, called the Pacemaker, was left hanging precariously over a 50-metre-long 'sinkhole' three weeks ago, after an incident its owner likened to being caught in a waterfall. 

Engineers from the Canal & River Trust oversaw the operation to refloat the Pacemaker, which saw the craft pulled underneath a movable footbridge and then refloated inside a temporary dam.

Fire crews declared a major incident at 4.22am on December 22 as millions of gallons of water escaped from the canal.

After the Pacemaker was moved using a winch, engineers took over an hour to fill a newly dammed area with water, allowing the boat to rejoin the canal network.

The boat's owner Paul Stowe, who is currently living in rented accommodation, recalled how he had rescued his cats as he and family members saw a 'gaping hole' appear under the boat, having been woken at around 4.05am.

He said: 'At the moment I don't feel like the boat's mine.

'There are an awful lot of people here.

'Once everybody's gone and once we've had it inspected and checked, we've had all the repairs done and it's back in the water, then I'll feel like it's my boat.'

Describing the canal breach, Mr Stowe added: 'When it actually happened I looked over the stern of the boat and within 20 minutes this went from nothing to an enormous hole in the ground.

'It was almost like an implosion.'

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The Canal & River Trust said its teams are ensuring that pipes and pumps are in place to safeguard a continued flow of water around the breach site, so boats downstream on the Llangollen Canal are kept afloat.

Julie Sharman, chief operating officer at the Trust, said: 'We know how deeply distressing this breach has been for the boaters and local community.

'After initially making sure everyone was safe, a key area of focus has been recovering the last boats impacted ahead of the long and expensive job of getting the canal rebuilt and back open.

'I'd like to thank all those who have supported, including all who donated to assist the boaters affected, as well as those donating to our longer-term task of getting this historic canal back open in the weeks and months ahead.

'We're still investigating the likely cause of the breach. The reasons behind earth embankment failures are not always clear, and multiple factors may be involved. We are undertaking a full and robust investigation and will make a summary of the findings publicly available in the coming weeks.'