Swansea Canal

Looking back to 2023, the ‘225 in 2023’ celebration of the first 225 years of the canal was an outstanding success. Activities included an exhibition in the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea and then, on tour, the launch of the book Arteries of Sustainable Industry: The Swansea Canal and its early Railways by Stephen Hughes which gave the definitive history of the canal. Also there was a school video project, ‘Party In The Park’, a fun day for the whole community, plus ‘Lighting Up The Canal’ when lanterns were created in community workshops and paraded along the canal after dark. Heritage projects, including new plaques for the bridges and a restoration of Bridge 8, will continue through the spring of 2024.

The 120m blockage at Clydach, where the Swansea Canal is diverted underground (known as the Hidden Lock Site), is under restoration. This section, used as a highways depot by the City and County of Swansea from 1973, was generously donated to the Swansea Canal Society by them. Very significant funding has been obtained; Swansea Council has given planning permission and work is underway. A mooring basin and a bywash around the lock were completed in 2023 and work is now in progress to restore the lock.
In 2021 SCS purchased a derelict commercial building in Clydach overlooking the canal. The renovations – with a new pitched roof, a green roof, bat boxes and solar panels – are almost complete. This new Clydach Canal Centre will provide headquarters for the society and facilities for the community. All the foregoing improvements will enhance the canal environment for the existing canoe and kayak hire project that goes from strength to strength.

The society’s website has been modernised and made available in Welsh as well as English. The long-term vision of joining up the Swansea, Neath and Tennant canals through the Tawe River Navigation, to form a 35-mile waterway, is actively promoted by the Swansea Bay Inland Waterway Partnership.

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