Louth canal back in use after 100 years

The £96,000 slipway means paddlers are able to access the disused Louth Navigation

A slipway designed to bring a disused waterway into public use will open officially later.

Commercial boats stopped using the Louth Navigation more than 100 years ago.

The Louth Navigation Trust has spent £96,000 on creating the slipway, at Austen Fen on Fen Lane, for paddleboarders, kayakers and canoers to easily access the canal.

A launch event, including live music and family activities, will be held between 10:00 and 16:00 BST near a Grade II-listed warehouse.

The trust said the new slipway would "encourage further projects along the canal"

The trust said water-sports enthusiasts would be able to enter a seven-mile pond between Outfen and Tetney Lock "daily from dawn until dusk".

According to the Inland Waterways Association, the Louth Navigation connected Louth to Tetney Haven, near Humberston. It opened in 1770, but closed in 1924 following a "rapid decline in income".

The Louth Navigation Trust said the canal had "played a vital but currently understated role in the history of the Industrial Revolution".

"It was the first commissioned design for a locked artificial waterway in this country, and its designer, James Grundy, was one of the first trained civil engineers," its website states.

Paula Hunt, the secretary of the trust, said the new slipway would "encourage further projects along the canal and towpath until all 11 miles are accessible for leisure and pleasure".

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