Disbelief, worry, and hope six months after Whitchurch canal collapse

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18 hours ago

Chloe Hughesin Whitchurch

BBC/Chloe Hughes A bald man with white facial hair is smiling and standing on a canal boat. He is wearing black shorts and a light blue t-shirt. His boat is blue grey in colour and on the side of it is its name, painted in yellow writing on a wine red background. It reads BBC/Chloe Hughes

Phil Johnson was moored near to where the breach occured six months ago

"I cannot believe that nobody was injured."

Six months on from a massive canal breach in Whitchurch, Shropshire, boater Phil Johnson is still trying to make sense of events that happened three days before Christmas last year - events in which lives as well as boats were upended.

It was a section of the Llangollen Canal that collapsed in the early hours of 22 December. As the structure gave way, a huge volume of water rushed into a nearby field and the canal bed fell away, leaving a trench. Two boats went into the hole, with one left teetering over the chasm's edge. A major incident was declared.

"It's something that I never, ever thought I would experience," said Johnson, 57, who is originally from East Yorkshire, but found himself moored near the site on the day.

At the time, he had only had his boat - on which he was living - for about six months, and was awoken during the middle of the night.

"I just thought 'something's not right'. When the ropes start to get tighter on a boat, they crack and they creak... all I could hear was creaking and cracking."

Still in bed, he thought he felt himself rolling towards one side of the boat. And then the shouting came.

PA Media Two canal boats in a large hole of a drained canal. On earth above them is another boat hanging over the edge of the hole PA Media

The breach left two boats at the bottom of a huge hole, and one teetering over the edge

Stepping off the craft, Johnson saw water rushing past "like river rapids".

The shouts were from other people evacuating their own boats, trying to work out what was happening in the dark and cold.

Johnson ran to see whether some friends further along the canal had managed to escape. They had and they all ventured closer to the breach to see what was happening.

That was when they witnessed a boat - someone's home - teetering on the edge of the giant hole.

"You get that sickly feeling in your stomach because you think 'this is somebody's home' and we'd only been talking to the guy [a few days before]," Johnson said.

"There was nothing anybody could do, apart from basically watch."

Johnson soon realised he had originally planned to moor in the exact space where the canal collapsed.

He said: "If I'd moved over there, it would be this boat that would have been down that hole, and I was just thinking how lucky I was."

He said he believed the only thing that saved his boat from being dragged down into the breach was a chain securing it to the towpath.

The vessel, however, was not completely unscathed. It was left tipped to the side in the drained canal, leaving it totally stranded as Christmas loomed - and leaving Johnson in need of somewhere to stay.

Phil Johnson A canal boat tilted slightly to the right, sitting on the bottom of a canal that has been drained completely, apart from a small amount of water. Phil Johnson

Phil Johnson's boat was left tipped to the side in a drained canal

Johnson said that through the incident he had made friends for life.

"We've set up a WhatsApp group, Whitchurch Survivors... Every now and then you just do a little check-in - 'how is everybody doing, and are you all okay'?"

He is now back on his boat, which was largely undamaged in the chaos.

The three stricken craft have also been recovered. Each were occupied during the breach, with those on board managing to make similar exits in the nick of time as odd sounds from the waterway alerted them to danger.

With the canal stretch - or what remained - cleared of boats, repairs to it could begin.

But it is a major operation and has meant some people whose lives are linked to the scene - albeit in a dryer way - are counting the cost.

BBC/Adam Green A man and a woman stand side-by-side in front of a cafe counter. The man is on the right wearing a grey quarter-zip jumper with black shoulders. The woman is in a black jumper and has her glasses resting on her head. BBC/Adam Green

Jane Beaumont runs the cafe with her children including son Chris Burntwood

For Jane Beaumont who runs he Lockside Cafe at nearby Grindley Brook, the situation seems uncertain.

She has been operating the business for about 24 years, alongside her son and daughter. Away at the time of the breach, she rushed back home when she heard the news.

"Immediately, [the cafe] was very busy because people were coming to see the breach," she said.

The canal, during repairs, yields fewer customers who previously would moor up, hop off and buy something. And the towpath running alongside it, which would bring in additional customers on foot, is shut.

"It has had a significant impact on my trade, I've lost all my tourism trade for the summer," she said.

"It's been very, very tough. Our [worst] fears have not been realised as yet but we've got to go through the summer and it's going to be a tough crawl."

BBC/Chloe Hughes A white building with tiled rood and a veranda over the front door. There are wooden benches outside on a stone area with dark blue umbrellas to shade them from the sun. On the left hand side is a canal lock and some stone steps BBC/Chloe Hughes

The Lockside Cafe used to get a lot of trade via the nearby towpath which is closed currently

In a bid to bring in trade, Lockside is hosting various events over the year, including a day of music, a doggy day, mini markets and fancy dress.

"It is very much [about taking] each day as it comes, really," Beaumont said.

"We're all trying our best to keep it going.

"I've had local people come in... I've also got people coming from afar, people from, I think, Glasgow was the furthest place... just to come and see the breach and support us."

BBC/Chloe Hughes A canal is no the right hand side. On the left there is a gravel road leading up to a huge mound of earth that slops down in a drop. There is a yellow digger in the background and various other construction vehicles in the background BBC/Chloe Hughes

Work is still ongoing at the breach site

So, what happens now?

Work by the Canal and River Trust - responsible for the maintenance of the waterway - is still ongoing.

Teams have rebuilt the collapsed embankment in layers and have reinforced its structural integrity.

The canal channel will be reconstructed in concrete, and wherever possible, material recovered from the site will be reused.

There are temporary dams in place to isolate the breach site, with a pumping system that is keeping water flowing. This means that boats downstream stay afloat.

BBC/Chloe Hughes A field with some dirt earth as well as grass. There are two yellow diggers moving dark brown earth around, and a large pile of earth on the left hand side. A small construction vehicle has driven to the top of the mound and is depositing soil onto it. BBC/Chloe Hughes

Millions of litres of water spilled into this field next to the canal

That measure is vital because the Llangollen Canal plays a big role in moving fresh water for public supply.

More than 15 million litres of water drained into a nearby field in December, and has now been pumped into the local sewer system.

"We are working hard towards our aim of reopening the canal by the end of the year," said Campbell Robb, chief executive at the trust.

"As investigation continues, we are ready to move into the next phase of work, which will allow us to rebuild the canal with greater resilience for the future."

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Disbelief, worry, and hope six months after Whitchurch canal collapse