The Trust was formed in 1986, since then
Four of the Locks are listed - Ticklepenny's, Willows,
Salter Fen and Alvingham
Three Warehouses are listed - Riverhead, Austin Fen Pea
Warehouse and Thoresby Bridge
1994 Ticklepenny's Lock - repair work undertaken by LNT
to avoid deterioration or collapse
1996 Formed Charity - Louth Navigation Trust
1999 Restoration of Navigation Warehouse at Riverhead,
Louth LNT/GWL
1999 "Louth Navigation - A History" by Stuart Sizer book
published
2002 Website created and kept up to date, History and
Geography etc.
www.louthcanal.org.uk
2003 John Grundy's original plan placed in Lincoln
Archives
2003 Market Town Initiative
2005 Towpath Restoration Louth to Tetney Lock completed
2006 "People and Boats" by Stuart Sizer and
Josephine Clark book published
2006 Canal Restoration Feasibility Study undertaken
£40,000
2006 Educational signage along the canal £14,000
2006 Four walk Leaflets
2007 Formed Company Limited by Guarantee - Louth
Navigation Trust Ltd
2008 Boules Piste land bought and developed
2009 Louth Navigation listed as a scheduled monument on
H.E.R website
2009 Included in "Louth Town Plan" and listed as
development project in ELDC draft LDF
2011 Stuart Sizer appointed as Trust Archivist
2011 Padley's 1828 plan purchased and placed in Museum
archives
2012 Preliminary Engineering report for restoration of
Alvingham Lock by Roy Sutton
2014 Facebook page set up
2014 Visited Phillips66 about pipeline replacement,
Tetney Haven
2014 Riverhead Arts project started by Nicki Jarvis
2015 Louth Navigation Trust Past, Present and future
Exhibition at Louth Museum
2016 A list of registered land owners along the canal
corridor provided by ELDC
2016 Louth Navigation restoration in ELDC's 5 year
economic development action plan Sept
2017 Co-op Community Fund. LNT nominated top project by
Co-op members £5454
2017 GWL sale of Navigation Warehouse by auction
successfully intercepted by LNT/ELDC
2018 Multi User Path Tetney Lock to Water Rail Way
feasibility study undertaken by Sustrans in partnership
with ELDC and LNT
ELDC to "roll over" LNT lease
Culture at the Canal event as part of Louth Zero Degrees
Festival
"OUTFALLS" exhibition, image, text and memory along the
Louth Canal
Formation of Louth Navigation Regeneration Partnership
to enable larger projects to be undertaken
Collapse of Keddington Lock causing erosion of the canal
channel
Ongoing:
Towpath mowing, maintenance, style repairs, signage,
milestones etc.
Rubbish Clearance
Guided Walks undertaken
Educational Outreach Work to schools and local societies
and groups
Partnerships formed with local government bodies LTC,
ELDC, LCC,EA,LMDB,IWA, C&RT, LWP, GWL, LRP, ML, MTI,
LSP.....
Promotional Fundraising events on a regular basis
Boules matches
Approx 250 members
Photographs of
Activities
(click here)
The Trust seeks to enhance the Louth Navigation canal corridor, by undertaking sustainable heritage programmes of canal and building restoration, together with the implementation of educational, recreational, environmental and economic projects, for the long term benefit of the community.
The Navigation Warehouse is located in Louth, Lincolnshire, a Georgian market town on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The building is situated ½ mile to the east of the town centre, in a run down area known as the Riverhead at the terminus of the Louth Navigation, a canal connecting the town with the River Humber estuary some 12 miles distant, which closed in 1924.
Louth
Navigation canal corridor represents one of the most
significant developments in 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. The aims were to overcome transport and
drainage difficulties in the Middle Marsh. It played a
vital, but currently understated role in the history of
the Industrial Revolution.
The
warehouse, built at the Riverhead c.1770, is mentioned
in Padley's 1828 survey of the canal as '…a warehouse at
the River Head…consisting of a ground floor and two
others, built of brick, covered with pantiles…'.
The canal terminus, was constructed to a depth of 6'6'',
having a width of 66'6' and a variety of trades
proliferated in the area. Humber Keels and Sloops, Billy
Boys, fishing smacks, and latterly steam boats, used the
wharves and warehouses for the import of a variety of
goods, including coal and timber, and the export of wool
and corn. In 1790 more fish was landed in Louth than at
the port of Grimsby. The canal became the economic
engine of Louth and brought prosperity to the town for
many years. The waterway and associated warehousing fell
into a slow decline after the advent of the railway in
1846 and eventually closed in 1924.
During 1998 and 1999 The Trust, together with Groundwork
Lincolnshire, purchased and renovated the building which
is now called the 'Navigation Warehouse'. Together they
have created an exemplar building renovated to the
highest environmental standards using the latest green
technologies. It now houses on the ground floor a canal
information and interpretation centre, with interactive
displays designed and managed by the Trust.
The Navigation Warehouse opened on 20th May 1999, when representatives from funding organisations celebrated the completion of an innovative and high quality project. On the 21st June 1999 the warehouse was visited by Richard Caborn MP, then Minister of State for Regeneration, who approved of what he saw and supported the future regeneration of the Riverhead area and canal. Since then the warehouse has been used by all sections of the community and established itself as an attractive venue valued by the local community.
The
history of the warehouse is inextricably linked with the
Louth Navigation canal and its restoration is part of a
wider strategy by the Trust and its partners to reopen
the 12 miles of waterway for navigation from Louth to
the sea. Although some small scale remedial work has
been undertaken by the Trust, the restoration of the
warehouse is seen by the public as the first, highly
visible, step towards the renascence of the semi
derelict and decaying Riverhead area and canal corridor.
The renovation of the warehouse has set a design
standard that will be the catalyst and benchmark for all
other restoration work in the area, together with
setting a precedent for new buildings, including 80 dwellings
downstream on a formal industrial site, and a new
Riverhead Theatre (partly funded by the Arts Council) close by the
warehouse.
Feasibility Report Launched January 2006.pdf