Shroppie Fly Paper - February 2026 The Newsletter of the Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch
Hello, and welcome to Shroppie Fly Paper The leading article in our December 2025 issue describing IWA’s new Risk Index, with its accompanying photograph of the January 2025 Bridgewater Canal breach, now seems horribly prescient. For as we all know, and, in fact, many millions of people who usually ignore the canals also know from national and local news media, the Llangollen Canal at Whitchurch suffered its own spectacular breach just before Christmas.
[The immediate aftermath of the Whitchurch breach. Credit Jim Forkin] Hundreds of thousands of words, and countless startling images that demonstrate just how fortunate it was that there were no serious injuries, have been published. This newsletter can do no better than to refer readers to our Facebook pages, where our online editor, Alan Wilding, has done a great job in covering the unfolding saga, almost in real time. https://www.facebook.com/shrewsburynorthwales For those who prefer a more leisurely, structured read, the March 2026 issue of Waterways World contains six pages of reports and insights. Shroppie Fly Paper would like to pay tribute to the Canal & River Trust urgent response teams who moved so swiftly to secure the site, care for the wellbeing of the affected boaters and urgently put in