Lancaster Canal

In 1947 the Association's first official outing was made on the Lancaster Canal.

In 1948 the British Tourist and Holidays Board were approached to advocate canal holidays. Only two hire boat companies were available for people wanting holidays on the canals. One enterprising firm started running boat trips on the Lancaster Canal.

In 1952 concerns were raised that navigation on the Lancaster Canal was being discouraged on the section from Tewitfield Locks to Kendal.

Concerns were expressed at the start of 1953 that the Docks & Inland Waterways Executive had plans to transfer canals that were not "required commercially" to local autorities or other bodies. These included some legally abandoned waterways such as the Cromford Canal, Grantham Canal and Llangollen Canal. Other canals included in the list were the Ashton Canal, Peak Forest Canal, Lancaster Canal, Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal and the southern section of the Oxford Canal. In response to this the Association continued to advocate full use and development of the whole waterways system for the benefit of all types of user and for the establishment of a National Waterways Commission covering all navigations as well as a public enquiry into the best ways of developing them.

The 1955 British Transport Commission Bill contained a measure to abandon Haddiscoe New Cut on the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads as well as parts of the Lancaster Canal and other waterways.

In March 1955 the Board of Survey reported and recommended the disposal of 771 miles of waterway including some canals like the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Barnsley Canal that had already been abandoned and closed to traffic. These "Group 3" waterways also included the Ashton, Peak Forest, Macclesfield, Bridgwater and Taunton, Chesterfield, Cromford, Dearne and Dove, Erewash, Forth & Clyde, Grand Western, Grantham, Kennet & Avon, Lancaster, Manchester, Bolton & Bury, Monmouthshire & Brecon, Nottingham, Oxford (southern section), Pocklington, Ripon, Llangollen, Montgomery, Stratford-upon-Avon (southern section), Swansea and Edinburgh & Glasgow Union canals as well as the River Witham.

In response IWA advocate a National Waterway Conservancy to look after all our waterways and point out that it is cheaper to restore and use waterways than to eliminate them.

The Lancaster Canal Trust was founded in 1962.

The 1964 proposed route of the M6 motorway threatened navigation on the upper reaches of the Lancaster Canal.

The 1989 National Trailboat Rally was attended by 125 boats at Glasson on the Lancaster Canal Glasson Branch. This highlighted the campaign for the Northern Reaches and the Ribble Link.

In 1997 the Millenium Commission anounced a grant of £2.7 million for building the Ribble Link.

On the 11 July 2002 the Ribble Link was opened giving the Lancaster Canal a connection by water to the rest of the system for the first time. Boats could now travel from the Rufford Branch of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal down the River Douglas and up the River Ribble to the new link.