Every year British Waterways holds a Towpath Tidy campaign where they invite people to take part in a clean up of the canals and rivers in time for the start of the Canal Boat Holiday season.

Last year more than 1,100 volunteers joined British Waterways staff in collecting litter, painting bridges, locks, fences and graffiti covered walls, and cutting back vegetation.

P] The work will commence in March and some of the first canals to benefit from the Towpath Tidy are The Huddersfield Broad and Narrow, Trent and Mersey, Calder and Hebble and Kennet and Avon.

Volunteers play a huge part in keeping the canal system running smoothly so we can all enjoy them on our Canal Boat Holidays.

This volunteer effort is beneficial to the wildlife that make their homes on the banks of the canals and rivers.

Your very own Nature watch will reveal itself on your Canal Boat Holiday when every day the canal and surrounding areas spring into life.

All of us are familiar with ducks and swans but imagine the excitement of spotting a heron or seeing a flash of blue as a kingfisher darts by.

Enjoy the flora and fauna that you will find on the banks and towpaths from the spring flowering blackthorn to delicate summer orchids.

There will be times when it will be so peaceful that all that you will hear will be the birdsong or buzz of the bumble bees.

In the still of the mornings or in the early evenings you may hear a splash which could be frog hunting for flies or a fish jumping out of the water.

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