A study to see what attracts people to canals and rivers and why they are no longer landfills for shopping carts has been started by the charity that takes care of our waterways.

Research to understand what causes “their motorways” to cross includes East London’s Regent’s Canal, Limehouse Cut, Hertford Cut by Victoria Park and Lea River.

Voluntary plants pipe beds along the Regent’s Canal
– Credit: Canal & River Trust

“Many households do not have their own garden,” said Canal and River Trusts CEO Richard Parry.

“Channels have been their lifeline right at the door through the pandemic.”

It’s not easy to be green … but summer algae are not enough to stop canoes at Hertford Cut by Victoria Park
– Credit: Mike Brooke

Channels provide £ 1 billion in savings to the NHS each year through health and wellness associated with active visits to waterways, studies have found.

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The charity wants to understand what actually makes them attractive – the landscape with historic locks and bridges or the greenery of trees and wildlife – and why people respond to these 200-year-old industrial environments.

Mare Street Bridge at Cambridge Heath … industrial heritage as the Regent’s Canal was ‘the highway of its time’
– Credit: Bishopsgate Institute

The author Dr. Amir Khan said: “They are vital blue and green corridors for built-up and disadvantaged urban communities that provide sunlight and cleaner air while being close to nature.”

The online survey has pictures of canals and rivers to be judged according to what people like best.

The sleepy waters of the Regent’s Canal at Victoria Park
– Credit: Mike Brooke