Rickmansworth Waterways Trust brings together people who are enthusiastic about canals, education and the environment – and about Rickmansworth.

A charity and company limited by Guarantee, our aim is to give young and old from all walks of life the chance to learn about history and heritage through our education work on the Grand Union Canal (click here for more on "Learning at the Lock") and ongoing restoration of former working canal boat "Roger".

Although we are primarily an education organisation, we do run Batchworth Lock Canal Centre (click here for more information) with information centre and café. We also organise the Rickmansworth Festival together with British Waterways, Three Rivers District Council and Three Valleys Water (click here for more information). This is an annual May weekend event that offers canal boats on show, live music and an Environment Fair where conservation is key.

When we were first formed back in 1991, the area around Batchworth Lock was almost derelict. Now it has been transformed and is enjoyed by our many visitors including the 20,000 who come along to the Rickmansworth Festival.

We’re always looking for new volunteers to help with our work as we have only a few paid members of staff. As a volunteer you can help with our education work (click here for more information) or perhaps our committee with other jobs we need to do. You can also learn to crew our boats that we run on the Grand Union Canal (click here for more),
both former historic working boat Roger and our electric powered trip boat Pride of Batchworth that gives picturesque boat rides south to Stockers Lock along by Rickmansworth Aquadrome. There’s plenty to do for the experienced expert and the interested beginner. You can also help us to organise the Rickmansworth Festival.

Our funding

While we work closely with partners including Three Rivers District Council, British Waterways, Three Rivers District Council and Three Valleys Water, the bulk of our funding relies on money raised by our activities and other charitable grants from a number of awarding bodies.

But it is our many dedicated volunteers on whom we rely to continue what we do. Without them our work simply wouldn’t happen – whether helping children to learn or organising the annual Rickmansworth Festival. We always need more to help!

Community involvement

As well as our partners who help to fund our work, we also work in the community with groups including the Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) who provide many leads for potential volunteers. We also work with disadvantaged groups – children and adults – who attend our education programmes and contribute to other activities at Batchworth Lock. Our former working canal boat "Roger" also provides an opportunity for work experience to older school children.

Message from our Trustees

We hope you’re enjoying this website as much as we enjoy the work which lies behind it. This is a successful operation, providing pleasure and education to thousands of people, young and old. But that success over the years has depended entirely on the efforts of our volunteers and on the support of our sponsors: we, the Trustees, can do little more than set out a framework within which the work is done. And so we thank them wholeheartedly for what they do: and we hope that the information you take from this website will encourage you to sponsor our work in some way, or to become directly involved as a Volunteer, or indeed as a Trustee. It would be great to be able to welcome you as a Member of the Rickmansworth Waterways Trust!

Last AGM Information

Accounts

Batchworth Telegraph

April 2007
November 2007
April 2008
December 2008
Spring 2009
December 2009