Neath & Tennant Canals Trust

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The Neath & Tennant Canal Trust, originally The Neath & Tennant Canals Preservation Society was formed in 1974, to safeguard, restore and promote the canals. The Trust has since become a Limited Company and is a registered charity. It has been active in restoring the majority of the locks and associated pounds in association with Local Authorities and canal owners, and has ownership of the grade II listed Neath Canal Workshops at Tonna.

Much has been achieved but more remains to be realised. The Trust welcomes new members and if you would like to join please click the button below for an application form.

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Neath and Tennant Canals Feasibility Study

A potential way forward
This study was commissioned by Neath Port Talbot Council and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund to look at ways to restore and regenerate the Neath and Tennant Canals for the benefit of the people of Neath. The Trust supported the application for funding and attended stakeholder feedback sessions.

The Study is comprehensive covering the history and background of the canals. Its proposals range through restoration, biodiversity, access for all, water related activities and others. There are suggestions for the way forward, a schedule of works and costings.

Resolving the ownership issue is vital to taking the project forward. Both canals are privately owned; the Neath Canal by Brighton STM Neath Canal Ltd, major shareholder Revantage and the Tennant by the Coome Tennant family. Initial contact has been made to both parties. The suggested way forward is to form a not-for-profit company. To learn more details please click here to view the study Section 5: Ownership Issues Relating to Restoration.

Worth reading in detail is Section12- Phasing of the scheme which gives a 15 year programme of action.

Of concern, based on the Restoration route options in 1.3 of the Executive Summary, is that the available continuous navigation for “full size” canal boats with a beam of 2.2m will be limited to 8.5 miles. It is highly improbable that this short length will attract the type and number of boats referred to in Section 9 whilst undermining the prospect of a 30 mile “Swansea Bay Inland Waterway”.

Section 12 advises on implementation and building momentum. To date we have heard nothing about this from NPT. The Trust looks forward to supporting its implementation and will do its utmost to ensure that it goes ahead unlike projects in the past which have never got beyond the Report stage. If you wish to support the Trust in taking this project forward, please get in touch with us.

Margaret Gwalter
Deputy chair

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Neath and Tennant Canals Full Feasibility Study – AtkinsRealis, 2026

View the Trust’s reaction to the Feasibility Study »

The report can be downloaded from https://www.npt.gov.uk/business/regeneration/canal-regeneration/

The Neath Canal is owned by The Neath Canal Navigation Company (c/o St. Modwen Properties, Tel: 07887821695)

The Tennant Canal is owned and managed by the Port Tennant Navigation Company (c/o Leeder Property Management, Tel: 01792 644699)

PLEASE NOTE
The Trust has no responsibility for the management and condition of the canals.
As such, concerns should be addressed to the owners by way of:

NEATH CANAL – Adrian.Andrews@revantage.eu
TENNANT CANAL – enquiries@leederproperty.co.uk

The Trust, otherwise, will be pleased to reply to your enquiry. Thank you.