A breach near bridge 10 at Swanley shut the Llangollen Canal and its towpath after water poured into a neighbouring field in Cheshire. Engineers were assessing the damage while repairs were expected to take several days.
Paul Partridge, who trades pizza on the canal, moved to Nantwich after the closure disrupted his plans. He had been due at Swanley Bridge on Friday before heading to Wrenbury for the weekend, and he said, "I'm not going to do the numbers that I would do at Wrenbury, because Wrenbury's probably one of my best locations".
Paul Partridge at Nantwich
Partridge said, "I can be up there on a Saturday night and sell 60 to 90 pizzas in an evening and I'll be very surprised if that happens in Nantwich." He also said, "It's just one of those things. Stuff happens and what you learn, particularly living and working on the canal, is that you just have to adapt".
The Canal and River Trust said temporary dams were in place and that the affected section had been secured. Water levels had recovered overnight, but the canal and towpath remained shut while teams assessed the damage.
Josh Taylor at Swanley
Josh Taylor travelled to the scene after receiving a message about the breach and saw several flooded fields when he arrived. He said, "The response from the CRT was pretty good" and called on the government to increase funding for the Canal and River Trust.
Taylor said the canal network covered 2,000 miles and that closures appeared to be increasing each year. His mother, Diane, said, "It's our heritage, our history, and when we live aboard them it's just lovely." Harry Fildes said staff at Swanley Bridge Marina had been inundated with calls from concerned boaters after news of the breach spread.
The trust said it was too early to say for certain what had caused the breach, though it suspected a culvert failure between bridges 9 and 10 after a tree above it fell in recent days. The same stretch stayed closed as repairs moved ahead, leaving boaters and traders to work around the disruption until the canal reopens.
