Britain's canals were built for industry, but they are now helping endangered wildlife survive
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Britain's canal network was never designed with nature in mind.
Built more than two centuries ago to move coal, clay and cotton across an industrialising country, these engineered waterways were about as far from a natural habitat as a landscape could get.
Yet today, nearly 8,000 kilometres of canals crisscrossing the country have quietly become something else entirely, a refuge for some of Britain's most threatened wildlife.
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Britain's canal network was never designed with nature in mind.
Built more than two centuries ago to move coal, clay and cotton across an industrialising country, these engineered waterways were about as far from a natural habitat as a landscape could get.
Yet today, nearly 8,000 kilometres of canals crisscrossing the country have quietly become something else entirely, a refuge for some of Britain's most threatened wildlife.