IT Has been 77 years since Ulverston Canal closed, and it is likely to stay that way. 

The canal is not accessible from the rest of the network, and if it was to be opened to Morecambe Bay the salt water would fundamentally change the wildlife that has developed in it since then. 

Even Colin Smith, the chair of the Ulverston Canal Regeneration Group said that people that want the canal to re-open need to 'think it more carefully through in terms of environmental impact.' 

Because the Ulverston Canal Regeneration Group is not there to campaign for the canal to be reopened. It is there to maintain the footpaths and the historic preservation of the area, and to encourage the flourishing ecosystem that has developed around the canal which includes fish, ducks, swans, moorhens and even Daubenton bats. 

However, after ten years of service which included restoring the pier that goes out into the bay from Canal Foot, the group is soon to be no more.

Colin said for the group to continue: "You would need to have people coming forward at the next annual general meeting and offer themselves to take those positions and be willing to do the work. You need active people, not someone who will say 'I'll do it' and then do nothing.

"It's evolving rather than ending, the members involved in the group will still be interested in the canal. It will become a 'friends of Ulverston canal' type thing."

Despite Colin's words it does seem worrying that there will be no official group in Ulverston representing the canal. NPL Group is the developer that owns the canal and is based in Glasgow.

However, Colin wants to reassure the developers are working in the best interests of the canal: "We are in contact with them, and they do maintain and carry out the necessary maintenance." 

The canal came into its own during the pandemic, with the upgraded paths and the wildlife allowing people a slice of nature while remaining socially distanced and without having to drive. 

Colin said: "I've lived here for 37 years, I've always been fascinated by it. Working with some amazing groups to get things done has been really, really interesting."