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Who are We? We are the London branch of the Waterway Recovery Group, a group of volunteers helping to restore Britain's disused canals. London WRG helps restoration in a practical way - we have regular (about every 3-4 weeks) weekend 'digs' on canals throughout the country, where we carry out restoration work. The work we do is very varied - including brick laying, scrub bashing, demolition and use of plant. Most of our members come from London, and we offer minibus transport to digs, usually leaving Waterloo Station at about 7pm on Friday evenings. We also welcome people from outside London too.

London WRG on the Hereford & Gloucester Canal. April 2003. Alan Lines.

We mainly work on canals in the South of England, such as the Droitwich, Hereford & Gloucester, Wey & Arun and Lichfield canals, but we also make occasional trips further afield. You can help us! In addition to our digs, we have socials on a Tuesday, 11 days before each dig, at The Star Tavern pub on Belgrave Mews West, we are usually in the upstairs room from about 7.30pm. Streetmap available here. By tube: Victoria, Sloane Square or Knightsbridge are closest. From Knightsbridge or Sloane Square: walk along Sloane Street to the junction with Pont Street, turn East (right from Sloane Square, left from Knightsbridge) and walk along Pont Street (it turns into Chesham Place halfway along) until you reach the German Embassy on the left, just to the right of the embassy is a white arch over a cobbled mews, go through the arch and along the mews (this is Belgrave Mews West) and the pub is on the left just before another arch. From Victoria: leave the station from the exit near the Gatwick express platforms and turn left down Buckingham Palace Road. At the first crossroads turn right into Eccleston Street, keep walking along this road (it turns into Belgrave Place halfway along) until you reach Belgrave Square. Turn left into Chesham Place and then immediately right into Belgrave Mews West (just before the German Embassy), go through the white arch and along the mews and the pub is on the left just before another arch. By bus: Loads of buses run along Sloane Street and to Sloane Square or Victoria stations. If you are interested in joining us then do come along to one of the socials to find out more! It may be a good idea to ring/email one of us first to check the social is happening. To do this (or to find out more about London WRG in general) you can contact Martin Ludgate (tel 0208 693 3266, email london@wrg.org.uk). In addition to the socials and digs, we also occasionally organise other social events - for example barbecues, boat trips, brewery trips or members' slide shows. We also have a regular newsletter "London WRG News" - it is provided online in PDF format, or if you let Martin know your postal address, he can put you on the (postal) mailing list. A few more details about the digs Our digs take place every third weekend, with some slightly longer gaps around Christmas and August Bank Holiday. We provide transport to work sites (for the cost of fuel) in a minibus, which usually leaves Waterloo Station at about 7pm on Friday night. Alternatively, volunteers can make their own travel arrangements. Overnight accommodation is usually the local village hall, or similar. Food is provided at cost price, usually about 8 pounds per weekend. We welcome new members on our digs. All you need to bring is some old clothes for working in, some slightly newer clothes for going to the pub in, a sleeping bag and airbed/karrimat, some wellies/boots, and some work gloves. Some of our digs help with the work of the Dig Deep Initiative. Follow the links below for more information. Dates List London WRG News Event Reports Tim's Photos Documents Mailing List LWRG T-Shirts

These London WRG WWW pages are constructed by Dan Evans. They do not represent official policy of London WRG nor of the Waterway Recovery Group Ltd, unless specifically stated. HTML coding (c) Dan Evans. Copyright of material (including photos) from other people is acknowledged. Page written and maintained by Dan Evans (dan at danevans.co.uk). Originally written: 15 September 1997. Major Updates: 28 March 1999, 30 January 2000, 16 April 2002. Last update: 19 February 2004.