Despite the anticipated cost, the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust is hoping for Heritage Lottery Funding to reconnect the lock to the stretch of canal already dredged and re-watered to the south.

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The beating heart of the festival, now in its 33rd year, is Ottawa's Rideau Canal, a Unesco World Heritage site which cuts an elegant swathe through the city.

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Leicester Civic Society's chair, Stuart Bailey, had said the building on the Grand Union Canal was an important reminder of Leicester's heritage.

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This route takes you through some stunning scenery including the Unesco World Heritage site Huangshan, ancient villages in Anhui and the charming canal towns of Suzhou.

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But they should also be persuaded that a successful and popular canal system is more in keeping with Britain's heritage than a collection of crumbling, forgotten waterways.

ECONOMIST: Canals