WHEN people talk about adoption, it usually refers to a person or animal.

But a group of residents living between Bingley and Saltaire have made a more unusual adoption - a stretch of their local canal.

They turn out in all weathers to help with the upkeep of towpaths along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the maintenance of access routes, and have even helped to create a garden at Hirst Lock in Bingley.

The group are members of Hirst Wood Regeneration Group (HWRG), which has been in existence for around 20 years and has undertaken a number of projects aimed at making the area a more pleasant place to live.

Recently, the group signed up for a scheme that sees them adopt an area of canal and help to maintain and safeguard it.

Says HWTG treasurer Richard Coomber: “Having heard of the adoption scheme it made sense for us to look after the stretch on our patch so we adopted the towpath from Salts Sports Club as far as the packhorse bridge at Dowley Gap.

“The first improvement was to put in three benches along that stretch, a move very much welcomed by walkers,” says Richard.

Working with the trust, the group has helped to transform Hirst Lock. They managed to get funding to turn the lock into a pleasant garden together with seating and an information board giving details of the lock’s history.

“People used to avoid it or they hurried past. Now it is a place where people linger while walking along the canal or through Hirst Wood and it has now become a regular meeting point for walkers,” says Richard.

Group secretary Pauline Bradley-Sharp says: “The idea of adopting a stretch of the canal was to give ownership to the community.

“We have worked on the tow path and on stiles to make the path more accessible. We are also trying to make the path more accessible to people with restricted mobility.”

The group is always looking for new ways to improve facilities in their area and the plans being looked at include better access between the canal and river and regular maintenance such as repairing broken dry-stone walls.

Across the UK around 100 groups have adopted stretches of canals or rivers under a scheme run by the Canal & River Trust.

The trust’s aim is for a quarter of its waterways to be adopted by local people as part of wider plans to ensure that the nation’s waterways continue to thrive and don’t fall back into the dereliction of the mid-20th century, when they were almost lost forever.

Adoption groups will work in partnership with the trust on anything from improving wildlife habitats and access for local people, to creating a linear veg-patch for the community. Each group works at least one day a month for a year and agrees the projects they want to prioritise.

Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust comments: “Local waterways are havens for both people and wildlife. But to make sure this valuable legacy thrives into the future, we need to capitalise on the huge pride people have in them and encourage groups to work alongside us to make it happen. We see how much a stretch of canal is improved if local people are helping us to look after it.”

HWRG has worked on a number of canalside projects. As part of the bicentenary celebrations of the canal last October an information board was created combining details of the canal history with a guide to walks in the area, then pupils at Saltaire Primary School - with which the group has an active partnership - produced a mural depicting their view of the canal. These projects were realised thanks to help from Bradford Countryside Department, Tesco’s Bags of Help campaign and the People’s Postcode Lottery.

HWRG has organised one off events like fun days, holiday activities for school children, trips for the elderly who don’t get out much, litter picking and tackling dog fouling to major undertakings like creating a children’s playground, installing a Little Free Library, turning a piece of spare land in the middle of the estate that had become a favourite tipping area into a community orchard and transforming a boggy piece of waste land into a nature reserve.

Shipley councillor Kevin Warnes says: “Hirst Wood Regeneration Group is a fabulous group of local community champions who have transformed their part of Shipley. Some of their work has involved improving the canal towpath and nearby area, working closely with the Canal & River Trust to make a real difference to the quality of life for local people.”

*For more information visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/volunteer, also hirstwood.org.uk