The programme of nine new canal restoration and waterway schemes was announced by British Waterways in partnership with independent charity, The Waterways Trust, at the end of March. Covering 100 miles of waterways, from London to the Lake District, the programme includes the first new canal to be designed for a century - the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway.

The nine new projects unveiled by British Waterways in partnership with The Waterways Trust, are:

Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway, a new broad waterway linking the national canal network with the East Anglian rivers.

Bow Back Rivers, a new network of navigable waterways for east London.

Cotswold Canals, reconnecting the Severn to the Thames by water, including Sapperton, the longest broad canal tunnel in the country.

Droitwich Canals, creating a new 21-mile waterway cruising ring connected to the River Severn.

Foxton Inclined Plane, near Market Harborough - the only inclined plane on a navigable waterway.

Liverpool Extension to Leeds & Liverpool Canal, a vibrant new waterfront for Liverpool, connecting the docks.

Manchester, Bolton & Bury Canal, broad canal linking Bolton and Bury to the River Irwell and the waterway network.

Montgomery Canal, ongoing restoration in Wales, including nationally-important conservation sites.

Northern Reaches of Lancaster Canal, extending the national waterway network north to the Lake District.

The first phase of BW's ambitious restoration projects - to open some 220 miles of canals and structures - is on schedule for completion later this year, and includes the recently re-opened Anderton Boat Lift - the forerunner for all such lifts in the world, and the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, the world's first-ever rotating boat lift, which opened to the public on 1 May.