Canal foraging

There are over 2,000 miles of canals spread across England and Wales, with many of them connecting with river systems. They played a major part during the industrial era when canal technology advanced and the first lochs were made, along with a 5000-meter – or 3.5-mile-long tunnel called the Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Today the paths alongside bear host to decades of people throwing old pieces of fruit and moving plants around the country attached to their barges, offering a wide range of good to anyone interested in Canal foraging.

A Brief History of British Canals

They were originally introduced into the country by the Romans who mainly used them for irrigation and connecting lakes together, but they exploded in popularity just before the start of the 1800s. When the industrial era began in Britain, which peaked around 1820, the number of canals increased many times over as they were a cheap and effective way of moving large amounts of heavy goods around the country. The technology also improved and the first lochs were built, allowing canals to flow over hills and steep terrain. A towpath was always at the side of the canal so a horse could walk along it to tow the barges, a method that remained in place until steam engines became available around the start of the 1900s. As engine technology improved, heavy road vehicles gradually made canals redundant, and today they are mostly used by houseboat owners, fishermen, and anyone looking for a pleasant Sunday stroll.

(seed pods of the Himalayan balsam plant, they are common along canals and have a nutty flavour)

Am I allowed to forage in a Canal?

Yes and no, it depends on what you are after. If you are fishing or using crayfish traps, you need permission from whoever is in charge of that stretch of water and a fishing license. For the traps they have to be certified by the Environmental Agency, which is free to do, and you may or may not need a fishing license for traps only, depending on the owner of that stretch of canal.

As for taking any kind of plant, the standard UK foraging laws would apply. Basically, you can take anything that was wild planted, as long as you aren’t uprooting the plant, or the plant isn’t protected or prohibited, such as something poisonous or rare. This means that as long as someone didn’t purposely plant it, you are free to take berries, leaves, stems, or whichever bit you’re after. The other thing you aren’t allowed to do is destroy the plant or cause unnecessary damage, such as cutting down a tree.

Foraging in Canals – What’s in the water?

When it comes to canal foraging you have two main options, the water or the path. Caution should be taken when taking anything out of the water, especially any kind of plant because canals are normally quite dirty. They usually only flow very gently to the point you can’t actually see it, and since so many people walk alongside them, that means a great deal of rubbish being thrown in and sitting on the bottom.

As for fish, that would depend on the river system that is connected to the part of the canal you’re fishing in, as canals weren’t intentionally stocked with fish and any in there are from whichever lake or river it joins. Crayfish are normally quite common in canals but make sure you flush them out before eating them, and always keep in mind how clean the part of the canal you’re using is.

Things to avoid when canal foraging

A lot of people walk their dogs along canal paths, so keep this in mind when picking anything low enough for a dog to get to. Also, the most popular areas are normally stripped of things like apples and cherries as people pick them before they are ready or strip entire trees when no one is looking. The best areas are out of towns close to woodland or farmland, and if you are fishing or trapping, the closer to the inlet from the river, the cleaner the water is likely to be.

Canal foraging for wild foods

Anything that can be found in hedgerows is likely to appear next to a canal, but due to their popularity, a number of other plants can be found more often here than in woodland. The most interesting of these are listed:

Apples – With so many people throwing apple cores into the hedges over the years, a large amount of apple trees have sprung up all across the UK canal system. Types and quality vary, but they are generally quite small and not as sweet as shop-bought apples.

Hawthorns – They taste a little bit like a really ripe apple that’s been left a few days past its edible eating date. They don’t taste bad or like they are “off” but they are definitely an acquired taste.

Blackthorn shrubs (Sloes) – Not very common but they still appear every now and then. Not much you can do with these unless you want to flavor gin or make jam that’s 95% sugar to mask the taste.

Himalayan balsam – When the seed pods are ripe, they are filled with black seeds that taste slightly nutty. Easy to gather and surprisingly good to eat, just make sure the seeds aren’t soft and have a pale yellow color because these won’t be ready.

Cherries – Cherry trees are very common around the UK but are usually the sour bright red kind. They are common along canal paths but the other problem is the birds normally swarm on them when they are ready around the end of July.

Rosehips – Very high in vitamin C and can be used to make tea. The strange flavor makes them difficult to use in many things, but I hear candied rosehips are quite nice.

Elderberries – These make an excellent wine and can be made into jams and pies. They taste slightly bitter on their own and should be heated in order to remove the pectin in the seed, a natural substance the plant produces, which isn’t poisonous but can make you feel ill if you eat a large amount of raw berries.

Other common canal plants:

Nettles
Blackberries
Wild garlic
Jack by the hedge (hedge garlic)
Greater reed mace (Cat-tails, bullrushes)
crab apples
dandelions
Mushrooms (Very common next to canals due to the permanent water presence, but DON’T mess with mushrooms unless you know exactly what you are doing)

As with all foraging, stay safe and stay respectful. The canal system has an overall managing organization called the “Canal and River Trust”, but they often oversee general repairs and maintenance, and don’t grant permissions for fishing. This will depend on whoever has the right to that particular section of the canal, which is normally a local fishing club that can be found with a quick Google search. Foraging does not require permission from anyone as long as you stick to UK foraging laws, however in all my time foraging I have never seen a single person care when they’ve seen me take something.