Couple left homeless by canal ‘sinkhole’ overwhelmed with offers for Christmas stay

A couple whose boat was stranded in an empty canal in Shropshire have said kindhearted strangers saved their Christmas, along with countless others’ too.

Paul and Anthony Smith-Storey were on a narrowboat in Llangollen Canal when a massive ‘sinkhole’ opened up 18 yards away on Monday morning.

The pair faced a Christmas with nowhere to stay after they fled their ship, which was listing 45 degrees and without power, alongside dozens of others.

But they say the narrowboat community, which includes thousands of subscribers to their YouTube

The chaos began when a part of the dam collapsed in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch in Shropshire at around 4.20am yesterday.

Two vessels were swallowed up while two others teeter over the edge.

Paul Smith-Storey, who runs a YouTube channel called Narrowboat Life Unlocked, was woken up in the early hours as the bathroom cabinet flung open and belongings flew everywhere.

He and Antony quickly got off the tilting ship and walked 90m to the sinkhole, which was like ‘the biggest waterfall you’ve heard’.

Paul told Metro: ‘There was nothing we could do but stand there and watch it unfold.

‘It was an incredible scene. It was horrible watching the boat going over the breach.’

Their narrowboat was not sucked into the gaping hole in the canal, but it was rendered temporarily inhabitable by the disaster.

‘The boat is on about a 45 degree angle,’ Paul explained.

‘We cannot run our generator as there is no water under us. We are trying to preserve electricity. We cannot sleep on the boat.’

The couple, who sold their home in 2019 to travel the canals, had only arrived in Whitchurch a few days ago to spend Christmas with friends in the town.

While their narrowboat neighbors scrambled to find somewhere to say, the pair were put up by local friends.

Paul then uploaded a video of the tragedy to his YouTube and he was flooded with countless offers of help by viewers.

One kindhearted person even offered their vacant boat, on a nearby part of the canal, for them to stay in over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The generosity has gone both ways as Paul raised more than £15,000 on GoFundMe for the three boaters who have ‘have lost everything’ in the sinkhole.

Canal boat company Norbury Wharf in Shropshire has also offered emergency accommodation to anyone made homeless by the breach.

They said on their social media: ‘Our heart goes out to all those people that have been affected by the breach on the Llangollen Canal at Whitchurch, especially those whose boats have been devastated.

‘If anyone requires emergency accommodation, please do contact us as we can provide this FOC on our hire boats at Norbury Junction. If we can help with transport or anything else, please do let us know.’

Paul said: ‘This is how the British handle it. They crack on and get together and rally together. I am just thankful.

‘We have had so many offers of help from the boating community, offering for us to to stay with them for Christmas. Everyone has rallied around.’

It might be that the pair won’t need any alternative place to stay as speedy repair work is already underway at the Llangollen Canal, Metro understands.

That’s because one side of the breach has already been dammed off and refilled with water, Paul says.

The other side, where he and Anthony’s boat still is, has also been dammed off and might have water restored to it from tomorrow.

The pair are impressed by how quickly from the Canal and River Trust have repaired the canal to get boaters back on the water.

A spokesperson for the Trust previously called the breach ‘highly distressing’ for boat owners.

They added: ‘Heartbreakingly, two boats were washed into the breach hole and there is a further two right next to the hole.

‘There are a further six boats away from the breach site which are currently not in water, but we are hoping to get those back afloat in the coming days. The incident is no longer declared as a major incident by the emergency services.’

Campbell Robb, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, added: ‘Our teams have been on site since the early hours, securing and making the canal safe and assisting the boat owners impacted. 

‘The most important thing is that all those affected are safe and, working with the local authority, there is accommodation in place for the people and pets unable to return to their boats.’

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