THE main celebrations in honour of the 200th anniversary of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal are now under way.

Described as the biggest long distance water party ever, a flotilla will run through East Lancashire today after setting off from Yorkshire.

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England’s longest canal will be filled with colourful decorations, flags and streamers as the small fleet of boats travels across the Pennines in a 127-mile journey.

The original opening ceremony from 1816 has been recreated and the boats will be stopping off in Burnley, Blackburn and Chorley today.

Yesterday special events were staged at Reedley Marina in Barden Lane, attended by the mayor of Pendle, while music was played by the Mid Pennine Arts group at Burnley Wharf and the bells of St Peter’s Church in the town were sounded.

Organiser Harold Bond said: “Back in 1816, press reports state that the ceremonial first boat was greeted by pealing church bells, brass bands and cheering crowds, and canal barges were bedecked in flags and streamers.

“The response to our invitation to get involved has been brilliant so we have every chance of staging a celebration worthy of those entrepreneurial merchants and inventive engineers responsible for building this waterway.”

Construction of the canal began in 1770 at either end and by 1777 the canal was open from Leeds to Gargrave and from Liverpool to Parbold – then money ran out and worked stopped until 1790.

The route was then altered to take in the growing industrial towns of East Lancashire but it was not until 1816 that the last section between Wigan and Johnson’s Hillock, near Chorley, was finished, finally creating a trans-Pennine link between the two great cities.

Chantelle Seaborn, of the Canal and River Trust, said: “This epic boat journey is a wonderful way to mark the 200th anniversary of one of the most significant waterways in Britain.”