At least one annual tour for waterways enthusiasts has been organised from the UK every year since 1973 by the late Ron Oakley, with profits going to waterways charities and associations.
From 1996 these were incorporated within IWI and profits used to support the association and its services to members.
July 2003 was the last tour organised by Ron Oakley, with the assistance of IWI Council member Professor Edoardo Bricchetti and vice-president David Edwards-May. The tour included Venice, a cruise on the river Po and extensive visits to the Port of Cremona and the various historic canals of Lombardy.
Restoration of the Lombardy canals is a significant campaigning issue for IWI.
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Hydropower plant and lock on the Adda at Paderno |
| The main tour in 2002 was a long cruise on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in the USA.
In 2001 the tour was to the Rhone Valley in South East France, starting at Lyons and travelling south by coach through Tournon to Martigues near Marseilles. Here the party embarked upon a Rhone cruise ship for a three day cruise up river to Lyons, calling in at Avignon, Viviers, and Vienne on the way. Another day was spent on Lake Bourget and canals of the Upper Rhone.
Click here to see a selection of photographs taken on the Rhone River Cruise,
South East
France, August 2001.
In May 2000 there was a tour of South West France, exploring the Canal des Deux Mers and the navigable rivers Lot and Baïse. There were two river trips on the River Lot from Bouziès and from Cahors, another on the River Baïse from Condom, and a fourth from Toulouse along the canal de Brienne and into the River Garonne
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St Cirq Lapopie
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