As tens of thousands return to the streets for the first national Palestine march of 2026, this movement refuses to be sidelined or silenced, says PETER LEARY
THE canal at Braunston, where the Grand Union Canal and the Oxford Canal meet, is the busiest place anywhere on the British canal network.
It is a splendid rural setting, with the boats of Braunston marina and in the pretty village of Braunston up on the hill where All Saints Church, otherwise known as the “Cathedral of the Canals,” has overlooked the village and the villagers for over 10 centuries and the canals and the boat people for over 300 years.
The Canals and River Trust is based in the old “Stop House” — the old building that was used to collect tolls from passing freight boats.
One hundred years after 1.7m workers shut the country down in defence of the miners, the struggles that sparked the 1926 General Strike are still with us – and will be honoured on London’s May Day march this year, writes MARY ADOSSIDES



