Heading full steam towards its 200th anniversary in 2027, the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal has scored a publicity coup with a national newspaper by being rated among the top seven UK waterway destinations.

Making its way through the UK's 5,000 miles of eligible waterways, the Sunday Times highlighted a seven-mile walk alongside the canal from Sharpness to Frampton-on-Severn, where it recommends stopping off for a picnic on the world's longest village green, as a perfect day out.

The report also highlights the historic spectacle of Purton Hulks, identified as a weak point for potential breach from the River Severn after a riverbank collapsed in 1909. This point in the 16.5-mile canal was subsequently reinforced by a mass beaching of concrete-hulled barges on the river shoreline in the 1950s. Their decaying hulks, now a tourism venue, are listed in the National Register of Historic Vessels.

Built at a cost of £440,000, the canal from Gloucester to Sharpness laid claim to being the widest and deepest in the world when it opened in 1827, being capable to accommodating craft up to 230 feet in length.

The canal's southern terminus is currently the focus of ongoing celebration with the 150th anniversary of the creation of Sharpness's New Docks. In 1874, the docks were created as an offload point to cope with the arrival of ever-larger ships which, despite the dimensions of the canal, struggled to access Gloucester.

An exhibition of the history of the docks is now running at the Sharpness Sports and Social Club (formerly known as the Dockers Club) on Saturdays as part of the #Sharpness150 campaign, which is jointly being organised by three volunteer organisations: the Vale of Berkeley Railway, Stroud Vintage Transport and Engine Club and the Canal and River Trust (CRT)

This July, the CRT also hosts a celebration weekend (July 13-14) which will offer people the chance to join a guided walk of the docks, or book onto a boat trip to explore the area's history.

A spokesman for the CRT said: "The ongoing exhibition offers fascinating photos and artefacts which shows how the port was constructed and explains the role it played in both the local area, and as a conduit for moving goods all through the country."

Last summer, the CRT also issued a funding alert over the reduction of government cash in the canal network.

A spokesman said: "A reduction in grant funding of over £300 million in real terms will threaten the future of the nation's historic canals, leading to their decline and to the eventual closure of some parts of the network."

A planned reduced grant from 2027 will almost halve the value of public funding for canals in real terms compared with recent years, the Trust added.

"This comes despite a Government Review, shared with us and expected to be published, confirming that its funding is 'clear value for money', with canals shown to deliver substantial benefits to the economy, to people and communities, and to nature and biodiversity."

Reduced funding from Westminster comes at the same time as the costs of maintaining historic canals are increasing, the Trust said, "due to the growing impact of climate change, with more periods of drought and extreme storm events taking their toll on ageing 250-year-old infrastructure".