The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom which was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British canals and river navigations.

One letter came from Robert Aickman, a literary agent and aspiring author, who made the suggestion that a society to campaign for the regeneration of canals should be formed.

[1] Tom Rolt supported this idea and on Saturday 11 August 1945, he, Robert and their wives, Angela and Ray, met for the first time aboard Cressy at Tardebigge on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

The couples developed a good working relationship, and the inaugural meeting of The Inland Waterways Association took place on 15 February 1946 at Aickman's flat in Gower Street, London.

Robert Aickman was appointed chairman, Charles Hadfield, vice-chairman, Tom Rolt honorary secretary and Frank Eyre treasurer.

The first action took place in 1947, when the Rolts aboard Cressy challenged the Great Western Railway who owned the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and had replaced the Lifford drawbridge at Kings Norton Junction with a "temporary" fixed bridge that prevented navigation.

[2] By then, IWA had attracted a range of talent, including as president the writer and parliamentarian Sir A. P. Herbert, and as vice-president the naturalist Peter Scott.

Aickman engineered a change to the rules to require all members to conform to agreed IWA principles and in early 1951, Rolt, Hadfield and others were excluded from membership.

A more hopeful start was made on the lower reaches of the Warwickshire Avon, a river where commercial navigation had long since ceased because of perennial flooding problems, thus it was not within the BTC's remit.

Learning from the experience with the Basingstoke Canal, IWA advised the formation of a charitable trust and Douglas Barwell – who had joined the Midlands branch with this in mind – took charge of the restoration project.

In March 1955, a Board of Survey reported and recommended the downgrading and possible disposal of 771 miles of waterways, including some, such as the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, that had already been abandoned and closed to traffic.

[7] A new committee of enquiry was set up and the IWA was invited, amongst others, to give detailed plans for the viability of various waterways, which put considerable strain on an organisation which did not at the time have a permanent staff and whose financial affairs were in some disarray.

In 1958, John Smith, a banker and company director who was an IWA member and had an honorary post in the National Trust, suggested that organisation might take over the canal.

[8] At first independent, this organisation acts as a co-ordinating force, providing equipment, expertise, publicity and labour to help local restoration schemes.

[18] The charity formulates policies and undertakes local and national campaigns to work on specific issues that have, or may in the future, have a real impact on the UK's inland waterways.

The association seeks to maintain good relationships with navigation authorities in order to influence policy and decision-making, acting in the best interests of IWA members and the waterways.

IWA also works with other waterway bodies, a wide range of national and local authorities, voluntary, private and public sector organisations.

IWA has formed a subsidiary company, Essex Waterways Ltd, and, with support from local authorities, operates and maintains the navigation for the benefit of the general public.

An anual event since 1983, organised by IWA at Little Venice, London over the early May Bank Holiday weekend, combining a boat rally with a trade show, activities and entertainments.

In 2015, the Inland Waterways Association unveiled a plaque commemorating the life and work of its co-founder and first chairman, Robert Aickman, at his home and workplace at 11 Gower Street, London.