Phase 2 of the restoration is taking shape. Over 5 days a great deal was achieved.
The latest work party organised by the Shropshire Union Canal Society recorded great success in lining and blocking a further stretch of canal towards Schoolhouse Bridge in Shropshire.
Speaking about the May 2026 work party, Tom Fulda, project manager said: “The normal pattern is three days over Friday to Sunday, but on this occasion, both Wednesday and Thursday were included to provide two days of preparation.
“The primary activities were to finish profiling a sufficient length of channel for lining and blocking during the main work party and to prepare sufficient liners cut to length for a prompt start on Friday. In glorious sunshine, both objectives were achieved”.
The weather during the main work party was cooler, but with little wind. A few spots of dampness at times, but the worst was overnight. So, near ideal conditions for laying large lengths of liner. By close of play on Saturday, another 60 metres of channel had been lined.
An excellent turn out of volunteers on Sunday enabled the blocking to catch up with the liner. Placing riprap aggregate on the offside bank above the blocks was completed. As previously explained, there is no plant access to the offside bank so all material must be barrowed along the newly blocked channel and placed by hand. The riprap is covered with soil. Most of that was also completed and then reseeded. A really tidy result. The towpath side is much more accessible and will be completed next month using power barrows.
Over the coming months, another big task will be to build the towpath wash wall through Schoolhouse Bridge, and much preparation work was undertaken this time including a very productive site meeting on method and sequencing with CRT senior engineer Ian Draycott. The first job was to divert the towpath and make the site secure. The remains of a redundant, concrete-encased drain and inspection chamber were then removed using a pecker attached to the 8-tonne digger. Then, through to Sunday afternoon, countless dumper-loads of spoil were removed from the channel. One more very productive and tidy output from this month’s work party.
On Friday, another four volunteers from local firm Aico were welcomed to site, some of whom had previously attended. This time, under the expert tutelage of Fred, they undertook brash clearance in the morning and lining and blocking in the afternoon. They were awarded the trophy for best corporate volunteers of this work party. We also welcomed five new volunteers to the Society over the three days and said goodbye (temporarily – hopefully) to Finley who has completed his DofE Bronze volunteering, learning a lot about health and safety on site not to mention bonfire management. A big thank you to you all, plus of course the regular volunteers, for what was a cracking few days.
If you can afford to financially support the restoration, please visit the link below to donate online.
https://localgiving.org/donation/restorethemontgomerycanal/start