The 2025 Annual Meeting of Llanymynech & Pant Parish Council saw a cheque for £1,000 being donated to the appeal to restore the Montgomery Canal.
The Annual Meeting heard from John Dodwell and Tom Fulda who talked about the history of the canal and the current works to restore it.
John Dodwell, who is chair of the Montgomery Canal Partnership outlined the case for restoring the canal through to Llanymynech in terms of nature, economic benefit and amenity improvements for local people and visitors to the area.
Tom Fulda is the project manager at the Shropshire Union Canal Society, the charity currently working to restore the canal. He outlined the current work being undertaken by volunteers at Crickheath, not far from Pant and Llanymynech, and plans to restore the ‘Shropshire gap’ – a section through the village of Pant.
In separate contributions, the Parish Meeting also heard from respresentatives of the Llimeys and Llanymynech Canal Wharf. The Llimeys look after the Llanymynech Heritage Area, a fantastic local asset which shares much of it’s history and built heritage with the Montgomery Canal.
At the conclusion of the meeting, John and Tom were presented with a cheque for £1,000 from the Parish Council towards the Restore the Montgomery Canal Appeal by Cllr Alice Bond, chair of the council.
Talking about the support received by the Parish Council John commented: “Tom and I were very pleased to be able to tell those people from Llanymynech and Pant who attended the Parish’s Annual Meeting about the plans to ‘Close the Shropshire Gap’. Eight of the ten miles of the Montgomery Canal in Shropshire have already been restored (to Crickheath), leaving the last two miles to reach the Welsh border.
“As Tom said, we welcome more volunteers – not only in the physical work but also with the “backroom work.”
Anyone interested in helping out should go to shropshireunion.org.uk to find out more.
Tom added that although most of the current labour restoring the canal is provided by dedicated volunteers, the materials to reline the canal come with a cost. Up to £1,000 is needed to restore one metre of canal with membrane and blocks.
However, the estimate for the restoration of the dry section of canal through Pant has been estimated at £10.6 m due to the works needed.
Asked by a member of the audience, when the canal could be back in water, Tom said that if the money was forthcoming it could be completed in three years. Obviously, at present the work is progressing at the speed of the available donations.
Offers of financial support to help speed up the restoration, can be made by going to www.localgiving.org/charity/restorethemontgomerycanal.
If you would like to view the PowerPoint presentation made at the meeting, please see below.