Following the bid by Powys County Council and CRT (Canal & River Trust) for grant funds to restore sections of the Montgomery Canal in Powys, the unrestored section of the canal in Shropshire was visited by Lezley Picton, Leader of Shropshire Council and Cecilia Motley, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Tourism.
After a trip on the ‘George Watson Buck’ trip-boat at Llanymynech Wharf Visitor Centre, the visitors were taken to Crickheath where volunteers of the Shropshire Union Canal Society have been working to restore one of the most challenging sections they have faced, shown round by the Society’s Project Manager David Carter.
The Society has been tackling an area of subsidence by building up the canal banks before using a variety of construction equipment to re-profile the canal channel.
Finally the visitors went to Schoolhouse Bridge between Pant and Crickheath to see the project to rebuild the highway bridge. The Council has been working with the ‘Restore the Montgomery Canal’ volunteer team to settle the structural and procedural arrangements for a project which is unique in the long story of the restoration of the Montgomery Canal and at least unusual among the many canal restorations across the country.
Our photo shows (from left to right):
David Carter – Shropshire Union Canal Society
Christine Palin – Friends of the Montgomery Canal & Restore the Montgomery Canal!
Cecilia Motley – Shropshire Council Cabinet Member for Communities, Place, Tourism & Transport
Lezley Picton – Leader, Shropshire Council
Nicola Lewis-Smith – Canal & River Trust
John Dodwell – Montgomery Canal Partnership & Restore the Montgomery Canal!
Chris Bushnell – Friends of the Montgomery Canal, TRAMPS & Restore the Montgomery Canal!
Also present:
Clive Robertson – Shropshire Union Canal Society & Restore the Montgomery Canal!
Michael Limbrey – Montgomery Waterways Restoration Trust & Restore the Montgomery Canal!