£2.5 million windfall brings Shropshire canal dream a step nearer
More than £2.5 million has been awarded to a project to restore a section of one of Shropshire's historic canals.
The money, which will go towards a £4.2 million project to restore a stretch of the Montgomery Canal, will enable work to start next year.
The new 1.25-mile stretch at Crickheath, near Oswestry, will be open to narrowboats within three years – the first time boats will have been seen there for 80 years.
A winding hole – a turning point for narrowboats – will be created and the scheme will also improve access to the canal, create new nature reserves and improve almost four miles of towpath between Welshpool and Llanymynech.
Those behind the project are hopeful the canal – which runs for 35 miles from near Ellesmere to Newtown – will be reopened as far as Welshpool within the next decade.
Supporters of the campaign today spoke of their delight at receiving the seven-figure windfall. Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal and River Trust, said: "The money together with funding from other organisations will help carry out vital work towards the restoration of the Montgomery Canal which is one of the most beautiful waterways in Britain.
"I would also like to thank the volunteers for their continuing hard work which has kept the dream alive to restore the canal." The trust will be working with the 15 partner organisations which make up the Montgomery Canal Partnership on the project.
John Dodwell, chairman of the Montgomery Canal Partnership, said: "This is a major step forward in the restoration of one of Britain's longest running canal restorations and fits into our recently announced 10-year restoration strategy for the canal. The vision of a restored waterway has been kept alive for almost half a century by an army of volunteers."
Michael Limbrey, chairman of the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust, said: "We are delighted with the news.
Our ambition is to bring boats back to Welshpool in 10 years, so that Mid Wales will again be joined to the 2000-mile national canal network."
The project is also supported with funding from Powys County Council, Shropshire Union Canal Society, Inland Waterways Association, and the Friends of the Montgomery Canal.
