Lord Lieutenant promises to update King after marking completion of latest canal restoration project
A plaque has been unveiled to mark the £1.1m rebuilding of a canal bridge.
The successful reinstatement of Schoolhouse Bridge on the Montgomery Canal, near Crickheath, was celebrated on Saturday.
A packed ceremony saw Shropshire's Lord Lieutenant, Anna Turner, officially unveil a plaque detailing the efforts undertaken to rebuild the bridge.
The work on the bridge, which was finished earlier this year, removes the last highway blockage on the Montgomery Canal near Crickheath in North Shropshire.
Joining the Lord Lieutenant for the ceremony were a host of guests, including Brian Welti, the High Sheriff of Shropshire; Lezley Picton – the leader of Shropshire Council - councillors; senior officers of the Canal & River Trust; a director of Shrewsbury contractors Beaver Bridges which built the bridge; Mike Wills, National Chairman of the Inland Waterways Association; trustees of Shropshire charity The Walker Trust; and Charles Lillis and Sue Turner – the Sheriffs of Shropshire and Powys respectively when the appeal for the bridge was launched in April 2017.
Speaking at the ceremony John Dodwell, chairman of the Montgomery Canal Partnership, said: “I thank the public at large for donating the money we needed to rebuild this bridge – about £1.1m.
"Special thanks to the Inland Waterways Association for £70,000 from the Tony Harrison Memorial legacy.
"Thank you too to the Walker Trust and to the Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund and to the Millichope Foundation. Thank you also to the Friends of the Montgomery Canal who have contributed over £30,000, largely from their renowned annual triathlons – and the Shropshire Union Canal Society who started the fundraising off with £12,000.
"Thanks to all those who made individual donations – and continue to do. We have one person who donates £5,000 a year and another who donates £100 a month. One person donated £10,000 and others have given £5,000. On top of that, we had the enormous help from an anonymous donor who provided many thousands of pounds."
