Led to former volunteers

THE discovery of a stone inscription on a canal lock in Newbury on the Kennet & Avon Canal has led 40 years later to some of the volunteers who restored it, writes Mick Fitzgibbons.

The former group of volunteers spent almost a year restoring Bulls Lock on the canal, and were traced after a plaque was revealed during recent repair works, which had the simple inscription 'Restored by volunteers 1975'.

Dedication

In a throwback to the old canal preservation days and the dedication and hard work of the original canal volunteers 40 years ago. One member of the group, Jan Copley, reminisced about how the lock was cleared of years of detritus:

"We shovelled mud out into buckets, then it was hauled up the side, so we went home pretty disgustingly dirty. Without the canal enthusiasts in the 70s, Bulls Lock wouldn't be here."

The lock was constructed between 1718 and 1723 with the work by volunteers in 1975 costing £4,000. Recent repairs to the lock walls, gates and paddles cost the Trust £120,000.