SEVENTY people attended the Montgomery Canal Forum organised by the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust.
This was hosted by the Aico Centre of Excellence on the outskirts of Oswestry on Wednesday 21st June 2023.
Year of successes
In a year of successes for the Montgomery Canal the forum showed what has been happening on the canal and what is planned for the future. Already this year:
a new length of canal in Shropshire has extended the length of canal connected to the national canal network
work has started in Powys on work funded by £15.4 million pound grants from the UK government Levelling-Up projects in Powys.
contractors have started the reconstruction of Schoolhouse Bridge, the last highway blockage in Shropshire, funded by private donations and grants from charitable trusts
the Montgomery Canal Triathlon was supported by the athletic and many families from across Great Britain raising more funds for the restoration
and a new the new Restore the Montgomery Canal! appeal has been launched for the next stages of restoration in Shropshire.
Attend
The forum was opened by the Mayor of Oswestry, Cllr Olly Rose, and was attended by representatives of county, town, community and parish councils from Shropshire and Powys and supporters of the canal.
Presentations included:
an update by Michael Limbrey, Chairman of the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust, showing what the restored canal can bring the area: safeguards for the natural and built heritage, opportunities for recreation and volunteering, benefits for communities and for the local economy bringing visitors and boats to the revived canal
a Shropshire Union Canal Society report of their volunteers’ successful completion—on budget and on time —of the canal to the new terminus at Crickheath through the challenges of wet ground and subsidence
a second report of the Shropshire Union Canal Society’s new project to restore the canal south of Crickheath starting with the repair of a former tramway wharf wall before testing the condition of the canal bed to determine the design and specification for re-watering
the Levelling-Up programme set out by Rich Harrison, Principal Project Manager for the Canal & River Trust, involving repairs to Aberbechan aqueduct, Newtown, new nature reserves, four miles of bank and dredging works between Arddleen and Llanymynech, and new bridges near Llanymynech
finally Michael Haig, Chairman of the Shrewsbury District & North Wales branch of the Inland Waterways Association outlined the benefits of canals demonstrated in the new IWA report Waterways for Today—for the local economy, for the natural and built environment, for local communities and the improvement of peoples’ lives—and then he explained how all our public navigation authorities are chronically underfunded which is leading waterway organisations to combine to promote a ‘Protect our Waterways’ campaign.
Landmark year
Reviewing the Forum, Michael Limbrey explained:
‘This really is a landmark year for the Montgomery Canal. We have seen the opening of a new section of canal after seven years’ amazing work by volunteers, the start of a bridge reconstruction entirely funded by private donations, and the first of a hugely important programme of works on the Welsh sections of the canal. This has involved volunteers who have come from right across the country to join work parties, supporters right across the country who have made donations and, last month, families and the more athletic who came from far and wide to join the popular Montgomery Canal Triathlon.
“We now have a new appeal to give vital support the volunteers as they extend the restoration from Crickheath and I am delighted that many donations have already been paid to https://localgiving.org/charity/restorethemontgomerycanal/ .
“All this shows that an amazing level of support across the country for a canal with social, environmental and economic benefits that will be an asset valued by residents and visitors. That is what so many people have worked for so long to achieve and that has to be great news for the borderlands of Shropshire and Powys.”
At the Montgomery Canal Forum on 21st June it was announced that Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, had accepted an appointment as Vice-President of the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust.
Worked for over 40 years
Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust Chairman Michael Limbrey told,
“The Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust has worked for over forty years to secure a future for the canal as a vibrant, living asset for the community of the Shropshire and Powys border. We have been privileged through those years to have the support of Members of Parliament and the Welsh Senedd and I am delighted that Helen Morgan has agreed to join their ranks.”
Helen Morgan replied:
“Visiting and seeing the result up close brought home for me how hard the team have been working, and how much of an asset this is for the Shropshire and Powys Marches.
“It is a real privilege to get on board as Vice-President of the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust, and I look forward to continuing to actively support the great work being done by the partnership.”
Vice presidents
Other Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust Vice-Presidents are Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams and two of his predecessors Lord Carlile of Berriew KC and Glyn Davies, Russell George Senedd Member for Montgomeryshire, suicide prevention campaigner and former MP Owen Paterson and canal TV stars Timothy West and Prunella Scales.
At the Forum Michael Haig awarded the Tetlow Cup to David Carter and Tom Fulda of Shropshire Union Canal Society on behalf of all their work party volunteers (pictured). The cup is the Inland Waterways Association North-West Region’s award for outstanding services to the waterways.
Michael Haig enthused:
“The Shropshire Union Canal Society and its volunteers are worthy winners for their heroic work over eight years to complete the restoration from Pryce’s Bridge to Crickheath. Those of us lucky enough to be at the re-opening ceremony in early June will always carry with us the memories of that fantastic event.”
Shropshire Union Canal Society chair David Carter added:
“Our volunteers have worked tirelessly for eight years on a very complicated piece of construction work of a type not normally done by volunteers. In doing so they have overcome a whole range of ecological, construction and logistical challenges. That they managed to complete the work to deadline, on budget and safely is to their very great credit.”