Boost for canal restoration near Newport
Volunteer canal restorers from across the UK are spending a week on the derelict Shrewsbury & Newport Canal at two sites near Newport.
The Waterways Recovery Group of the Inland Waterways Association intends to re-profile and re-line a 130 metre length of canal bed Forton's skew bridge and aqueduct in preparation for re-watering. The canal had dried up and become totally overgrown since its official abandonment in 1944.
Michael Limbrey, Chairman of the Shrewsbury District & North Wales Branch of Inland Waterways Association was invited by Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust to formally cut the first sod.
He said: "Our local Inland Waterways Association Branch is delighted that Waterways Recovery Group are back in our area for a second year in succession and we have been able to provide some £450 of financial assistance for the camp as well as 16 rolls of flexible liner which was surplus on other works."
The week-long Waterways Recovery Group camp is being led by Nigel Lee from Portsmouth who has been involved in similar events over the past 13 years. He has been joined by 19 Waterways Recovery Group volunteers from across the UK plus some local Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust members. The team is also working on another site which involves the installation of a footbridge across the lock at Meretown and stonework repairs to the lock's walls. The camp ends on 29 August 2015.
