Trust welcomes £2.53m Lottery grant for Montgomery Canal
Plans to restore a further part of the Montgomery Canal is to get underway thanks to a £2.53m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund announced today.
Plans to restore one of Britain’s most picturesque canals received a major boost today with the announcement that £4.2m of work to restore a further part of the Montgomery Canal is to get underway thanks to a £2.53m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
The bid, led by the Canal & River Trust - the charity that cares for 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales - and supported by the Montgomery Canal Partnership, is a major step forward in the 47-year restoration of the historic canal. About 50% of the canal has already been restored.
With the help of volunteers, work is due to start in 2017 and should be completed in 2020. It will see a further 1¼ miles of the canal and a ‘winding hole’ (turning point for narrowboats) reopen to Crickheath, Shropshire. It will also improve access to the canal, create new nature reserves (needed in view of Site of Special Scientific Interest aspects) and improve almost 4 miles of towpath between Welshpool and Llanymynech on the English border.
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.
Known for its outstanding natural beauty and heritage, the Montgomery Canal runs for 35 miles between England and Wales. The canal is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in parts of England and as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and also a Special Area of Conservation for the whole length in Wales for its abundance of aquatic plants.
Richard Parry, chief executive of the Canal & River Trust said:
“This is fantastic news. We are delighted to be awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant. 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. The Partnership aims to restore the canal fully within the next decade as a haven for people and nature. This work will bring canal boats back to Crickheath for the first time in over 80 years.
John Dodwell, chair of the Montgomery Canal Partnership comments:
“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. The funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund will allow us to further tell the story of the canal and get more people from the local community involved in once again bringing it back to life.”
Michael Limbrey, Chairman of the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust, said:
"We are delighted with the news of this grant for the project to reopen another length of the Montgomery Canal.
"Many thanks are due to Canal & River Trust team which has worked over several years to achieve success with this bid. There is a lot of competition for lottery funding and to achieve success you have to look for the best results for the restoration while meeting the funder's standards. You also have to manage the costs and ensure public support for your plans.
"The restoration of the Montgomery Canal is a project which has been supported for many years by local communities and waterway enthusiasts from across the country. Locally the Friends of the Montgomery Canal and the local branch of the Inland Waterways Association have been a focus for that support with events and activities to promote the revival of the canal. Their events such as the Montgomery Canal Triathlon bring visitors from far and wide who enjoy the canal and discover the borderland area it passes through: plans are now well in hand for next year's Triathlon on 6th May.
"The lottery project includes the restoration of the next length of the canal to Crickheath in Shropshire, continuing the achievements of the volunteer work parties of Shropshire Union Canal Society over the last few years. Their contribution has been matched more recently by local adoption groups which help to maintain the canal.
"Our ambition is to bring boats back to Welshpool in ten years, so that mid-Wales will again be joined to the 2000-mile national canal network, adding to the attraction of the area for visitors and providing an amenity for residents and opportunities for businesses and jobs."
Vanessa Harbar, Head of HLF West Midlands said:
“Thanks to National Lottery players, this project has a £2.53m grant confirmed and can now go ahead. The restoration of the Montgomery Canal will see a real boost to Shropshire’s biodiversity, its nature reserves and waterways, and the strong community partnerships that have made this scheme possible.”
