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MONTGOMERY WATERWAY RESTORATION TRUST YMDDIRIEDOLAETH ADFER CAMLAS MALDWYN —in partnership to promote the restoration and development of the Montgomery Canal in England and Wales— PRESS RELEASE Waterway Recovery Group Volunteers complete four work camps Over the last four weeks, volunteers of the Waterway Recovery Group have made great progress with their project to waterproof a further section of the Montgomery Canal. For the four weeks to 3rd September, 100 volunteers, aged between 20 and 70, have come to Shropshire from all across the country, from Scotland to the south coast of England, France and Spain. While some of the volunteers have worked on canal restoration before, some for many years, others have been newcomers to canal restoration. Volunteers who came without skills were taught using Waterway Recovery Group's own training programme, learning perhaps to use the large excavators and dumpers used on the site. Using large tracked diggers the volunteers have cleared and reshaped 70 metres of the bed of the canal which had been dry and derelict for over sixty years. For 20 metres of this they then laid a waterproof lining of geotextile and clay on cushioning fabric, finishing with a protective covering of soil and concrete blocks. The canal bed is then watertight and will remain so even if there is any movement or settlement in the soft ground under the canal bed. This has been a novel method of canal restoration, and these four weeks have been used to develop a practical and economical system, suitable for volunteers, which will work on the peaty ground at Crickheath, and which can be used further down the canal and on other restorations in other parts of the country. The work has been funded by a legacy left to the Inland Waterways Association. Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust Chairman Michael Limbrey said, “I has been very exciting to see all the volunteers have achieved in these four weeks. They have had to learn how to profile the canal bed, to install the waterproof lining, and then to lay the protective covering. At each stage, they have learned the best way to work, so that when they return, work can be quicker and even more of the canal bed can be prepared. “Through the years of restoration of the Montgomery Canal, the work of volunteers has been very valuable. They come from all over the country, and they even pay to come! The achievement of their effort over these four weeks has been to provide a method to rebuild a canal over difficult ground, cheaply and simply. “This year's project is being paid for by a generous legacy left to the Inland Waterways Association. We are of course grateful to the member who left money to the Association and to the Association for supporting the Montgomery Canal with it, particularly as so many waterway restorations would have been competing for such support. It was another such legacy which paid for the Aston Nature Reserve near Queen's Head, and led to the opening of the canal to Maesbury, enjoyed now buy so many visitors. “This length of canal is a vital link in extending the navigation. The canal from Maesbury to Redwith was restored some years ago, but cannot be used yet as there is nowhere wide enough to turn a boat. This length below Redwith leads to the next turning place, at Crickheath, and that is why volunteers of Shropshire Union Canal Society and Waterway Recovery Group are putting so much effort into overcoming so many years of dereliction. “When we can bring boats to Crickheath, then there are just three more miles to the border at Llanymynech. “We hope that Waterway Recovery Group will be able to return to Shropshire next year, to carry on the good work, but we shall have to find the funds first!” END FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Contact –
Michael Limbrey, Chairman, Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust. Greenfields, Weston Lane, Oswestry. Tel: 01691 654081 – Alan Jervis, Restoration Director, Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust Tel: mobile 07968 586326
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