Volunteers of Waterway Recovery Group have returned to the Montgomery Canal to tackle
another obstruction.
The canal was closed in 1936 and formally abandoned by Act of Parliament in 1944. In
the years that followed, the canal was obstructed in many places, bridges were dropped and
lengths of the canal simply dried out. Many obstructions have been removed in the
years of restoration and now half the canal is open for boating.
At Pant, the railway bridge across the canal was replaced by an embankment which
will have to be removed if boats are to reach Llanymynech once more.
The team from Waterway Recovery Group spent the weekend investigating the embankment,
clearing vegetation and discovering the remains if the old bridge, to see what will
be involved in clearing the line of the canal.
Michael Limbrey, Chairman of the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust, welcomed
the further visit by Waterway Recovery Group. He said, "Volunteers of the Waterway
Recovery Group of the Inland Waterways Association have been involved in the restoration
of the Montgomery Canal for over forty years.
"This latest visit brought volunteers from as far as Chesterfield, Manchester and
Watford, who have all worked on the canal before. They have spent the weekend investigating
the railway embankment at Pant, and we hope this will mean that it can be removed
in the near future.
"One thing we do not know is when the railway bridge was replaced by the embankment,
and we would be interested to hear from anyone who knows anything of the story of
the canal in Pant.
"Further up the canal, volunteers of Shropshire Union Canal Society have nearly completed
their project to restore the canal channel at Redwith. And we have recently had
the good news that the Heritage Lottery Fund are supporting a project which includes
re opening the canal to Crickheath, the next point at which boats can turn. If we
are successful in funding that project, there will only be a couple of miles to restore,
including this railway embankment, to finish the restoration in England by reaching
Llanymynech which will be a real destination for the many people who already visit
the Montgomery Canal."
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION Please contact –
Michael Limbrey Greenfields, Weston Lane, Oswestry, Salop. SY11 2BD 01691 654081