Historic Ashby Canal gets a winter makeover
£300,000 investment programme for canal
A £200,000 investment programme will see parts of the Ashby Canal spruced up in time for next spring.
The Canal and River Trust, which looks after 2,000 miles of historic waterways in England and Wales, is embarking on a five-month winter maintenance programme.
The works, taking place until the end of February, will see skilled craftsmen painstakingly repairing historic locks and canal walls.
The works have started with repairs to the canal wall near Stoke Golding on the Ashby Canal and more works to the canal bank will be taking place near Sutton Cheney. There are also some plans to repair a drainage culvert near Snarestone.
Along with the Ashby Canal the charity is looking to renovate other stretches in Leicestershire, on the River Soar and the Grand Union Canal.
Locks will be upgraded and sluices and repaired.
Sean McGinley, waterway manager for the Trust, said; “Leicestershire’s waterways are an important part of the area’s rich heritage and each year are enjoyed by thousands of people either on the water or the towpath.
“These works are all about caring for the waterways so that they can continue to play an important role in people’s daily lives for many years to come.
“If we didn’t carry out works such as these then boats couldn’t visit the area and local people wouldn’t have a safe, enjoyable place to get away from it all.
“Over the next few months our engineers and heritage experts will be braving the cold to give the canal the painstaking care and attention it deserves.”
The Canal and River Trust carries out a year-round programme of works to maintain and repair the 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in its care so they can be enjoyed by the 33,000 boats and 10 million towpath visitors each year.
Many of the biggest projects are carried out during the winter months to minimise the impact on waterway users.