Delight as Montgomery Canal restoration secures £15.4 million funding
ORGANISATIONS working hard to restore the Montgomery Canal are celebrating after the UK Government announced £15.4 million of Levelling Up funding towards the project.
The funding, announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his recent Budget speech, will bring the realisation of an ambition to restore the canal to the national network another step closer.
Describing it as a “milestone day”, Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams said: “This will transform Montgomeryshire’s economy in opening up so many opportunities and will finally see one of the UK’s most picturesque attractions returned to its former glory.”
The money will be invested in restoring navigation to most of a 4.4-mile section of the canal from the English border at Llanymynech to Arddleen, near Welshpool.
The successful bid for Levelling Up funding was made by Powys County Council, supported by the Canal & River Trust.
Montgomery Canal Partnership’s chair John Dodwell and Michael Limbrey, Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust chairman, were both delighted with the news and thanked Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams for his support.
“This is extremely good news, “said Mr Dodwell. “We are very grateful to Craig Williams, MP, for his enormous support and encouragement. We are also hugely appreciative of the support from Coun Rosemarie Harris and her colleagues and staff at Powys County Council.
“It’s also a vindication for Russell George, MS for Montgomeryshire, for his help down the years, and we couldn’t have got this far without the great help from the staff at Canal & River Trust.”
He continued: “The canal’s restoration will be of enormous benefit to the community and so it’s appropriate that we have had support from Welshpool Town Council and other councils.
“As there will no doubt be terms and conditions attached to the £15.4m grant, the detailed hard work starts now!”
Mr Limbrey said: “It’s absolutely brilliant news. We are really delighted with the work and support of Craig Williams and the teams at Powys County Council and the Canal & River Trust.
“Having been working to revive the canal into Mid Wales for so many years, this is a great step forward to restoring it to the national network.”
Mr Williams, a passionate supporter of the canal restoration, described the Budget announcement as “a milestone day for Montgomeryshire” after decades of local campaigning by “fantastic volunteers” at the Montgomery Canal Partnership and Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust.
“This wil l t ransform Montgomeryshire’s economy in opening up so many opportunities and will finally see one of the UK’s most picturesque attractions returned to its former glory,” he said. “The restoration of the canal will bring real investment, real growth and real jobs to Montgomeryshire’s communities.”
Coun Graham Breeze, a Powys county councillor for Welshpool Llanerchydol Ward, described the announcement as “the best possible news for Welshpool”.
“It’s impossible to calculate the value of this development to Welshpool and the surrounding area,” he said. “Reopening the canal puts Welshpool firmly back on the UK canal network map and will bring tourists flooding into the area with huge economic benefits.
“Powys County Council Cabinet is to be commended for pressing for the levelling-up funding and recognising the importance of opening this stretch of canal.
“But this is just the latest step. Now we have to hope that vital funding from the Mid Wales Growth deal follows to ensure the completion of the project.
“The news is just reward for the scores of volunteers who, for many years, have fought to keep the canal open.”
BRITAIN’S first electrically operated floating swing bridge, Northwich Town Bridge in Cheshire, is swinging again thanks to a £300,000 repair by the Canal & River Trust.
Vital repairs have been made to rebalance the original cantilever rotary mechanism – enabling the 122-year-old bridge to swing open again for boats.
For the last four years, the two-lane road bridge has struggled to open and close successfully and has recently had to remain fixed in position to carry road traffic over the River Weaver Navigation, as part of the busy one-way system around Northwich town centre.
Designed by the Weaver Navigation Company’s engineer Col JA Saner, the 1899 black and white, steel lattice girder bridge originally had wooden decking and weighed about 300 tons. Over the years there have been several modifications to the original design, including the addition of a Tarmac road, which means the rollers and foundation piles are now having to support a moving deck of 460 tons – more than 50% greater than they were designed for.
Simon Harding, project manager with the Canal & River Trust, said: “Town Bridge and its sister structure Hayhurst Swing Bridge in Northwich used groundbreaking technology when they first opened at the turn of the last century. The Weaver Navigation was in constant use by coastal steamers and barges transporting salt, coal and other goods to the River Mersey, Liverpool Docks and beyond.
“River transport was massively more important than road traffic, which was still dominated by the horse and cart at this time. The control cabin was manned 24 hours a day and the bridge was apparently operated more than 55,000 times in the first 15 years. Compare that with today’s largely leisure boating traffic, which requires the bridge to be swung less than 50 times a year, due to the smaller nature of most boats which can safely cruise underneath.”
Simon continued: “The original engineers devised a series of clever adaptations to the bridge to cater for subsidence caused by collapsing salt brine mines. The bridge is partly floating and partly supported on adjustable cast iron screw piles. The water level is maintained by sluices, located away from the subsidence and the screw piles can be raised with adjustable screws. The bridge was powered by electric motors rather than steam to avoid pipes bursting due to the effects of corrosive, salty river water.
“This latest innovative solution to keep the original Victorian mechanism functioning and the swing bridge swinging has been designed by specialist mechanical engineers working with trust staff and Sheffield fabricator, Hadee Engineering Company. It has involved the installation of new large sprung rollers and a circular metal rail. This should now help to keep the bridge swinging on its intended track, prevent further instability and ensure the historic bridge remains operational for many years to come.”
Following completion of the six-week repair project, the bridge can swing again to allow larger vessels to sail through Northwich up river towards Winsford or downstream towards Frodsham and Runcorn.
Boat passage can be booked by ringing the Canal & River Trust on 0303 040 4040.