TV stars back final push for Schoolhouse Bridge appeal

Anonymous donor offers to match-fund every £1

CELEBRITIES Timothy West and Prunella Scales, keen boaters who have starred in TV programmes about their narrowboat travels, are giving their support to a final appeal for the reconstruction of the Montgomery Canal’s Schoolhouse Bridge this year.

The latest appeal by Restore the Montgomery Canal! team, made necessary by rising costs after the delays of Covid, will be boosted by a supporter who will once again match every £1 donated.

Schoolhouse Bridge, on the last two miles of dry canal on the English side of the border, is the last highway blockage in Shropshire.

In Wales, recently announced UK Government grants will accelerate the reopening of the canal from the border to the isolated navigable section through Welshpool in Mid-Wales.

Michael Limbrey, chairman of the Restore the Montgomery Canal! group, said: “The rebuilding of Schoolhouse Bridge will be one of the most exciting projects on the Montgomery Canal.

“We have to close a public road, dig out the 1960s embankment across the canal, construct a new arched bridge and open the road again – all in a few months!

“Our volunteer team has worked hard for five years to get the engineering and legal approvals. This has not been made any easier by the uncertainties and delays of the coronavirus pandemic. And now we are ready we find that the cost of everything is going up.”

He continued: “Our appeal for Schoolhouse Bridge has had the most amazing support, raising more than £ 500,000 with one- off gifts, monthly donations and added payments from companies and trusts.

“Now on this final appeal a generous supporter, wishing to remain anonymous, is offering to match every pound we raise up to £50,000.

“If you add the Gift Aid tax rebate of 25p for each £1, a £10 donation becomes £22.50 and a gift of £25 benefits the appeal by no less than £56.25.”

Michae l explained: “Schoolhouse Bridge is the main obstacle between Crickheath Basin, restored under a lottery project before lockdowns started and the Welsh border at Llanymynech.

As we could not see how the bridge would be rebuilt in the near future we decided to do it ourselves.

“Our volunteers prepared the design, the Canal & River Trust assisted with the planning permission – for which we are most grateful – and Shropshire Council has been most supportive in accommodating a project which must have been unlike any they had dealt with before.”

Michael added: “When the volunteers of the Shropshire Union Canal Society reach Crickheath Basin – hopefully later this year – there will just be two miles of derelict canal to Llanymynech and we are working with Shropshire Council to make sure we have all the information for funding restoration of that section.

“After interruptions of the last year or two, we now have to finish raising those funds for the bridge.

“Donations can be made through our Local Giving page www.localgiving.org/charity/ restorethe montgomerycanal.”

The Montgomery Canal passes through some of the most picturesque countryside on the borders of Wales and England.