Progress Montgomery Canal

Culmination of Shropshire Union Canal Society’s long-running project to rebuild the channel to Crickheath - in time for an April 2023 opening

Montgomery Canal

Early October update: “Shropshire Union triumphant - the ‘Golden Block’ ceremony awaits” The first work party in October saw another herculean effort by volunteers of the Shropshire Union Canal Society who have been working to restore a

600 metre section of derelict canal between Pryces Bridge and Crickheath Bridge near Llanymynech since 2015.

The Heritage Lottery Funding that has enabled the work to be done expired in October, hence the absolute need to finish the task within the month.

The complicated task of removing the clay dam that had retained thousands of gallons of water in Crickheath Basin began following the installation of a temporary synthetic dam behind the existing clay structure. This was commissioned by Canal & River Trust and put in place by contractors which then enabled hundreds of tonnes of clay to be taken out. This revealed the concrete section of the basin to which waterproofing liner was then attached.

After the removal and final shaping of the last ten metres of channel the following three hours saw a frantic effort to lay down four layers of waterproofing liner and cover three quarters of it with 1,000 building blocks to weigh it down.

Stone was then applied to the top metre of a 200 metre length on the offside of the channel, half of which was then dressed with soil and seeded to encourage the growth of vegetation. A further task was to remove 300 metres of existing newt exclusion fencing to restore the towpath side to its natural condition.

The pristine snaking path of the lined channel and restored towpath has progressively been a source of great interest and amazement to local residents and walkers alike.

The next work party would see the final 200 blocks put down including the prestigious “Golden Block” to mark the end of a remarkable chapter in the history of the restoration of the beautiful Montgomery Canal.

Late October update: “There’s gold in that thar canal...” After seven years battling to restore another 600 metres of the Montgomery Canal the volunteers of the Shropshire Union Canal Society were finally able to see all of their hard work meet a fitting conclusion, with a brief ceremony in the restored channel at Crickheath Basin.

A “ Golden Block “ was the last piece of the lining jigsaw to be fitted into place .

Interested spectators had gathered on the newly restored towpath to hear Project Manager David Carter praise his team of volunteers for their stoic efforts, dealing with adverse weather and incredibly difficult sections of subsidence, over the duration of the project.

He also thanked Canal & River Trust for its total package of support; the National Lottery for the award of £2.59m which funded operations; Arcadis, the firm of Consultants that produced the designs for the reconstruction; and Lloyds Animal Feeds, who have provided accommodation for the working compound since the start.

Following the completion of the channel on the Friday, the emphasis then moved back to the starting point at Price’s Bridge on the Saturday, when two of the stop planks which have been retaining water in the channel leading down from Frankton Locks were opened slightly, to allow water to begin to flood this new section.

This re-watering was in readiness for the introduction of a small dredger at the next Work Party in November, which was to be used to carefully remove any remnants of the clay dams that had been in place at opposite ends of the 600 metres since 2015. When this stretch of canal is official ly opened in April next year it will link the winding hole at Crickheath Basin that was restored by CRT in 2018 to the national network, enabling boats to turn round here and bringing visitors to the local community.

All of the machines used, and materials needed over the seven years have been mostly sourced from local suppliers, which has greatly benefitted sections of the local community.

Early November update: “The ‘TIGHTANIC’ Floats on the Monty” The SUCS volunteers finally saw the fruition of seven years of toil on arrival at the Friday session of the first work party in November. CRT had commissioned a dredger and barge which after some very, very, tight manoeuvres to get them on site were eventually craned into the 600 metres of restored channel on the Montgomery Canal near Crickheath which is now full of water and looks like a canal, rather than a construction site. The volunteers christened the dredger Tightanic owing to the problems encountered during delivery with the very narrow access to the launch site.

This is probably the first time for 80 years that a working boat has operated in this stretch of canal.

The vessels were hauled with ropes by the volunteers from the launch site at Crickheath Basin to Prices Bridge at the other end of channel. A small digger mounted on the dredger was used to remove the clay dam at Prices Bridge to expose all of the stop planks that had been holding back water from the national network. The clay was then deposited into the barge which was then towed back to Crickheath by the volunteers. The clay was then removed from the barge by an onshore digger and stored for further use.

CRT acknowledges that this has been one of the most challenging situations to be tackled by a volunteer group due to subsidence, related geological issues, and ground conditions.

Advanced planning is taking place, for our next Project beyond Crickheath Bridge. The Preliminary work of constructing a site compound and fencing was completed at the end of September.

Main channel work will begin in January 2023, to link with the new Schoolhouse Bridge, which should be reinstated by the Restore the Montgomery Group by next year. We are always looking to encourage new volunteers, and also new members, to join us.