montgomery special

We’ve dedicated 9 pages to the Montgomery Canal to mark the completion and Restore more of the Montgomery Canal

WRG’s connection to the Montgomery Canal goes back to the very start of restoration: just look at Navvies 21 and 22! [ See below] WRG transformed Frankton Locks and Aston Locks and more recently helped preparation at Schoolhouse Bridge. Today some 60% of the Canal’s 35 miles are open: an isolated 12 mile section through Welshpool in mid-Wales and eight miles in Shropshire south from the Llangollen Canal at Welsh Frankton.

Progress in 2023:

· Reopening to Crickheath Basin (June 2) celebrated the achievement of Shropshire Union Canal Society volunteers who rebuilt the Canal across a peat bog (as reported in Navvies): now eight miles in Shropshire are part of the national network.

· Starting the reconstruction of Schoolhouse Bridge (the last highway obstacle in Shropshire), due to be completed by the autumn.

· Dredging at Llanymynech started work in Powys funded by the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.

Mont Memories:

The above brief report from Navvies Notebook issue 21 of the Welshpool ‘Big Dig’ in 1969, which helped to fight off a threat from a new road scheme and kickstart the Montgomery Canal restoration, represents one of the canal’s earliest appearances in this magazine