Restoration in action

Work to bring back more of our historic canals never ends. Today, there are 97 ongoing or potential restoration projects underway in England and Wales, a number of these are being undertaken on our canals, including the Grantham Canal. We visited the beautiful Vale of Belvoir, where volunteers from Grantham Canal Society and Waterway Recovery Group have rebuilt locks 14 and 15 from scratch.

With support from our experts Mark Owen and Karen Rice, and thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, these amazing volunteer groups have brought more of this stunning rural canal back to life. “The first time we went down to the lock and met the Grantham Canal Society volunteers,” says site supervisor Mark Owen, “I thought ‘What the heck have I done’. But they have been absolutely fantastic.” Having worked on waterways for 42 years, Mark was used to repairing locks with a skilled construction team within six weeks. Here were a bunch of keen, eager dentists, scientists and air conditioning engineers. Not a trained bricklayer among them. Project manager, Karen Rice, picks up the story: “During the first few weeks I have an enduring memory of volunteers chomping at the bit needing a lot of training. And when we began to excavate the lock walls, we realised they were

“Mark and Karen have given us focus and continuity between all the different volunteers. They’ve kept us going on the right rails.”

Richard Caunt, Grantham Canal Society volunteer

“A volunteer-led project on this scale was an experiment But we’ve all learned what can be achieved, when we put our minds to it.”

beyond saving. The lock would need rebuilding from the ground up. Very quickly the project was an awful lot bigger than anticipated. Yet here we are today with two brand new locks. Lined with 32,000 perfectly straight bricks, supported by more than 600 cubic metres of concrete. It has been entirely put together by 440 different volunteers, who generously gave over 63,000 hours of their free time.”

We asked Karen for her highlights. “Oh, the official opening of lock 15, when the first boat in 90 years went through, passing many of the volunteers and staff involved. As much as the lock itself, it’s the impact on the people. It’s changed us all. Many of the volunteers are recently retired, so that sense of still being a team is vital.”

Dave Lane is one of those many volunteers who just happens to be working on the lock today. He says: “Proud? Yes, of course we are. When you think that on average, most of us are aged 70 plus, it’s an amazing achievement.” We ask Dave and his volunteering colleague Richard Caunt, what’s next. And it turns out there is another pair of locks, numbers 12 and 13, that need another £1million of investment to bring them back into use. “Having built lock 15, restoring lock 14 was easier,” says Dave. “But the concerning thing is if we don’t get more funding soon, at our age, you could lose all the skill base that’s been built up for the last five years. Far better if we can move straight on to lock 13, keep the teams together and the momentum going.” In the meantime, the volunteers are keeping busy by reconstructing a nearby slipway and carrying out a variety of restoration, repair and maintenance projects along the canal. Having helped secure the original funding for the restoration of locks 14 and 15, we will use your vital support to continue to help the Grantham Canal Society keep the restoration moving ahead. But let’s return to Mark for one final reflection: “The old locks have been here 200 years. And now these new ones will be here for another 200 years. So that’s our legacy, isn’t it?”

“Honestly, we’ve enjoyed ourselves. The one thing you miss when you pack up work is the camaraderie. The team of friends.” “It might have taken five years to complete, but they’ve been a great bunch and have done a wonderful job.”

Mark Owen, Canal & River Trust site supervisor