WORK being carried out by the Shropshire Union Canal Society to restore part of the Montgomery Canal continues apace. Lucy Wood brings us up to speed
The society’s regular working parties are currently focused on the Crickheath South project to restore the dry channel between Crickheath Bridge (bridge 85) at Crickheath Basin and Schoolhouse Bridge (bridge 86) at Long Lane, a distance of 750m.
As reported in previous issues of Towpath Talk, over the years a wide variety of enhancement and restoration activities have been undertaken, from towpath and mooring improvements to rebuilding locks and restoring disused channels.
In 2022, the society completed restoration of the Montgomery Canal between Pryces Bridge and Crickheath Basin, a major undertaking over seven years that added a further 1¼ miles of navigation to the national network when it officially opened in June 2023.
A further two miles of dry channel restoration remains before the restored canal at Llanymynech is reached – the Shropshire Gap. For first time in more than 100 years, it will then be possible to navigate from the national network to the Montgomery Canal in Wales.
The current phase of works continues the channel restoration from Crickheath Basin to Schoolhouse Bridge. In the latest working party report, project manager Tom Fulda said it was another “highly productive” session, helped by the prolonged dry and sunny spell. “Profiling, lining and blocking continued to be the main event but as usual, a variety of other tasks were undertaken,” he added.
The report read: “Working back towards the previously re-watered section, the channel widens considerably on a bend. When we started lining this current section, lengths of liner about 8.5 metres long were sufficient to cover the channel from side to side. This work party finished with 14m lengths being used and we haven’t yet reached the widest point. Regular adjustments are therefore made to keep the nib at the top of the blocks just below water level.
“As the channel widens there is space again to incorporate the soft bank design on the offside. Twenty metres of the first course of hollow blocks were installed. A significant volume of soil is required to infill behind the hollow block retaining wall and this has already been positioned above the liner, ready for infilling when the retaining wall has been completed.
“In total, 102 metres of this section have now been lined and blocked, and the towpath bank has been completed above water level by covering the liners with riprap then soil. Soil covering for the offside bank waits for another occasion.”
A variety of other tasks were undertaken including fixing some leaks around a temporary connecting pipe and knocking down weed growth on the spoil heap in the compound and elsewhere.
“Next work party, it will be time to remove the temporary dam separating this site from the re-watered section (having first de-watered the re-watered section!) in order to profile the channel in this area and start lining,” the report concluded.For more information about the project and the society, visit https://shropshireunion.org.uk
