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Extract from Newsletter No.30. Autumn 2009.

Page 20        Friends of the Montgomery Canal

Welshpool's Big Dig 40th Anniversary Celebrations

The Friends of the Montgomery Canal are organising celebrations in Welshpool for the 40th anniversary of the 'Big Dig' (originally known as the 'Welshpool Weekend').

In 1969, the canal was threatened by oblivion under the proposed Welshpool bypass route and so, after much planning, 200-300 volunteers from the Shropshire Union Canal Society and the Inland Waterways Association, as well as from the Welshpool area, descended on the town on 18th/19th October 1969 and shovelled out tons of mud from the Town Lock and nearby canal bed to demonstrate the viability of the canal. This 'Big Dig1 or 'Operation Mudsplash' was the seminal event which physically kick-started the restoration of the Montgomery Canal.

The celebrations in Welshpool will be from 1pm till 4pm on Saturday 17th October and are planned to include a gathering of boats at the Town Wharf, where stalls and children's activities are also planned, the VIP unveiling of a plaque at the Town Lock followed by a procession of boats, small and large led by the Mayor of Welshpool in a cruiser. This will be a re-enactment of the cruiser ride by the then Mayor of Welshpool on Sunday 19th October 1969 when a section of the canal north of the Town Lock had been successfully cleared and rewatered.

Boats of all descriptions are expected to be there, from visiting trailable steamboats and a caraboat to the local 'landlocked' cruisers, horsedrawn boat, steam launch and narrowboats - and Heulwen Trust boats will be offering public trips. The wharfside will be alive with the sounds of a jazz group and handmade foghorns (one of the popular children's WoW activities). Canal and other organisations will have sales and information stalls, with opportunities to buy and make canal art and craftware. Photographic displays of the Big Dig and more recent restoration progress will be at the Wharf and by the canalside Powysland Museum.

ME

Extract from Newsletter No. 29 . Summer 2009.

Page 10

A busy time

Once again it is a busy time on the Montgomery Canal.

Montgomery Canal Forum

On 1st June the Montgomery Canal Forum in Welshpool was an opportunity to consider the way the canal should be restored. The meeting was entitled How do we restore a heritage canal? and the strapline was: Box culverts or brick bridges? Plastic liner or clay puddle? Where does "heritage" stop?

The discussion was led by a panel consisting of Tony Lewery (author, artist and designer), John Yates (English Heritage), Peter Birch (BW Wales & Border Counties Environment & Heritage Manager) and Stephen Lees.

Many of the people there will be reading these notes: and those of you who were not there missed an interesting discussion. Talk ebbed and flowed between the purist historical approach and a more pragmatic attitude seeking to balance competing issues. Added into the mix is the need for new work to be robust, where the canal was probably built on the cheap, when materials were limited and labour was plentiful; and the fact that the canal was built for horse-boats, where today's propellers create strains the historic canal never had to cope with. The conclusion was that we all care for the heritage of the canal, but that sometimes — particularly if the traditional appearance is retained, for example with brickwork in front of reinforced concrete — restoration has to accommodate modern needs and demands.

Elections in Shropshire

On 4 June Shropshire elected councillors to the new unitary council. All 229 candidates received a letter asking for their support for the restoration and there were many positive responses, from right across the political spectrum! Now we shall seek to engage with the Shropshire Council: if the volunteers can get to Crickheath, and they should, there are only 2 1/2 miles to finish off the canal in England.

(ML)

Extracts from Newsletter No. 28 . Spring 2009.

New  Things to See and Sit on.

  Restoring a canal these days is not just about making sure that the channel is watertight so that boats can cruise up and down, its also about making sure that the canal and its environment is interesting, safe and welcoming to all the other users of this great resource.

   To this end British Waterways and the Canal's supporters have been working away at making the canal more welcoming for walkers.

  Works of art are to be found alongside the canal in a number of places and although many of us may not agree with the subject, the site or the definition, they are there for all to see and hopefully enjoy. And its not just see and sit on either, that was just an attempt at a snappy title; the towpath has been improved and resurfaced in many places, making the walking easier and giving better access to less able walkers and in some places, to wheel chairs.

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 Enjoy the canal from the water.

If you don't have a boat of your own you can borrow a canoe from The Friends.

(See the “Friends” Web- Page for contact names and numbers for canoe hire.)

(Note by the web-master.)

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Extract from Newsletter No. 27. Winter 2008.

From the Editor

    It's all a bit of an anticlimax after the main events of Monty '08 and even the Indian Summer we caught sight of in October and November hasn't quite lifted the gloom.  

     However, the lack of a restoration update from Stephen Lees doesn't mean that nothing is happening on the canal, just that the main funding initiatives are on hold.

     The main thrust of hands-on restoration is yet again that of our good friends and colleagues at the Shropshire Union Canal Society who, under the guidance of Mike Friend are still grafting away just beyond Redwith Bridge building yard upon yard of stone wall as they head towards Price's Bridge.

     Latest reports confirm that over 50% of the work is complete. Not surprising when you hear that the record number of volunteers, 47 over one November weekend, have turned up to do everything from brewing tea to hauling huge lumps of limestone into position - and in the cold and rain at that!

     We should be thinking about minting Campaign Medals for them! And, talking of medals we should offer at least one to Alan Hill, who together with friends from the Duchess Countess Trust have scraped and pressure washed the hull of <SW Buck and readied her for another few years of boat trips at Llanymynech.

                                   Contact me on 01691 772089 or mobile on 07968226382

                                                                                 Or:-

       Mike Friend on 01948 880723 if you can spare an hour or two for any volunteer activities.

                         Oh yes, and I wish you a Good Christmas and a Happy New year!

                                                                                                                                                                                                   Andy.