Shropshire: Progress made during restorations of Montgomery Canal

Shropshire Union Canal volunteers have been busy working near Crickheath Bridge near Oswestry, including a four-day weekend that culminated in the Big Help Out to mark King Charles' coronation.

The variable weather conditions saw the work done this month being spread across a wide variety of activities – the one constant being the incredible output and progress made.

Work commenced on the towpath improvements next to Crickheath Bridge which are supported by a grant from the parish council.

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The finished specification for the towpath will be resolved when this area is completed, but this new surface provides a level, self-draining path in the meantime, by removing trip hazards from mud and tree roots.

The Wharf Dry Stone Wall restoration (Image: SUCS Publicity)

A spokesperson from the Shropshire Union Canal Volunteers: “On this occasion, a four-day work party had been organised to include bank holiday Monday featuring, ‘The Coronation Big Help Out’ event.

“It was by no means certain the works would be finished in this time – in the event, the towpath improvements were completed in barely more than two days.”

They added: “A remarkable effort and compliments resounded from passing pedestrians and cyclists.

“Much time and effort was spent during this work party tidying up of the previous works compound by Crickheath Basin, two large soil heaps were levelled.”

The 250 metres of new Towpath (Image: SUCS Publicity)

Repairs to the wharf wall continued and received considerable focus.

“This is no small task and will feature in many future reports, but here again great progress was made with a good number of the society’s regular volunteers getting involved and picking up skills from the expert Dry Stone Walling Association volunteers”, they added.

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The tree stump saga will continue as during this work party a substantial quantity was sawn off – but it is still a daunting size.

With several other tidying up jobs completed on day four the opportunity was taken to reflect on the progress made.