This is in connection with a proposal to provide ramp access to the towpath once the current works on the restoration are completed and the compound is decommissioned. Although this might be three years off, CRT are now in the process of agreeing a land swop to facilitate building in the future.

The ramp would provide access from the existing compound access gate next to Schoolhouse Bridge and run alongside the road embankment to the towpath.

Currently, access to the towpath is difficult for those who find using styles and gates difficult and the new ramp will improve access to visitors to the Montgomery Canal.

The full details of the notice can be found on the CRT site – https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/business-and-trade/public-notices.

The post Access ramp for Montgomery Canal appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

The Triathlon takes place on Saturday, September 6 and is organised by the Friends of the Montgomery Canal in support of further restoration of the canal between Shropshire and Powys. The event starts in Newtown and this year, the finish will be Crickheath Bridge, making the event longer than a standard marathon.

Those who enter for the complete Triathlon will:

– cycle 12 miles of towpath from Newtown to Whitehouse Bridge, Welshpool
– canoe 5 miles through Welshpool: there are a couple of locks where help will be available
– run or hike 10 miles from Pool Quay across the border to Crickheath, south of Oswestry.

A spokesman for the Friends of the Montgomery Canal said: “The Montgomery Canal Triathlon is one of the highlights of the year, bringing visitors to see the canal and the borderland of Shropshire and Montgomeryshire. This year there are again entries from people, teams and families who have taken part before, some keen athletes and some coming for a pleasant day out. They come from our local area and from anywhere between the north of England and the Isle of Wight and the south coast.”

Entrants can join one or two sections or take part in all three. Anyone who completes all three sections will receive a commemorative medallion of local slate printed in gold, completing two sections will earn a medallion printed in silver, and there will be a bronze printed medallion for anyone who completes a single section.

Entries can be booked online at https://themontgomerycanal.org.uk/friends/montgomery-canal-triathlon.

Organisers of the Triathlon say that the Montgomery Canal Triathlon is not a race, and entrants of all abilities are welcome.

The post Entries close soon for Montgomery Canal Triathlon appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

If so, organisers are looking for local people to come forward to co-ordinate a bid on behalf of our village.

The Best Kept Village Community Competition aims to develop and highlight a sense of pride amongst local people throughout Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. It illustrates and emphasises how much voluntary work is undertaken to keep our county beautiful and how communities work together to make where they live desirable and a place they are proud to call home.

Organisers The Community Foundation say that entries will be judged on its maintenance, appearance, the community spirit amongst its residents, and how that is evidenced throughout the year via supporting photographs and videos. Judges will take into consideration where an area does not have a certain feature, e.g. a bus shelter, war memorial, large open space, etc. This will be considered when marking, and areas will certainly NOT be at a disadvantage because they do not have BKVC features. 25% of the marks awarded come from the community spirit section of the competition entry from with the other 75% being judged in person when the judges visit.

If you think you could co-ordinate a local entry to Shropshire’s Best Kept Village & Community Competition, you can find out more by visiting the competition website.

https://shropshire.foundation/partnershipsinitiatives/bkvc

The post Best kept village? appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

A six-week consultation runs from Tuesday 9 April to Monday 20 May 2024.

Shropshire Council is proposing to introduce an annual subscription fee of £52 – the equivalent of £1 a week – to collect garden waste from properties in the Shropshire Council area.

The consultation asks people if they would be willing to pay more than £52 a year if the additional money was used to keep all five HRCs open, and for views on whether the opening times of some recycling centres could be reduced.

The consultation also asks for people’s thoughts about a new permit/booking system for people visiting a recycling centre, to help ensure that they are only used by people from Shropshire.

The proposals are being made as Shropshire Council must make £62m of savings in 2024/25 to keep a balanced budget.

Charging for garden waste collections, and closing two of the council’s five Household Recycling Centres, are among proposals approved by councillors as part of Shropshire Council’s budget cuts for 2024/25.

While garden waste collections in Shropshire are currently free, 80% of English councils already charge for this service, and many have been doing so for several years. The average annual fee across the country is £55 a year.

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for waste management, said: “All householders in the area use our waste services and I want to encourage as many people as possible to take part in this consultation.

“Like councils all over the country, Shropshire Council is facing unprecedented financial pressure, mainly due to growing demand for social care and rising costs. Social care now accounts for almost £4 in every £5 of the council’s budget.

“We must make £62m of savings in 2024/25 to keep a balanced budget and our plans include many very difficult decisions, and some that we have never wanted to make. We must look at other ways of creating income so that we can protect essential frontline services for those residents most in need.

“The collection of garden waste is not a service we must provide by law, but is one that we – and we’re sure most residents – would prefer to continue. It’s one that most other council already charge their residents for.

“By charging for garden waste collections, we could continue to provide this service and used the income raised to help support other key services.

“We’re also facing some difficult decisions about the future of our five Household Recycling Centres, and ask that people tell us their thoughts as part of this consultation and how we can reduce the costs of running these.”

To take part in the consultation and find out more go to www.shropshire.gov.uk/gardenwastebudget2024.

The survey will also be available at Oswestry Library.

The post Charges for Garden Waste Collection? appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

Tom Fulda is the voluntary project manager for the current work taking place from Crickheath bridge southwards towards Pant.

We started our walk on the bridge on Penygarreg Lane which crosses over the dry section of the canal and we asked Tom how long it could take to see the canal here with water in it.

“If money were unlimited the stretch to here could be completed in two years,” he promisingly said. “But we all know that money isn’t unlimited and unless the government or another generous funder comes along, it will take much longer.”

We walked down onto the canal towpath with the hedges and trees around turning wonderful browns, oranges and reds.

Joined by his wife Thelma, Tom explains he is keen to see the canal restored as he believes it’s a real benefit to the local community and greatly improves wildlife diversity.

After a couple of minutes we arrive at the site of Schoolhouse Bridge. The bridge isn’t yet open to traffic but it won’t be long now that this obstacle to the canal restoration will be completed. Soon afterwards volunteers will be reinstating the area so that walkers can walk under the bridge.

A few hundred yards on we are just south of Crickheath bridge and we can see an area of work that Tom is justifiable proud.

“A dam across the canal here marks 360 metres from Crickheath bridge and is the next section that people will see in water,” explains Tom.

As we visit, the wet year has filled some of the stretch in with water that gives a tantalising view of how the canal will look – hopefully by spring 2025.

“Work on the repairing the former tramway wharf south of Crickheath Bridge has stopped now until next year,” says Tom, “but you can already get a sense of how the canal will look once we have completed this stretch.”

The other side of the bridge is Crickheath basin which is now accessible to boats from across the canal system.

For everyone involved in the Montgomery Canal restoration, the goal is to open the stretch from here to Llanymynech which will cost several million pounds.

At present there’s no concrete commitment to fund this restoration but locals can see for themselves the major strides that have been taken so far by the many dedicated volunteers.

If you would like to play a part in making the reopened Montgomery Canal a reality, there are many opportunities to get involved and if you can help support the restoration financially, please visit this site.

The post A walk along the Montgomery Canal appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

The concrete panels came precast from Co. Antrim in Northern Ireland and were lifted by crane into position. As they were lifted they formed the necessary arch shape to let boats travel underneath, once the canal restoration reaches that point.

Rebuilding work on the bridge, on Long Lane, started in April of 2023 and a number of people watched the arches being installed. The bridge was blocked many years ago after the canal was abandoned and is the main obstruction on the derelict section to the Welsh border at Llanymynech. To tackle the bridge, local waterway charities came together to organise its reconstruction.

As well as running a series of local and national fund-raising appeals which have raised over £1 million, experienced volunteers prepared the bridge design, obtained all the technical approvals, and negotiated with the Canal & River Trust, Shropshire Council and adjoining landowners for the formal agreements needed for the work.

Work which is needed to complete the bridge includes facing the sides in brickwork and reinstating the roadway, which should be complete by early October.

Schoolhouse Bridge is just one of a number of projects currently taking place on the Montgomery Canal. At Crickheath, Shropshire Union Canal Society volunteers are restoring the stone walls in the wharf and are testing how that section can be brought back into water, while in Wales, Canal & River Trust are working on the canal around Carreghofa, where two new bridges are planned.

Locals interested in supporting the work from Crickheath Wharf to Schoolhouse Bridge financially are being asked to make their donation online here. All donations gratefully received.

The post Canal bridge arches installed appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

The ribbon on the new section was cut from a steam tug carrying VIP passengers including Helen Morgan MP and Shropshire Council leader Lezley Picton. A specially written song about Crickheath Wharf was sung by the Shropshire Boatmen as the ribbon was cut.

The Montgomery Canal closed in the 1930s following a serious breach near Frankton Locks in Shropshire. At a time of dwindling freight traffic, rather than repairing the canal it was officially closed in 1944.

Following decades of decline, the restoration of the canal started with the ‘Big Dig’ in Welshpool in 1969. Since this date, volunteer organisations have been working to reopen the entire 35 miles of canal from the Llangollen Canal via Llanymynech and Welshpool to Newtown.

The work to date has ensured that all 35 miles of towpath are accessible and 60% of the canal has now reopened for boating with 13 miles of canal in the Welshpool area and eight miles in Shropshire now navigable.

Over the last eight years 169 volunteers spent many hundreds of hours restoring the canal and have spent over 300 days relining the canal to make it watertight.

A new three-hectare wildlife habitat has also been created within Aston Locks nature reserve to provide a secure environment for aquatic plants, such as the rare Floating Water Plantain. The nature reserve will also provide homes to a range of wildlife including damselflies, dragonflies, otters, and water voles.

Richard Parry, chief executive at Canal & River Trust, said: “What these volunteers have achieved, with support from Canal & River Trust, is inspiring. They have worked tirelessly to restore this section of the Montgomery Canal from a derelict channel to a wonderful canal that boaters, walkers, and cyclists can now use and enjoy. I would also like to thank National Lottery players for supporting this wonderful project.

David Carter, chair of Shropshire Union Canal Society, said: “Our volunteers have worked tirelessly for eight years on a very complicated piece of construction work of a type not normally done by volunteers. They have overcome several major challenges including very bad ground conditions, a high water table, the need to relocate the resident Great Crested Newts, and covid lockdowns. That they managed to complete the work to deadline, on budget and safely is to their great credit.”

John Dodwell, chair of the Montgomery Canal Partnership, said: “It’s marvellous to see put into place another part of the jigsaw to restore the 200 years plus old Montgomery Canal. It’s special built and natural heritage offers so much to local people and more widely; both donations and volunteers come from many parts of the country. The restored canal is also a boost to the regional tourist industry as visitors come to the area to spend their money.”

John took the opportunity of the reopening to launch a new fundraising campaign to restore the Montgomery Canal past Crickheath towards Pant.

It was the custom when the canals were first dug in the 1800’s to reward the navvies with a barrel of beer. This tradition was observed when over 70 volunteers and supporters enjoyed a barrel of Navigation Ale sponsored by Monty’s Brewery from Montgomery.

Thanks to SUCS Publicity for the photos.

The post Crickheath Wharf reopened appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

This annual Triathlon supports the restoration of the canal and this year involved:
• a 12-mile cycle ride from Newtown to Belan, south of Welshpool
• 5½ miles by canoe through the centre of Welshpool
• and a final 11 miles on foot to Morton, south of Oswestry.

About 190 people joined the event and while many were from Powys and Shropshire, others had come many miles to join the event, including one over 80 accompanied by his son and grandson from the south of France.

For the start 170 cyclists gathered at Hafan yr Afon, Open Newtown’s new centre by the River Severn to be started by the town’s Mayor Cllr John Byrne assisted by the Montgomery Town Crier Sue Blower. It was only just over 3¼ hours later that the first entrant ran across the finish line at Morton – others were arriving up to 5 hours later.

Christine Palin, Chairman of the Friends of the Montgomery Canal said, “The Triathlon is very popular with families and the more seriously competitive and we are always delighted that so many come from far and wide to take part, often bringing friends to join in for the first time. It is a big effort by the Friends of the Montgomery Canal, both the organising team and over a hundred volunteers who help on the day with transport and managing locks and road crossings.

“The route along the canal showed participants sections of the canal that have been restored and are open for use and others where the canal still has to be restored. There are a number of road crossings, blocked in the years of dereliction, which are quite difficult to manage: it will be really great when the bridges are rebuilt and boaters, ramblers and anglers can cross under the road in safety.

“There was a new bridge at the finish, a lift bridge for a farm crossing, which was across the canal to allow our entrants to check in at the finish. Proceedings were interrupted when a narrowboat came round the corner after visiting the new basin at Crickheath and had to open the bridge to go through. As we record how long entrants take at each stage, our timekeepers had to record the time of arrival at the bridge rather than the time of crossing it.

“Our visitors saw too what a lovely area the canal passes through – some actually told us how pleased they were to discover this. Obviously the whole purpose of restoring the canal is to create somewhere that local residents and visitors can enjoy whether on the water or using the towpath. For years we have been working to a restoration plan that takes account of the canal’s special place in our community with valuable flora and fauna, one of the best collections of canal-age locks, bridges and aqueducts and opportunities for relaxation and well-being on the towpath or visiting our special canalside nature reserves.

“This year we had to change the date for the Triathlon. We had planned to run the event on 6th May but had to change when the Coronation was announced. But it rained on 6 May and we had a gorgeous sunny day for the event.

“Over the years the Friends of the Montgomery Canal have given over £30,000 for the restoration and we hope we will be able to make another contribution from this year’s event – only made possible by the contributions of our army of volunteers of course.”

The organisers are grateful for help from many businesses and organisations which provided help, support or sponsorship including Red Ridge Outdoor Centre, Arthog Outreach Outdoor Education Centre, NiBs, McDonald Automotive, Montgomery Water, Welshpool’s Morrisons and Tesco, CRT’s Welshpool Volunteer Towpath Taskforce (aka TRAMPS) and Welshpool Canoe Club.

There was generous assistance for the event from Amberon – Mid West Wales, Bacchante Crafts, Wristbands Plus, K&S Toilets, Cookson Travel of Welshpool, and St. John Ambulance of Newtown.

Coming events
The next event for the Friends of the Montgomery Canal is a Coracle Fun Day on Saturday 8 July, (10am – 2pm) at the Town Wharf, Church St. Welshpool SY21 7AN. This is a new event for the Friends and will give the opportunity to try out one of these unique craft with tuition, buoyancy aids and safety canoes in attendance.

The Montgomery Canal Forum (organised by the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust) will be at 2.30pm on Wednesday 21 June, hosted by Aico, Maesbury Road, Oswestry SY10 8NR. The meeting, open to the public, will feature restoration works in Shropshire, including the reopening of the canal to Crickheath and work to extend that section, and in Powys under the UK Government Levelling-Up Fund.

The post Another successful Montgomery Canal Triathlon appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

The bridge, on Long Lane between Pant and Crickheath, was blocked many years ago after the canal was abandoned and is the main obstruction on the derelict section to the Welsh border at Llanymynech. To tackle the bridge, local waterway charities came together to organise its reconstruction. As well as running a series of local and national fund-raising appeals which have raised over £1 million, experienced volunteers prepared the bridge design, obtained all the technical approvals, and negotiated with the Canal & River Trust, Shropshire Council and adjoining landowners for the formal agreements needed for the work.

The start of the bridge works was officially marked on Monday 24 April 2023 by the cutting of the first sod by Cllr Vince Hunt, Chairman of Shropshire Council.

The bridge itself is being built by contractors Beaver Bridges of Shrewsbury on a project which will run through to late summer. They have closed the road and fenced the site.

Michael Limbrey, Chairman of the Restore the Montgomery Canal! group which has promoted the project, said, “We are delighted that our contractors are starting to rebuild Schoolhouse Bridge almost six years to the day after we launched our appeal for the project. There have been complications on the way – a world-wide pandemic was one – so the start is later than we had hoped. Fortunately our neighbours have been very understanding and we are very grateful to them.

“We owe a huge thank-you to supporters in the area and across Great Britain who have supported the project with monthly donations and individual gifts, grants and legacies. The appeal has also received generous donations from the Inland Waterways Association, the Friends of the Montgomery Canal and the Shropshire Union Canal Society as members of the Restore the Montgomery Canal! group. We have also been assisted by a grant from Tarmac Landfill Communities Fund, supplies from TG Builders Merchants, Oswestry, and support from Shropshire Council and the Canal & River Trust who have helped our team get the project to its start and by Beaver Bridges who will be carrying out the work for us.

“The bridge reconstruction and the opening in June of the section to Crickheath restored by volunteers of the Shropshire Union Canal Society will together mark a significant step for the restoration as too will the major works being undertaken in Powys with Levelling-Up funding.

“The revived Montgomery Canal will safeguard the canal’s valuable built and natural heritage, provide an amenity for recreation and well-being for residents and visitors and bring economic opportunities as the canal opens up for visitors. We look forward to the day when we can realise the ambitions of local authorities, communities and businesses as boats from across the country visit the borders of Shropshire and Powys.”

Richard Hinckley, Beaver Bridges Sales Director said, “As a local business we are very excited to be conducting these prestigious works with the Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust and to continue the excellent work to date and contribute to the future legacy of the canal.”

The post Rebuilding Schoolhouse Bridge starts appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.

The volunteers from the Shropshire Union Canal Society are currently working on the section below Crickheath Bridge towards Pant and are preparing the area to rebuild the walls that were in a poor state of repair following decades without maintenance.

As well as work on the stone walls that will form the side of the canal in Crickheath, volunteers have recently cleared the channel towards Schoolhouse Bridge to assess what lining will be required to put the canal back into water.

Meanwhile, at Schoolhouse Bridge, materials have been delivered prior to the start of building work which will see a new bridge reinstated which is needed if the Montgomery Canal is to continue to be restored towards Pant.

The restoration efforts can only happen with a willing team of volunteers and funding. If you are in a position to offer your support, why not visit the Shropshire Union Canal Society website.

The post SUCS volunteers restoring Crickheath Wharf appeared first on Pant Today - About the village of Pant in Shropshire.