In glorious sunshine, a throng gathered at Crickheath Wharf, near Oswestry to attend a ‘Topping Out’ ceremony to celebrate the rewatering of another section of the Montgomery canal and it means that the Shropshire Gap – the unrestored section of the canal between Crickheath and the Welsh border at Llanymynech – has been closed by a further 10%.
Tom Fulda, restoration project manager for the Shropshire Union Canal Society, thanked all the parties that made it possible saying, “Thanks to the funders, Shropshire Council, Canal & River Trust. The volunteers, including those from the Dry Stone Walling Association who helped so much with the wharf wall and a lot of local support too, the Parish Councils and local businesses: there’s Tudor Griffiths, Monty’s Brewery and Henstone Distillery and of course, a multitude of local residents, towpath walkers, and boaters who have expressed their gratitude, support – and encouraging us along the way”.
David Carter, Chair of the society welcomed special guests to cut the ribbon, Lezley Picton, Leader of Shropshire Council and Hen Breukelaar, Canal & River Trust Regional Director – West Midlands.
Hen Breukelaar thanked everyone involved in the project saying, “What a truly amazing achievement and I’d personally like to thank whoever ordered the weather today – what a lovely day for early April – but seriously, I think in a world that is so dominated by worry and negativity, what a fantastic, inspiring example of communities coming together to restore something that is so wonderful. As we arrived by boat, we were filled with such appreciation of the beauty of nature, the biodiversity of this wonderful waterway, it deserves to be restored and cherished by all”.
But what’s a ‘Topping Out’ ceremony? (Sometimes called Topping Off, in the building trade) Well, it’s a tradition that started in Scandinavia in the dark ages, nearly 2,000 years ago and is a symbolic gesture that acknowledges the hard work, dedication and skill of all involved in the completion of construction – or in this case – part of the construction. There will be many more of these ceremonies on the Monty, in the years to come.
And now for the stats:
Over this period there have been 67 Society volunteers involved at different times, 23 of which have joined the Society since the start of the project last year. All but one of these are from the local area around Shropshire, Cheshire and Powys. The exception travelled from Australia to attend, thereby demonstrating our global following!
50 corporate volunteers from Practice Plan in Oswestry, from Openreach, consulting engineers Arcadis and RSK, and several from Canal & River Trust have each offered a day of their time.
In total, over the 15 works parties, the works have been delivered by 6500 volunteer hours.
If you’d like to be part of this great endeavour, please visit www.shropshireunion.org.uk
Lezley Picton & Hen Breukelaar cut the ribbon.
