In glorious sunshine in early April, a throng gathered on the Montgomery Canal at Crickheath Wharf, near Oswestry to attend a ‘Topping Out’ ceremony to celebrate the rewatering of yet another section of the 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 encouraged us along the way”.

Over this period of restoration 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 with the exception having travelled from Australia to attend, thereby demonstrating the global following of canal restoration! There were also 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 6,500 volunteer hours.

Tom went on to say, “The speed of restoration has really increased as the momentum, expertise, and funding have kept us moving forward – firstly to Schoolhouse Bridge – and then on to the Welsh border at Llanymynech. The section that was opened in 2023 from Redwith Bridge to Crickheath Basin was fraught with natural challenges such as a peat bog near Lloyds Feeds and many different strata popping up all over the place, but the result is quite magnificent and it’s wonderful to see narrowboats regularly visiting. The next section looks more straightforward from a groundwork point of view, but it has its own challenges – badgers, water tests and the construction of wash-walls at Schoolhouse – so this will keep us busy as we plan for the next major task – the large winding hole at Waen Wen, in Pant. Luckily, we have a great team of volunteers, we provide free tea and cake, some very experienced experts, Canal & River Trust guidance and lots of local support, so it’s back in the cut and onwards to the border for us!”

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 the construction. There will be many more of these ceremonies on the Monty in the years to come and, if you’d like to be involved in the next one – have a look online.

If you’d like to be part of this great endeavour, please visit www.shropshireunion.org.uk

Picture credit: Shropshire Union Canal Society.