The Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust is a waterway society and a registered charity which exists to promote the restoration of the Shrewsbury Canal and the Newport Arm of the Shropshire Union Canal. The trust was created in 2000.
In 1964, reports appeared in local newspapers that the British Waterways Board intended to drain part of the Newport Branch [1] which had been officially closed since 1944. [2] The North-Western branch of the Inland Waterways Association suggested that a local group should be set up to campaign for the restoration of the canal and the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal Association was formed in December 1964 to pursue that aim. Following the rejection of their initial plans, the group became the Shropshire Union Canal Society [1] and then spearheaded the restoration of the Montgomery Canal which had also been part of the Shropshire Union network.
Over 30 years later, the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust revived the vision for the restoration of the Shrewsbury Canal and the Newport Arm. It was registered with Companies House on 21 September 2000 as a private company, limited by guarantee and with no share capital, and has the company number of 4075920. [3] It is also a charity, number 1088706, registered with the Charity Commission. The aims are stated to be the restoration of the Shrewsbury Canal and the Newport Arm of the Shropshire Union Canal, including its structures and building, for the public good. [4]
In 2001, the Trust produced a document entitled "The Shrewsbury and Newport Canals - A case for restoration", which they circulated to the five local authorities who manage the areas through which the canals run. The local authorities are the County Councils of Staffordshire and Shropshire, Stafford Borough Council, and Telford and Wrekin Council. They specifically asked that the councils should give support in principle to the aim of restoration, including working with the Trust and with the other affected local authorities, should support the production of a feasibility study into the restoration, and should use planning powers to protect the line of the canal. Stafford Borough Council's consideration of the report listed ten benefits to the community which would arise from the restoration. [5]
The report was well received by the local authorities, all of whom gave their support in principle. The feasibility study was commissioned in 2003, and Alun Michael MP, the Waterways Minister, presented the findings in 2004, which concluded that full restoration was both technically possible from an engineering point of view, and economically viable. [6] The estimated cost for full restoration is £86 million. [7]
In 2007, the Wappenshall canal basin and warehouse were put up for sale. The Trust campaigned for it to be purchased and restored, rather than turned into flats, for which outline planning permission existed. In June 2008, Telford and Wrekin Council agreed to fund the purchase of the site, [8] allowing the Trust to concentrate on its restoration, rather than trying to raise the money for its purchase. [9]
Shropshire is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north, Staffordshire to the east, Worcestershire to the southeast, Herefordshire to the south, and the Welsh counties of Wrexham and Powys to the west. The largest settlement is Telford (155,570), and Shrewsbury (76,782) is the county town.
Telford is a town in Shropshire, England. It is the administrative centre of Telford and Wrekin borough, a unitary authority which covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding settlements. The town is inland and near the River Severn.
Newport is a market town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies 7 miles (11 km) north-east of Telford town centre, 12 miles (19 km) west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 census recorded 10,814 people living in the town's parish, which rose to 11,387 by the 2011 census.
Telford and Wrekin is a borough and unitary authority in Shropshire, England. In 1974, a non-metropolitan district of Shropshire was created called The Wrekin, named after a prominent hill to the west of Telford. In 1998, the district became a unitary authority and was renamed "Telford and Wrekin", which remains part of the Shropshire ceremonial county and shares institutions such as the Fire and Rescue Service and Community Health with the rest the county.
The Shropshire Union Canal, nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. The Llangollen and Montgomery canals are the modern names of branches of the Shropshire Union (SU) system and lie partially in Wales.
Wellington is a constituent market town of Telford and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northwest of Telford town centre and 12 miles (19 km) east of Shrewsbury. The summit of The Wrekin lies 3 miles southwest of the town. The population of the town was 25,554 in 2011. It also has good bus services making it one of the most accessible towns in Shropshire.
The Montgomery Canal, known colloquially as "The Monty", is a partially restored canal in eastern Powys and northwest Shropshire. The canal runs 33 miles (53 km) from the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction to Newtown via Llanymynech and Welshpool and crosses the England–Wales border.
Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about 3,172 yards (2,900.5 m) long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today.. However, since the Dudley Tunnel is not continuous this status is sometimes questioned:.
The Shrewsbury Canal was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 1835, when the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal built the Newport Branch from Norbury Junction to a new junction with the Shrewsbury Canal at Wappenshall. After ownership passed to a series of railway companies, the canal was officially abandoned in 1944; many sections have disappeared, though some bridges and other structures can still be found. There is an active campaign to preserve the remnants of the canal and to restore the Norbury to Shrewsbury line to navigation.
Norbury Junction is a hamlet and former canal junction which lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south east of Norbury, in Staffordshire, England. It opened in 1835, and closed in 1944, although the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal still runs through it.
The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company was a Company in England, formed in 1846, which managed several canals and railways. It intended to convert a number of canals to railways, but was leased by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) from 1847, and although they built one railway in their own right, the LNWR were keen that they did not build any more. They continued to act as a semi-autonomous body, managing the canals under their control, and were critical of the LNWR for not using the powers which the Shropshire Union Company had obtained to achieve domination of the markets in Shropshire and Cheshire by building more railways.
The Wendover Arm Canal is part of the Grand Union Canal in England, and forms part of the British canal system. It is usually known as the Wendover Canal, but historically its builders referred to their branch canals as Arms, hence its historical name of Wendover Arm. It was planned as a feeder to carry water from springs near the town of Wendover in Buckinghamshire to the main line of the Grand Junction Canal at Bulbourne near Startops End in Hertfordshire, but when it opened in 1799 it was made navigable, as the extra cost of making it was so small. Water supplies from Wendover were found to be inadequate, and a series of reservoirs were built. A pumping station at Whitehouses was superseded by the Tringford pumping station in 1817; its steam engines were replaced by diesel engines in 1911 and then by electric pumps.
Frankton Junction is the name of the canal junction where the Montgomery Canal terminates and meets the Llangollen Canal at Lower Frankton, Shropshire, England.
Montgomery Waterway Restoration Trust is a British registered charity, number 510448, which exists to promote the restoration of the Montgomery Canal.
The Shropshire Union Canal Society is an organisation formed to promote interest in and enhance the Shropshire Union Canal system, in England and Wales.
The Droitwich Canals Trust is an English limited company created in 1973 to work towards the restoration of the Droitwich Canal. From 2001 it worked as part of a larger group, the Droitwich Canals Restoration Partnership, and in 2004, following a successful application for a grant of £4.6 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund surrendered its lease on the canal to British Waterways, who then managed the restoration through to the reopening of the canals in 2011.
Wappenshall Junction is a British canal junction located at Wappenshall, Shropshire. It was created when the Newport Branch Canal joined the Shrewsbury Canal in 1835, and was closed along with the canal in 1944.
The Stafford–Shrewsbury line is a former railway line in England, which ran between Stafford in Staffordshire and Shrewsbury in Shropshire, via Newport and Wellington, from 1849 to 1966. The Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company (SUR&CC) constructed and ran one of the few railways in England ever built by a canal company. The line served Newport and Wellington stations. The SUR&CC were solely responsible for the section from Stafford to Wellington; but the building and operation of the 10.5 mile (17 km)-long Shrewsbury-to-Wellington section was shared with the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway.
Preston upon the Weald Moors is a small village on the northern edge of the town of Telford, part of the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire. According to the 2001 census the village had a population of 205 although this is likely to have risen due to various building conversions over the proceeding ten years. The population was measured at 224 in the 2011 census. It is one of a number of villages that exist on the Weald Moors of Shropshire.
