The Rebuilding of Schoolhouse Bridge on the Montgomery Canal

On a windy, June afternoon crowds rolled up to a quiet corner of north Shropshire to celebrate a canal restoration event at a site where there is currently no actual canal! But there is now a brand-new road bridge over the line of the Montgomery Canal. And work is in hand to extend the canal restoration along to the new bridge (as you can read later).

The spot near Crickheath, two miles from the Welsh border town of Llanymynech, is where, for the past 60 years, restoration has been blocked by an embankment supporting the road following demolition of the original hump-backed Bridge 86. It was the last major obstacle to further extension of the navigation along the remaining un-restored 2 miles in England.

Culmination of 8 years' work

Canal enthusiasts and dignitaries from local and national organisations assembled on an area in front of the bridge, which is going to be profiled as the bed of the restored canal, to watch Mrs Anna Turner, Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, unveil a plaque to celebrate the culmination of 8 years of intensive planning and fund-raising by local canal charities working together as Restore the Montgomery Canal!

John Dodwell chairman of the Montgomery Canal Partnership, opened the ceremony by introducing Mrs Anna Turner, the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, and noted that she is the county representative of the King who, when Prince of Wales, took a keen interest in the Montgomery Canal. Standing alongside was Michael Limbrey, Chairman of the Restore the Montgomery Canal! appeal (and President of the Shrewsbury District and North Wales branch of the Inland Waterways Association).

[The photo shows the new plaque mounted on Schoolhouse Bridge - by Alan Wilding]