Local Canals Exhibition

LOCAL CANALS EXHIBITION
at Abbey Station, Shrewsbury SY2 6AH on Saturday, 23 September 2023, 10.30 am – 3.30 pm
There will be a great chance to find out about inland waterways at a Local Canals Exhibition in the Abbey Station, 192A Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6AH (opposite the Abbey Church) on Saturday, 23rd September 2023, from 10.30 am to 3.30 pm.

Arranged and hosted by the Inland Waterways Association (IWA), the exhibition will also feature displays by three other canal groups, the Shropshire Union Canal Society, the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust and the Friends of the Montgomery Canal.

One of the organisers, Alan Wilding of the local branch of the Inland Waterways Association said: “Shrewsbury is within 20 miles of many canal towns and villages such as Ellesmere, Whitchurch, Market Drayton, Newport, Queens Head and Welshpool and there is easy access to several spectacular canals – the Llangollen, the Shropshire Union, the Montgomery and the un-restored Shrewsbury & Newport Canal.

Alan said: “Most of these canals are currently in regular leisure use for day and holiday cruises” and continued: “Volunteer restorers have recently added more navigable miles to the Montgomery Canal near the Welsh border while, near Telford, the east canal basin at Wappenshall, on the route of the Shrewsbury & Newport Canal has been re-watered alongside a former warehouse which is undergoing major redevelopment as a café.

Co-organiser, Susan Wilding, added: “We hope the Local Canals Exhibition will provide an opportunity for visitors to meet people who are currently enjoying these waterways and to discover how to get involved. It’s a great chance to find out about the many miles already in regular leisure use and what is being done to restore even more navigation.”

She continued: “Previously, we have found that many Shrewsbury residents are surprised to learn that there was once a canal in the town. Its terminus was under The Buttermarket in Howard Street, behind Shrewsbury railway station. The route of the old Shrewsbury Canal ran alongside the recently restored Flax Mill, and continued through Sundorne, alongside Attingham to Roddington before joining the Newport Canal at Wappenshall Junction and then linking up with the national network at Norbury Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal.”

Alan Wilding said: “Our local Inland Waterways Association branch members will be on hand throughout the day to discuss the association’s vital campaigning work including its current national campaign, Fund Britain’s Waterways (FBW)s, which seeks to persuade the government to increase its recently announced, inadequate future funding package for Britain’s waterways network.” He added: “We will also have our 2024 calendar on sale and this has stunning images of local canals. It makes an ideal gift!”

The exhibition is also an opportunity to join one or more of the very active local canal groups and become a volunteer in their on-site activities. There is free entry to the delightful Abbey Station which has been made available once again by kind invitation of Shrewsbury Railway Heritage Trust and it will be open from 10.30 am until 3.30 pm.

There is a large public car park adjacent to the Abbey Station. Previous exhibition days have proved very popular with local residents and visitors alike.