Welshpool Canal and Food Festival proves a hit
It was the perfect place to try out a kayak, race a coracle or catch a fish, but a canal event also had a strong message.
Organisers behind the Welshpool Canal and Food Festival said it was fantastic that so many people had come out to the support them and, at the same time, had learned a little about why it is so important to restore the Montgomery canal.
Visitors were given the chance to take part in angling taster sessions, or try their hand at canoeing, while about 200 people turned out to see the coracle racing.
Sylvia Edwards, Montgomery Canal community development officer with the Canal and River Trust., said: "We're delighted. It all went really well. We had good footfall.
"The canal society raised an amount of money for the restoration of the Montgomery Canal, and a lot of people expressed their support. All around, it has been excellent.
"We were hoping to have a few hundreds people and I think we got that. If we could improve on that next year, great, because it's important to Welshpool to take full advantage of the canal.
"The more people who come to the Wharf and see it full of life, the better."
Friends of the Montgomery Canal, the Inland Waterways Association and other canal-related groups had stalls at the event. A £4 million project was also recently launched to further restore the canal.
It will see the creation of a new nature reserve at Aston Locks and a further one and a quarter miles of the canal reopen to Crickheath in Shropshire.
A dedicated turning point for narrowboats, known as a ‘winding hole’, will be created, enabling boats to return to the area for the first time since 1936 when the canal was closed.
Money was raised throughout the day towards future work. People were given the chance to donate £2, which through a private donor matching donations and giftaid was more than doubled to be worth £5.
The winners of the coracle race were the Proud Salopians. Puddle Sports took the silver medal.
