MORE progress has been made by the groups looking to restore Montgomery Canal after working parties continued last week.

The new working practice, which observes strict Social Distancing and Sanitation practice, added an extra element of discomfort for the volunteers; however a sustained, focussed three days, resulted in another 120 metres of channel base being completed.

The channel was scraped out to the actual depth by one team, and this was firstly covered with a lining textile blanket and another layer of geo-textile grid, to spread the pressure of the load of the machines. This was then treated with a layer of stone.

There is now a hard-core base running along almost the entire length of the 320-metre channel which will be used as a road to transport the necessary materials needed to shape, line, and, block-pave it.

This will enable re-watering to take place in 2021, which will link the winding hole basin at Crickheath to the national canal network

A second group stripped towpath vegetation to enable two sections of newt fencing to be re-sited.

The third group stripped a 60-metre section of vegetation from the south side of the bridge at Crickheath.

This will enable an ecological survey to take place and reveal the state of the original Warf Walls.

This activity was necessary to begin planning for the next project, beyond 2021, once the re-watering has been achieved.

Working parties have been increased to two weekends per month to recover from time lost due to Covid-19 and a terribly wet winter.

The next working party begins on Friday, August 21.