Wey & Arun gets IWA donation

THE restoration of the Wey & Arun Canal has benefited from £1,000 donated by the Guildford and Reading branch of the Inland Waterways Association.

A cheque for that amount was given to Wey & Arun Canal Trust (WACT) during last month's commemoration of the waterway's 200th anniversary. In the photograph: Mike Lewis (right), treasurer of Guildford and Reading branch of the Inland Waterways Association, speaking during his cheque presentation, with WACT chairman Sally Schupke and Guildford Mayor Gordon Jackson.

Praised the work of the Trust

Branch treasurer Mike Lewis made the presentation during a celebratory cream tea for members and guests which was the finale of the bicentennial celebrations, praising the work of the Trust that is bringing back to life a canal which was once part of an inland route from London to the South Coast, commenting:

"Wey & Arun Canal Trust is to be commended for the huge amount of work it has done so far and for the impressive projects it is carrying out now.

"The canal will be an important part of the inland waterways network and we look forward to the time when it again links up the River Arun with the River Wey.

"The IWA is pleased to make a contribution to the restoration fund and we wish the Trust well with its work."

The previous day, Dame Penelope Keith had officially opened the new Compasses Bridge across the canal's summit level at Alfold, a part of the Trust's first major navigation restoration project in Surrey.

WACT is now in the final planning stages for re-creating the canal from the Wey at Shalford to the Gosden Aqueduct of the outskirts of Bramley.