Money for canal restoration

THE Telford Support Group, part of the Shrewsbury and Newport Canals Trust, has been awarded £95,000 towards its Wappenshall Wharf project.

The funding has been jointly provided by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and by DEFRA, through the Rural Payments Agency, towards the Thomas Telford Wappenshall Wharf project. The picture below shows the warehouses and the bridge on the far right that was the line of the now disused canal.

Thomas Telford heritage

This award is specifically to fund most of the items interpreting the canal wharf and the Thomas Telford heritage. It effectively reduces the amount that the Trust needs to raise to complete the project. Telford Support Group Chairman and Trustee Alan Harding commented:

"This award will greatly improve our chances of obtaining the grants we need from other funding bodies."

Launched an appeal

In early 2014 the Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust launched an appeal to find match funding of £500,000 towards the cost of restoring the warehouses and basin at Wappenshall Wharf, on the disused canal. The total anticipated project cost was £1.5 million and the potential Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant comprises £1 million of this.

The Trust's public appeal has so far resulted in pledges, donations and small grants totalling over £200,000. The success of the project now relies on obtaining three very large grants, including the EU grant, all of which we originally hoped to hear about during December 2016. This EU grant is the first of the three and brings the total raised so far to nearly £300,000.

Restore warehouses

The Thomas Telford Wappenshall Wharf project will restore the two historic warehouses at Wappenshall Wharf, providing a unique celebration of the life and works of Thomas Telford, as well as a new visitor experience in the local area.

The Canal Trust plans to create a permanent exhibition at Wappenshall Wharf of literature, memorabilia and other artefacts associated with Thomas Telford, to keep his memory alive in a part of England that saw some of the engineer's best-known work and contains the town that carries his name.