Lottery bid for locks

THE Grantham Canal Partnership supported by the Grantham Canal Society has submitted an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to restore locks 14 and 15 on the waterway.

The emphasis of the bid is to undertake the lock restoration using volunteers as part of a national waterway skill training initiative being developed by the Inland Waterways Association, with an emphasis on learning waterway heritage construction skills, Kevin Mann Consultant Grantham Canal Regeneration Manager writes.

Skills learnt

Although we are applying for funding for the restoration of only two of the four locks which remain derelict on the Woolsthorpe flight, we are confident that the skills learnt will enable the remaining two locks and indeed other derelict locks elsewhere on the Grantham Canal to be restored. As this is part of a national training initiative we will also, through skills learnt, be indirectly assisting in the restoration of locks on other remainder waterway canals.

A further emphasis will be the marketing of the many volunteering opportunities on the canal to attract a much wider cross section of people than is currently the case.

Long process

It is a long process; our submitted application is only the first step to allow us to commission a series of studies and reports to enable us to submit a HLF stage 2 Application. We will hear if we have been successful for our Stage 1 Application in early June and we aim to submit our stage 2 application in August 2012.

The value of the stage 1 Application is £55,000, with the estimated overall cost of the proposed works (stage 2) being £750,000. Our application to the HLF would be for £380,000, with the remaining costs being secured through other grant funding bodies, company sponsorship and ‘gift in kind', which will primarily consist of the value of volunteers who are involved with the project or are receiving training.

If we are successful then it will give the Grantham Canal and its canal heritage a much needed boost. Restoration of these locks would be the next step in achieving navigation into Leicestershire and eventually through to Redmile. Undoubtedly there will be plenty to do but it will be worth it! In the meantime we must keep our fingers crossed and hope we are successful with the stage 1 application.