THE bicentenary of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal is being marked by the Canal & River Trust by replacing missing mileposts along the waterway.
For this purpose the appointment of a new Project Officer, Alice Kay, has been made to oversee the work, backed by a grant of £36,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Every Mile Counts
The Trust has also launched an Every Mile Counts appeal that it hopes will encourage local waterway groups to adopt a mile of canal and its post, and is also looking for sponsors to donate £200 to finance the new mile posts.
It wants local volunteer work parties to help restore damaged or corroded mile posts. (The picture shows a damaged milepost used for another purpose!)
A recent survey of the waterway revealed that about a third of the original 127 mile posts are missing or severely damaged, 89 need re-painting and around 75 need new number plates fixing to them. This includes eight missing posts on the Yorkshire side of the canal, between Gargrave and Leeds.
Regulate canal freight
The posts were installed as a response to legislation introduced to regulate canal freight tolls—the Railway and Canal Rates, Tolls and Charges Order of 1893. This prompted the whole of the canal to be re-surveyed and new mileposts, together with half and quarter mileposts, installed along the towpath.
Marking the start of the canal bicentenary celebrations, the first newly restored milepost was unveiled in Skipton on Friday 19th February.