Whitchurch Waterway Trust

The Whitchurch Waterway Trust is a registered charity which exists to promote the management and restoration of the Whitchurch Arm of the Llangollen Canal. It was formed in 1988, in response to plans by Whitchurch Town Council to bring the canal back into the town, as a way of promoting tourism.

History of the Arm

The Whitchurch Arm was first authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1796, which also allowed the Ellesmere Canal Company to alter the route of their main line. The main line joined the Chester Canal at Hurleston Junction, and was opened throughout by 1805. [

[http://www.whitchurchwaterway.org.uk/brown/brown3.html Peter Brown's history of the Whitchurch Arm, page 3] ] The canal company decided to abandon the planned arm to Whitchurch in 1800, but in 1805 was approached by a group of businessmen who wanted to build both the branch and a short extension to Castle Well, so that the terminus was nearer to the centre of the town. [ [http://www.whitchurchwaterway.org.uk/brown/brown3.html Peter Brown's history of the Whitchurch Arm, page 4] ]

The canal company decided that they did not have the powers to delegate construction of the arm to the consortium, and so completed the construction of the original route using money borrowed from the businessmen. It was opened on 6 July 1808. The Act of Parliament needed to authorise the extension was not applied for until 1809, [ [http://www.whitchurchwaterway.org.uk/brown/brown3.html Peter Brown's history of the Whitchurch Arm, page 5] ] and the extra quarter mile (0.4km) of canal was opened in 1811, featuring a narrow triangular basin at its terminus, rather than the rectangular one shown on the plans. [ [http://www.whitchurchwaterway.org.uk/brown/brown3.html Peter Brown's history of the Whitchurch Arm, page 6] ]

By 1939 all traffic on the Llangollen Arm of the Shropshire Union Canal from Hurleston to Llangollen had ceased, and both the Llangollen Arm and the Whitchurch Arm were formally closed to navigation under the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company Act of 1944. The Whitchurch branch was not reopened when the adjacent section of canal, now re-branded as the Llangollen Canal, was reopened in the 1950s.

The Formation of the Trust

In the early 1980s, Whitchurch Town Council began to consider options for bringing the canal back into the town, as a way of promoting tourism. Following a feasibility study which was carried out by Liverpool Polytechnic, and a public meeting to gauge support for the proposals, the District Council protected the route for the canal in their Local Plan, and the Charitable Trust was incorporated on 26 July 1988. [http://www.whitchurchwaterway.org.uk/history.html Whitchurch Waterway Trust: History] ]

Restoration of the first section of the arm from its junction with the Llangollen Canal to the bridge at Chemistry was completed in 1993, providing overnight and long stay moorings. The Trust is responsible for the management of the arm.

ee also

*List of waterway societies in the United Kingdom
*List of navigation authorities in the United Kingdom

References

External links

* [http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/community.nsf/open/25CD23F418736BC7802574030038A3E2 Shropshire County Council website, entry about Whitchurch Waterway Trust]

* [http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/publications/waterways/usage.html Whitchurch Heritage Centre: exhibition by Whitchurch Waterway Trust]

* [http://www.whitchurchwaterway.org.uk Whitchurch Waterway Trust's website]