We recently shared the news that Newport City Council have allocated £1.9m in funding from the Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund to tackle problems on the Mon & Brec Canal Crumlin Arm above the Fourteen Locks Centre at Newport.
This week our Chair the Revd. John Collier welcomed Julie Sharman from Glandwr Cymru, (the Canal & River Trust (CRT) in Wales) to the canal and Centre at Fourteen Locks. CRT is responsible for the operation of over 2,000 miles of canal across England and Wales. Julie is the Chief Operating Officer for CRT, and was joined by Hannah Booth who is CRT’s Area Operating Manager for the navigable part of the Mon & Brec canal from Brecon to Sebastopol.
We were also joined by Phil Evans who is a Team Manager with Newport City Council (NCC). Phil is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the part of the Mon and Brec canal through Newport, including the Crumlin Arm.
Julie has been a regular visitor to the canal at Fourteen Locks over the years and was delighted to hear of NCC’s success in raising funding for the canal. We discussed several aspects of the upcoming Crumlin Arm work with Julie and Hannah including dredging and lining of the canal. CRT have extensive experience of work such as this and were able to provide invaluable advice. We also discussed the ongoing water shortage issues in the canal.
We also used the opportunity to discuss future plans that Torfaen County Borough Council has for the canal at Five Locks, as well as operational aspects of the canal from Cwmbran to Brecon.
Julie and Hannah were also interested in our operation of the Fourteen Locks Canal Centre and especially the Thomas Dadford Tearoom.
Although CRT are not responsible for the canal within the Newport City boundary we feel the visit was invaluable for NCC and MBACT to gain experience and technical advice from CRT, and to foster good working relationships between the various canal owners.