NEARLY £300,000 worth of repairs are set to be made to the Llangollen and Montgomery canals.

The Canal and River Trust will undertake the repair work in the New Year.

Repairs to a handrail at Britain’s highest aqueduct, the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and new lock gates at Grindley Brook and Povey’s Lock near Whitchurch, are among eight maintenance projects along the Welsh Border canals between January 2 and March 29.

Ged King, construction manager with the Canal and River Trust, said: “The Llangollen Canal is one of the most popular canals in the country, so it is vitally important that we keep the 200-year- old man-made waterway in good repair.

“Its combination of stunning scenery and incredible engineering, including the 11 mile World Heritage Site, attracts thousands of visitors every year. Boaters love the challenge of traversing Britain’s highest aqueduct, and walkers, cyclists, canoeists and anglers all enjoy spending leisure time by this beautiful waterway."

Before each separate lock or section is drained, fish will be rescued and transported to another part of the canal which remains in water.

All the new lock gates are hand-crafted in oak at a special Canal & River Trust workshop using traditional skills. The old gates will generally be craned out and the new gates craned in as part of a spectacular lift movement.

Other work includes:

– Repairs to Montgomery Canal lock gates at Frankton Locks 1 and 4.

– On the Llangollen Canal, repairs to a collapsed washwall at Whitehouses Tunnel.

– Correction of an inward leaning wall, plus balance beam and brickwork repairs at Hurleston Locks.

The Llangollen Canal, constructed by Thomas Telford and William Jessop, connects the Shropshire Union Canal at Hurleston in South Cheshire and runs through Ellesmere in Shropshire to its terminus at Llangollen in Denbighshire.

The Montgomery Canal joins it at Frankton.

Mr King added that most of the maintenance jobs are on the Llangollen Canal, but a key task would be to repair locl gates at Frankton Locks, the gateway to the Montgomery Canal.

“After Christmas, we will be emptying millions of litres of water from the canals, moving thousands of fish and lifting multi-tonne lock gates through the air into place. Each new gate is made to measure, weighs several tonnes, and is handcrafted from seasoned oak so that it fits perfectly in the lock chamber. Lock gates typically last around 25 years and allow thousands of boats to travel from place to place each year," he added.

“Although the canals were originally built during the Industrial Revolution, today they have been reinvented as leisure destinations and havens for wildlife. Modern canals offer an amazing, tranquil space, where everything slows down – a great place to escape the pressures of modern life.”

For more information on the winter waterway repair programme and public open days, visit https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/about-us/our-campaigns/open-days.