Restoration of historic walls celebrated
Teams of volunteers who have spent almost a year restoring the historic Brimscombe Port Walls today celebrated their achievement at a special event marking completion of the restoration project.
The project to restore Brimscombe Port Walls, part of the restoration of the Cotswold Canals, won a £80,000 grant from ITV’s People’s Millions Lottery programme in November 2007, after thousands of local people voted for the project. Led by The Waterways Trust and British Waterways, the historic perimeter wall at Brimscombe Port near Stroud has been restored to its former glory following a year of tireless work on the part of teams of volunteers from across the community. Local residents, people who use the towpath and children from Brimscombe Primary School have all lent a hand in the restoration process. A large number of volunteers took part in the masonry skills training and helped repair this impressive two-hundred year-old stone wall. Volunteers included groups from the Cotswold Canals Trust, Nelson Trust and Leyhill Open Prison. In addition to restoring the walls, there is now information on display telling the story of the Port. The project includes 'Brimscombe Interactive', which enables computer users to explore the Port, past and present, by clicking on active buttons and links to open new windows. Brimscombe Interactive can be found at www.cotswoldcanalsproject.org/brimscombe. It can be viewed online or be downloaded for viewing at leisure. Kim Chester from The Waterways Trust, which managed the project, said: “The walls are almost the only visible remains of Brimscombe Port so securing their future is a great step for heritage in the area. Brimscombe was a major transhipment port on the Thames & Severn Canal and the walls were covered in dense vegetation with several trees growing out of the top. This was a last chance to save the wall as it hadn’t been touched for over seventy years after the canal closed in 1933. Work started last spring and the appearance of the walls has been transformed beyond recognition. Restoration has also enhanced a beautiful section of the River Frome with a backdrop of the historic Bourne Mill and GWR viaduct. Our thanks are due to the volunteers, who have done a fantastic job – but above all, we would like to thank the thousands of local people who took the trouble to vote for this project in the first place.” Volunteers working on the project were trained on-site by the Royal Agricultural College. The restoration process was guided by British Waterways’ South West Heritage Adviser, David Viner. Chris Hart, owner of the adjacent Noah’s Ark cycle shop, was a key contributor to the project along with Steve Roberts of the Stroud Design Co-operative. The official ribbon-cutting will be performed by Cllr John Hudson, Chair of Stroud District Council. The council is leading restoration of the six miles of canal between Brimscombe and Stonehouse – a project which brings £13.7 million of external investment into the district.
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