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Gnosall Parish Logo (Image) 

Gnosall Parish Council           

 (Including the wards of Moreton and Knightley)                                   

 

Dementia Friends Logo (Image)

The Boat Inn (Image)

Gnosall Towpath Restoration (GTR)

In Gnosall, we are very lucky to have a splendid historic canal running through our village. It is approaching 200 years old and takes some looking after.

The Canal and Rivers Trust (CRT) is a charity that looks after most of our inland navigations in England and Wales. It was created in 2012 from British Waterways (BW or previously BWB).

CRT maintains the canal and towpath (which is not a public right of way) from limited resources. There is some government funding, and income from fishing, boat licensing and boat moorings. There is a backlog of maintenance and so CRT has looked for innovative ways to get work done.

In many areas local communities have adopted “their” stretch of canal agreeing to do minor maintenance, tidying up and reporting problems. This spring, the parish council, supported by BKV agreed to adopt “our” length of canal on behalf of the village.

I am the contact point for this adoption and the group has been christened GTR. We work on the canal covering the length from Cowley Tunnel in the south to Bridge 36 (the footpath beyond the railway) in the North. We are independent from BKV but work closely with them.

Come and find us on the towpath!

BARRY WITTS

GTR work parties

5383 (Image)

Depending on the season, projects in hand and weather, we meet every 2-3 weeks on a Saturday morning, with dates planned in advance to suit the majority. Typically, a group may be 3-5 of us from a pool of 8-9.

For simplicity, we meet at the Navigation Inn for work to the North and opposite the Boat Inn for work to the south.

This does not prevent smaller groups meeting at other times and places if more convenient and there is work to be done. We communicate plans via email so that all are in the picture.

If you’d like to join us please let me know, you’ll be very welcome. If you have any special skills or interests such as metalwork, woodwork, horticulture, arboriculture, brick laying, painting, planning, just let me know but the main requirement is enthusiasm.

 

 

 

GTR projects

Our projects vary from construction to planting to weeding to painting. There is always some maintenance to mix in with other activities.

We try to have a sensible balance ongoing at any one time but don’t always achieve it. Sometimes the forces of nature or other events are against us.