Pupils branch out into trees
In pouring rain, students and a teacher from St
Mary's School, in Wantage, helped plant 280 trees
alongside a stretch of derelict canal at West
Challow.
The school team joined seven members of the East
Vale sector of the Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal
Trust in a five-hour tree-planting exercise, as part
of a project to replace trees that have been removed
from the canal banks as trust members clear
overgrown stretches.
The trust's work party organiser, Roy Murrell,
from Southmoor, said: "We replace trees that have
been lost as part of a regeneration scheme. It was
hard work. We were up to our armpits in mud but
everyone got stuck in to the task."
Among the saplings that were planted were oak,
chestnut, ash, hazel, sycamore and crab-apple. All
the trees were grown by Mr Murrell from seed in his
garden.
After the trees were put in the ground, a 50yd
length of fencing was installed alongside the canal.
The trust wants to reopen the whole of the
52-mile stretch of canal but faces major engineering
obstacles.
The canal was cut from the Kennet and Avon Canal,
near Melksham, to the Thames at Abingdon between
1796 and 1810.
It became fully operational in 1814 but it closed
100 years later, as the rail system grew.
During the last 20 years several small stretches
of the canal have been re-opened - some in the
Wantage area - but the project faces major hurdles
where new routes are needed including a new junction
to the Thames in Abingdon.
The Trust believes it can find enough backing to
protect much of the line of the canal from future
development until further funding is generated to
restore the waterway to full navigable status. New
routes under the A34, M4 and A4 will be needed.
The Trust has already found more than £100,000
towards the £150,000 cost of the necessary
engineering studies to identify and protect the
future line of the canal. Lottery money and support
from British Waterways, the Waterways Trust and
local councils and Landfill Tax input is also being
sought.
The total cost of the completed project is
estimated at more than £100m.
Published Tuesday 11th May 2004.
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