Towpath work gets underway

Work to improve the towpath to the north of Audlem is getting underway this week, we are told by British Waterways.

As regular readers will recall, the Audlem Parish Plan team has worked with BW and gained grants of around £50,000 to hardcore a stretch of towpath running south of Bridge 80 – it becomes almost impassable after heavy or prolonged rain – and to produce leaflets and computer programs to promote local tourism.

Over 600m of the towpath will see work over the coming weeks which will enable walkers to reach Bridge 80 and its paths to the Overwater Marina and eastwards to Hankelow Mill throughout the year.

Crucially, it will allow boaters moored at Overwater to access the village's shops, pubs, cafés and other facilities more easily and avoiding a more than three mile drive each way.

Funding has been provided by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and Defra through the Northern Marches Leader scheme with matched funding from Cheshire East, Audlem Parish Council, British Waterways and Overwater Marina.

While the work proceeds, the towpath will be closed. It is anticipated that the work will be completed before the end of the month.

A portion of the money is being used to provide touch screen computers with specially created programs promoting Audlem's many attractions and detailing the history of the canal and its creator, Thomas Telford. The screens will be located in the Audlem Mill shop and at Overwater Marina.

The work on the programs will use local talent on screen, behind the cameras and in computer programing. Promotional leaflets are also being printed, created by the Parish Plan team and designed by Delmar Press in Nantwich.

More on these developments over the coming weeks. Separate funding from Vitality via Visit Chester & Cheshire has been obtained for the new boat service, Audlem Lass which will start operating on 22nd April, Good Friday.

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