HLF

For more detailed information, please visit the ‘Woolsthorpe Flight’ tile on the homepage, where you’ll find blogs compiled by the Grantham Canal Society & Canal and River Trust.

Summer 2021

Lock 14 is now complete.  This brings this National Lottery Heritage Fund supported project to restore locks 14 & 15 to a close.  We are currently seeking funding to restore the penultimate lock in this flight of seven.

Summer 2020

We didn’t factor in Covid-19 into the works programme.  Volunteers are back at work in a socially distanced way.  Lock 14 is fundamentally complete and awaiting the gates to be installed.

Summer 2019

Lock 14 having been largely taken down, is being rebuilt.  Lock chamber walls are now at 3m in height and the Waterway Recovery Group are on site (July & August).

Summer 2018

Lock 15 complete and moved on to Lock 14 which is another major rebuild.

Beginning of May 2018

Lock 15 chamber walls complete.  Top and Bottom lock moorings complete.  Gates made, currently awaiting fitting.

End February 2017

Both Lock 15 chamber walls almost to full height – soon ready for the coping stones.

August 2016 – one year in!

Both Lock 15 chamber walls, having been taken down to the lock bottom, are being rebuilt – and are currently around half way.

Update December 2015

Restoration work on site started August 2015

The ‘Grantham Canal Heritage Initiative’ (GCHI), supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund is now well underway way.  This working partnership between the Canal and River Trust (CRT) and the Grantham Canal Society (GCS) is key to restoring the remaining four locks in the Woolsthorpe flight, of which there are seven in total.

The GCHI project, with a grant of £830,800 is to fund the restoration of two of these locks (just short of £100,000 matched funding required by GCS).  Benefiting from the training and skills learned, this will enable us to proceed to restore the remaining two locks in the flight.

The workforce (volunteer) is being provided by the Grantham Canal Society, with project management by CRT.

We acknowledge the valuable volunteer input of the Waterway Recovery Group (WRG) in this project.

GCS teams are working with Carol Parr Associates, RALi Studios and Heritage Now, towards design and installation of interpretation along the canal.  A large part of this community aspect is to collect reminiscences and to keep a video diary of the project.

 

 

 

The Grantham Canal

Heritage Lottery Fund Initiative

Background

The Heritage Lottery Fund has approved a development grant to the Grantham Canal Partnership which was made through South Kesteven District Council, of £48,000- a grant that could lead to a £3/4 million pound investment if Stage 2 of the application is successful. This is a most exciting initiative and could lead to the current navigable length of canal between the A1 at Grantham and Woolsthorpe extended through into Leicestershire and overcoming the main obstacles in reaching Redmile.

The Project

The project involves the Grantham Canal Society working in close collaboration with the Grantham Canal Partnership. There are two key themes to the project; the establishment of a heritage skills training base at the former BW maintenance depot at Woolsthorpe, where the focus will be on lock restoration, in addition the project will provide new interpretation panels and signage alongside the canal. 13 of the 18 locks on the Grantham are in various stages of dereliction. This initiative hopes to fully restore the  4 derelict locks between Woolsthorpe and Stenwith and in so doing, to extend the navigable length of the canal and provide volunteers with the skills to tackle other locks along the canal and on other canals elsewhere. The training programme will be part of a national training initiative being developed by the Inland Waterways Association.

The interpretation part of the project will work with local communities (in particular their schools and the elderly) to unlock old photographs, stories and to identify heritage that has been lost. The information resourced will then be available for all, on new interpretation canalside panels.

The final focus of the project will be to attract new volunteers from further afield and from a wider cross – section of people, particularly from Nottingham and Leicester.

Timetable

Over the next 18 months development work will take place to ensure that a successful Stage 2 application is made. If successful work could start  in 2013 and is likely to last 2 to 3 years. *UPDATE: Stage 2 application due to be sent in: September 2014

The Next Stage

There is a lot to do in particularly commissioning a range of specialist studies. Help will be needed with volunteer work in particular—

• Vegetation clearance—the locks will need clearing of  vegetation clearance to allow a specialist structural engineering survey to take place.

• Community consultation—we will need to consult with as many of the community along the canal corridor as possible although not fully detailed it is likely to consist of a series of workshops together with consultation at a village / school / club level.

 

Lock 15 – summer 2011