Visitors flock to bank holiday event with Grantham Canal Society

Visitors flocked to Grantham Canal Society's first event of the year on Bank Holiday Monday yesterday.

Supporters of the society were be able to see their recent work and take part in a variety of activities to help fund-raise for the society.

There was also a raffle, tombola, cake stall, education activities for the children as well as the opportunity to take a 30-minute trip on the society's The Three Shires boat.

It was also a chance for the society to talk about their upcoming projects set to take place and volunteering roles available.

Michelle Storer, press officer for the canal society, was delighted with the amount of support on offer.

She said: "We had a lovely day. It has been so long since we held an event and it was fabulous to see everyone in person.

"We had a great footfall steady all day - thanks to all the kind donations of raffle prizes, tombola and cakes we made just short of £1,200.

"Thanks very much to the Dirty Duck for allowing us to use their hall - the slipway is under construction at the depot so we couldn’t use that at the minute."

The society are appealing for more volunteers to join them.

Michelle added: "We had lots of volunteer support new and old and we hope it will be the first of many events in the next 12 months - we really do need an energetic organised person to take on the events lead role though."

The canal was opened in 1797 as a cheap way of transporting coal from Nottingham to Grantham. It proved prosperous until the opening of the Grantham to Nottingham railway in 1850. Unable to compete with the railway the canal eventually closed to boats in 1929.

By the 1960s most of the locks on the canal were derelict and their lock gates replaced with concrete weirs to control the water levels.

For more information, visit www.granthamcanal.org or for details on how to get involved in the restoration contact volunteer@granthamcanal.org.