Lichfield canal enthusiasts made the most of good weather to make a big impression on judges for a national award.
The Living Waterways Awards 2015, run by the Canal and River Trust, recognise the most inspiring and exciting waterway-based projects across the UK and the judges were assessing the disabled-friendly Heritage Towpath Trail created by Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust near the A51 Tamworth Road.
A festive scene greeted the judges, CRT heritage consultant Alan Johnson and accessibility consultant Phil Chambers, with flags flying in the gentle breeze and champagne and strawberries and cream on offer to volunteers and regular visitors to the towpath.
The bid for an award was given additional support by Councillor Terry Finn, leader of Lichfield City Council, and the presence of Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant, a patron of the Trust.
The Trail, built entirely by volunteers, has been entered in three of the six categories of the Living Waterways Awards – Community and Volunteering, Recreation and Tourism, and Restoration and the Historic Environment – and Trust officers were keen to stress the 400-metre Trail’s accessibility to wheelchair and mobility scooter users, as well as families, dog walkers, runners and cyclists.
The Tamworth Road section is part of an ambitious plan to restore the seven-mile Lichfield Canal, from Huddlesford to Brownhills, which was built at the end of the 18th century but abandoned in the 1950s.
The next stage of the awards process is a meeting of an assessment panel to decide which projects will be invited to the Living Waterways Awards ceremony on October 8 in London.
