Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

Wiltshire people get first glimpse of waterway.

Volunteers from the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust have plans for the first stretch of new canal to be dug in the West for almost 200 years.

The people of a west Wiltshire town got their first glimpse of how a transformation of their river into a fully-functioning canal would look.

Two information boards have been installed on the River Avon in Melksham, where volunteers from the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust have plans for the first stretch of new canal to be dug in the West for almost 200 years.

They want to restore the whole canal, which stretches from the Kennet & Avon Canal at Semington, through a host of Wiltshire towns to meet the Thames in what is now Oxfordshire. The canal in Melksham has been built over, so the plan is to dig a new link between the Kennet & Avon and the town, then modify the River Avon to take canal boats.

Trust volunteer Paul Lenaerts, the project manager for the Melksham Link, said the whole town would benefit from a 21st century canal tourism boom.

'Plans for bringing the Wilts & Berks Canal back through Melksham are steadily gaining momentum, so we are grateful to the area board and the town council for helping us to raise awareness of these exciting proposals.

'The new canal wouldn't just be for boaters and canoeists but also anglers, walkers, runners, cyclists and people with pushchairs and wheelchairs who would all have access to a towpath which would open up the local countryside.

'There would also be huge benefits for tourism and employment – similar to those enjoyed by towns and villages along the K&A – as well as a new wildlife corridor enabling plants and animals to flourish.

'The Melksham Link could completely transform the town's prospects,' he added.

Read more: http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/way-waterway-develop/story-20963339-detail/story.html#ixzz2z3FufhLV