Lord German…

” My Lords, I start by thanking all noble Lords who have joined us today for this debate. I declare my interests as a member of the Inland Waterways Association and honorary president of the Monmouth, Breconshire and Abergavenny Canals Trust.
There are currently 4,700 miles of navigable waterways across England, Scotland and Wales—plus, of course, the waterways in Northern Ireland—and a further 1,800 miles of unusable waterways, 700 miles of which are proposed for restoration. The ownership and control of these thousands of miles of waterways rests with more than 100 navigation authorities. The largest manager is the Canal and River Trust, which looks after 2,000 miles, followed by the Environment Agency, which manages 650 miles.

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Newport U3As Cycling Group had a delightful September ride along the towpath of the Mon Brecon Canal. It was sunny but breezy as they started from Bettws Lane. The first stop was at the Ty Coch flight of locks between Newport and Cwmbran. These locks have been recently restored as part of a scheme drawn up and managed by the Mon Brecon and Abergavenny Canal Trust. Over 200 volunteers have worked on the project over the last 4 years, many gaining skills that have helped them in their search for permanent employment.

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A chance conversation at Fourteen Locks Canal Centre led to Revd John Collier being appointed as the first-ever Chaplain to the Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canals Trust.

John is curate-in-charge of the Parish of Mamhilad and will be installed as Chaplain by the Bishop of Monmouth, Rt Revd Richard Pain, at a service of thanksgiving for the work of the Trust in Mamhilad church at 12 noon on 22nd February.

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The Queen’s remarkable reign of sixty years is also quite remarkable when thinking about the history of the Canal. Queen Elizabeth II has ruled for over a quarter of the time of the Canal’s existence. In fact the timeline of the Canal has been dominated by two monarchs – both Queens. The Monmouthshire Canal  and The Brecknock & Abergavenny Canal both began their existence in the reign of George III.

The following timeline is not a comprehensive list of events, but it does give an idea of the history of the canal under different reigns.

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