The Wey & Arun Canal Trust held their autumn meeting at Cranleigh Village Hall on Friday, 28th October. Although officially called our "Extraordinary General Meeting" it is really an opportunity for a review of the past year's events and a look at what is planned for 2006.

Before the meeting, an exhibition opened by Cllr Brian Ellis, Chairman of Cranleigh Parish Council, demonstrated the range of projects that the Trust is undertaking. This includes the major restoration work being carried out in Loxwood incorporating a new lock. Project leaders were on hand to answer questions - and were eager to meet any new volunteers.

At the meeting itself, Peter Foulger, Chairman of the Trust outlined all that had been achieved during the year. This included the re-opening of the swingbridge at Haybarn, the unveiling of a plaque at the Compasses Inn, Alfold by our President, Lord Egremont and recently the 2000th Trust member welcomed by the well-known actor Timothy West. Eric Walker, the manager for the B2133 crossing then took over to explain to about 100 members how this project was going and outlined the next phrase for early 2006. This will be the rebuilding of the Brewhurst Lock and the lowering of the water level in the Onslow pound. Eric had some fascinating photos of what might have been the original Loxwood bridge.

The evening ended with a presentation by Anthony Woolhouse. He leads a team on "Canal Completion Strategy" and announced that W S Atkins, consultants, have won the commission to prepare a "canal completion" report which will deal with environmental and community issues. This report will probably take six months to complete and will give the Trust invaluable independent advice on restoring the final sections of the Wey & Arun canal and associated works.