Wey & Arun Canal - Prestigious award for Wey & Arun Canal Trust's Loxwood Lock

	THE WEY & ARUN CANAL 'London's Lost Route to the Sea'

Prestigious award for Wey & Arun Canal Trust's Loxwood Lock

Loxwood Lock, situated on the Wey & Arun Canal at Loxwood, West Sussex, has just gained the runner-up award in the Community Benefit category in the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' 2010 RICS Awards South East.

The lock was part of a £1.8 million scheme managed by the Wey & Arun Canal Trust and completed in 2009.

The scheme involved lowering the existing and restored Brewhurst Lock, lowering, by 1.6 metres, a stretch of canal more than 400 metres long, constructing a highway bridge in Loxwood High Street and building Loxwood Lock. The purpose of the lock is to raise the canal back up to its original level after it has passed under the B2133 main road. Subject to water supply, this will extend the length of the canal available for boat trips, and improve the facilities available to the public. The lock chamber was built in concrete, and faced with traditional locally-made Weinerberger bricks, the same bricks being used to build the associated horse bridge at the foot of the lock.

The funding was principally provided by donations and the result is enhanced tourism through leisure boats, walkers, cyclists and anglers, which has the added benefit of providing trade for the village shops.

Philip Bobby FRICS, the South East Regional Judge, said of the project: "Faced by the prospect of raising money, of obtaining permissions, of lowering 400m of canal bed, of tunnelling under a busy rural road, of constructing a new road crossing and a new lock, even the hardened professional would have found this a daunting task. But this is what the Trust has achieved using professional and engineering skills where needed, and engaging many bands of enthusiastic volunteers. The new length of canal adds to the rural landscape, is an amenity for boating, fishermen and for walkers and benefits the whole community."

Eric Walker, Project Manager for the Wey & Arun Canal Trust, added: "This has been a most satisfying project, bringing as it has plaudits from all quarters of the construction industry and this 2010 Award for Community Benefit from the Royal Institute of Charted Surveyors fully reflects what the Wey & Arun Canal Trust set out to achieve. And the recovery of the derelict canal along from Loxwood is continuing with the help of the volunteers."

Wey & Arun Canal Trust chairman Sally Schupke paid tribute to the volunteers responsible for most of the work: "We were all delighted to receive news of the award in recognition of the Trust's clever and hard working volunteers, who made the whole project such a success"

Further information about the Wey & Arun Canal Trust is available from the Trust's office, on 01403 752403.

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Notes for Editors

Further information is available from Bill Thomson, bill_thomson@weyandarun.co.uk, 01403 210347, or 0777 7668 928

The Wey & Arun Canal Trust

The Wey & Arun Canal, "London's lost route to the sea" was originally opened in 1816 between the River Wey at Shalford, near Guildford, and Pallingham, near Pulborough, the head of navigation of the River Arun. It closed in 1871, due to railway competition. Since the 1970s the 23-mile waterway has been the subject of a campaign by volunteers led by the Wey & Arun Canal Trust to restore the route to navigation. Work has been undertaken in a number of locations, most notably the stretch near the Sussex/Surrey border at Loxwood. Nearly three miles in length, this includes five working locks, two public road crossings, an aqueduct, two farm bridges, and numerous minor works, all built or rebuilt through voluntary effort. Boat trips are available on this stretch, onboard several craft, including the new 50-seater electrically-powered Wiggonholt.

Last updated Tuesday, 01 June, 2010

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