A DERELICT stretch of canal between Royal Wootton Bassett and Swindon is to be brought back to life after a campaign brought in £575,000 in grants.

Last month, the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust made an urgent appeal for funds to save the 1.25km section of waterway at Studley Grange. It needed to fundraise for more than £600,000 to carry out essential work, which will also involve creating a wildlife trail alongside a former landfill site, as well as link it up with the restored section at Chaddington Lock.

Now, work can begin after the charity received a number of grants and the support of Viridor Credits through the Landfill Community Fund, the People’s Millions, the Inland Waterways Association, the local Wiltshire Council Area Board and the Underwood Trust.

Kath Hatton, vice-chairman of the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust and the charity’s fundraising director, said she was pleased work can now get under way this month.

“We are excited this section of the waterway will soon be restored thanks to the generous support of so many organisations,” she said.

“It will be a complex operation as the canal was filled in when it was abandoned in the early part of the last century, so contractors will need to excavate the route.

“The damaged towpath will be reinstated and piling work will be required to stabilise some of the canal bank.

“However, once the work has been completed we will have a wonderful new wildlife haven.”

The charity hope the work will enable 24-hour access for all around the stretch with he ultimate aim of forming a navigable waterway from the Kennet and Avon Canal, near Melksham, to the Thames and Severn Canal near Cricklade and the River Thames near Abingdon.

The trust aims to get community groups and schools involved in the restoration work.

Kath said: “This will be an amazing attraction when finished, but the trust still needs to continue fundraising for some of the preliminary works including site clearance and ground investigations to release further funding. Our own members have raised nearly £10,000 but we need to reach £25,000 to unlock the rest of the support which has been promised. Therefore we hope residents and businesses will recognise the value of this scheme and offer their own donations.”

The Viridor Credits Environmental Company, which was established in 2001 to distribute funding via the Landfill Communities Fund, awarded more than £349,500 to the project, which is the largest single grant made to the Canal Trust.

The Underwood Trust, a long-time supporter, is co-funding the excavation of Studley Grange. It is also funding the planting of the wildlife corridor in association with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Friends of the Earth (The Bee Cause). The hope is the corridor will be extended along the length of the canal.

A grant from the People’s Millions will provide a multi-use surface to the towpath and a share of the planting for the wildlife corridor, as well as bird and bat boxes, and support for community involvement, while the Wiltshire Council Area Board has provided a grant for new fencing. Visit wbct.org.uk to find out more.