01/10/2026
Canal Heritage Celebration at Queens Head on 19 Sep 2026.
We pitched our IWA gazebo on the towpath at Queens Head, just below the pub, and, alongside other heritage-focused events in the area, our visitors were able to discover more about the canal in its trading heyday and see the beautifully restored flyboat Saturn, built in 1906, (now the only surviving Shropshire Union Canal fly-boat) visiting from its base in Ellesmere.
Our Inland Waterways Association (IWA) local branch and the Canal & River Trust (CRT) were present to tell visitors about Montgomery Canal history and restoration works. Budding engineers could even try their hand at building a canal-style bridge to see how a self-supporting arch is built and how strong it can be.
Shropshire Paddlesport Club, based in the old canalside warehouse, held their usual training sessions in the morning and then provided taster sessions for those who wanted a paddling experience on the water.
Visitors were also able to step aboard flyboat Saturn and sit inside the boatman's cramped living quarters while a guide described the hard working lives of canal families during the days when flyboats were the 'white vans' of their day.
IWA Branch chairman, Michael Haig, said, “Our heritage day was most successful. Visitors came to learn about the canal and its story: the working days exemplified by flyboat Saturn, new works in Shropshire and across the border, and the nature reserves near Aston Locks.
“The canals were an part of the Industrial Revolution which changed this country for ever. Settlements like Queen's Head across the canal network were part of the story of their working days. At Queen's Head the canal was crossed by Telford’s Holyhead Road, there was a warehouse, wharf and crane, an Inn, and even a tramway tunnel. After it was abandoned in the 1930s the canal became overgrown and clogged, but after sixty years of restoration, boats were able to return to Queen's Head."
Today the Montgomery Canal attracts visitors from across the country and abroad and navigation extends another four miles to Crickheath. There are four new road crossings in Shropshire, including the two at Queen's Head, and volunteers are pressing on to extend navigation towards the Shropshire border at Llanymynech.
The IWA is celebrating eighty years since the 1946 start of its campaign to protect and restore our waterways. In the early days pioneers of the Association could not reach Llangollen and now the canal there is normally one of the busiest holiday canals in the country except for this year, following the December 2025 breach at Whitchurch (see our previous FB post,s over the past 9 months, of the boat {and fish] rescues and the embankment re-building). This shows just how important it is to properly care for the two-hundred year old canal heritage.
Mike added: “The Montgomery Canal is special. It was always a branch line at the end of the Shropshire Union system which extended from the Black Country to the Mersey and into Wales. Today we value its built heritage and its flora and fauna protected in reserves alongside the canal. The first of these reserves, a short distance from Queen's Head, was built by volunteers of our IWA Waterway Recovery Group with funds bequeathed by a branch member."
With their heritage and the many opportunities for recreation and tourism our canals are an important amenity for local communities and their visitors.
The IWA is the only independent, national charity campaigning for Britain’s canals and rivers, dedicated to supporting and regenerating them for leisure, living and business.
Mike continued: “Our events like this Heritage Day at Queen's Head are an opportunity to tell people what we stand for. It was a good day and a most enjoyable and informative time. We hope to repeat our Canal Heritage Day next year.”
