LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES
UNVEILING OF REFURBISHED MILESTONE AND NEW INFORMATION BOARD.
Jan 2023
What a morning! Alicia Kearns MP - thank you SO MUCH for braving the freezing winds to come and support us by unveiling our newly restored milepost and signage this morning. Superstar!
Thanks also to Oakham Mayor Sally-Anne Wadsworth, Lucy Stephenson and Andrew Tatt from Rutland County Council, local media for coming along to help us celebrate, plus all the volunteers who came along to cheer AND the local Morris Men who treated us all to a spontaneous dance.
Most of all, thanks to Jenny Laidler, in whose garden this milepost sat for the best part of 60 years, rescued from what was then an abandoned and unloved canal. With the help of local firms MJ Coatings and Kirkland Contracting, the milepost has been beautifully restored and is now back where it rightfully belongs - by the side of the Oakham Canal. You may well have seen us by the side of the bypass this morning, we had quite a presence! If not, watch out for stories on what we were up to in Melton Times, Stamford and Rutland Mercury and Oakham Nub New, plus coverage from Rob Persani on Stamford and Rutland Sound.
PAST NEWS ARTICLES
A library of all our news updates since 2020
MP ALICIA KEARNS PLEDGES HER SUPPORT
January 15, 2022
We are delighted that, from January 2022, we can count local MP Alicia Kearns as a firm supporter of our work.
We took Alicia on a muddy tour of the canal at the beginning of January, and she was very impressed and excited by the progress we have made so far. Alicia will be coming along later in the year to publicly support us - so watch this space!
You can watch the lovely video she made alongside Paul Dadford, our project lead, here.
A WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST TRUSTEE!
January 06, 2022
We are very happy to announce that Bethany Hunt has joined us as a Trustee, specialising in environment and youth engagement.
Bethany has lots of experience as a trained Ecologist, with a particular interest in many of the species found along the canal. She also has experience leading youth groups, and she will be bringing hugely important expertise to our charity. You can read more about Bethany here: https://www.ecologyresources.co.uk/bethany
MERRY XMAS!
23 December, 2021
We'd like to wish all our supporters a very Merry Christmas. What a year 2021 was! So much has happened in our first full year as a charity, and it's all down to the hard work of our supporters and our trustees. So, thank yo.
We are very much looking forward to seeing what exciting developments 2022 will bring.
MORE THAN 500 FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS!
4 October, 2021
We're really pleased to announce that we now have over 500 followers on Facebook. We are growing an engaged and supportive community, and it's really great to see how many people are enthusiastic about what we are trying to achieve - and are willing to get their hands dirty to help us out!
Thank you to everyone who has supported us in our first year - we look forward to growing an ever-stronger community as we enter our second year as a charity.
7 REGIMENT, ROYAL LOGISTICS CORP ON PARADE..
September 17, 2021
We welcomed 7 Regiment -The Royal Logistics Corp for lots of hard work along the canal. They helped us with the rebuilding of a set of stone steps at the Burley Road entrance, erected new fencing and gates, repainted metal fencing along the roadside and put in place new signage. They also strimmed, trimmed and generally did amazing work clearing the paths along the canal. We are highly grateful to them for their efforts
GUIDED WALKS, SUMMER 2021
August 30, 2021
Our programme of guided walks, led by Paul Dadford - our Project Lead and a man who knows everything there is to know about the canal - raised an impressive £200 through donations in August. The money will be spent on new tools to help us improve the canal environment.
We got lots of positive feedback on the walks, so we will be putting a new programme together for next summer. Keep an eye on our Canal Walks page for details.
PARTNERSHIP WITH ST JOHN AND ST ANNE'S CHARITY
July 27, 2021
We've partnered with Rutland's oldest charity, St John and St Anne, so we can improve even more pathways to the west of the canal. Read more here:
https://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/charities-work-together-to-make-footpath-more-accessible
FIRST VOLUNTEER WORK PARTIES
July 1, 2021
Our first volunteer work parties are here! Starting from 8 July we will be holding regular work parties throughout the summer to keep vegetation in check, clear rubbish and generally make the canal environment a lovely place to be. We will be posting dates on Facebook as and when they are announced, so please follow us there for the latest updates.
THANKS TO MELTON ROUND TABLE
June 19, 2021
We'd like to say a big thank you and well done to Melton Mowbray Round Table, who have been hard at work on helping us remove and rebuild the rickety steps leading to the canal north of Burley Road. Despite one member getting lost, we still had a great team who carried out the work in no time at all. Thanks lads!
FUNDING FOR NEW STEPS AND FENCING
June 3, 2021
We recently received funding to replace the steps and fencing at the entrance to the canal north of Burley Road. These steps are extremely uneven and pose a danger to the public.
We will soon start work to clear the undergrowth, remove the current steps and put in place a temporary set, before resetting the stones and replacing the fencing. We would love support from anyone who has experience in landscaping, groundworks or fencing, or who is just happy to come along and get their hands dirty - please get in touch if that's you!
PLANS FOR THE NORTHERN SECTION PATH - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
May 7, 2021
May is here and all the flowers and trees along the canal are beginning to blossom. We have been busy working away behind the scenes, ready to get works underway over the next few months now that lockdown is easing.
Our first works are likely to take place on the northern section of the canal, between Burley Road and Ashwell Road, to improve the footpath and access. Both the current set of steps and the footpath itself are in a bad state, so we are looking to improve both of these, as well as shoring up the canal bank where needed. We are working closely with our friends at Ecology Resources to ensure we carry out all works with respect to the biodiversity of the area.
We are always looking for volunteers, so if you have any experience undertaking this kind of work, we would be happy to hear from you. We will also be organising our first work parties soon, so please join our mailing list if you'd like to be kept up-to-date on these
PLANS PROGRESS FOR PERMISSIVE FOOTPATHS
January 19, 2021
We have had some positive meetings with the landowner and tenant farmer with a view to acquiring permissive access rights to the footpaths on the western bank of the canal. We hope to formalise this agreement early in 2021 with both parties. This will allow us to make the footpaths accessible to the public, and allow us to provide proper access gates.
LEASE EXTENDED FOR NORTHERN SECTION
November 8 2020
Oakham Angling Society has acquired a lease for the northern section of the Green Corridor. The tenant farmer has improved the fencing to the eastern bank, which will hopefully keep the cattle from causing further damage to the footpath.
In 2019 staff from Bradshaw Taylor (otherwise known as Cavells) helped us with some much-needed maintenance to the vegetation. The main issue in this section is waterlogging of the footpath during winter. Oakham Angling Society is currently assessing the depth of water in this section of the canal, and the results of the survey will help us determine the best way to improve the footpath and create new angling platforms.
REGISTRATION OF NEW CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION
October 25, 2020
Over the last few years our project has been run as a loose partnership between the Melton & Oakham Waterways Society, Oakham Angling Society, Sustainable Land Trust and Rutland County Council. Whilst this has served us well in developing the overall project plan, a new structure is needed going forward.We applied to register The Oakham Canal Green Corridor Project as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and were pleased to hear in October 2020 that our application has been successful. This body is registered with the Charity Commission and is run by a Board of Trustees. This gives us the mechanism to raise funds, seek grants, obtain insurance and enter into formal agreements with both landowners and contractors.
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