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The Montgomery Canal (originally the "Montgomeryshire Canal") is a semi-disused canal in eastern Wales. It is now considered to run 53 km from "Frankton Junction" with the Llangollen Canal in Shropshire (England) to the town of Newtown in Powys, via Welshpool. However, the first section of the canal from Frankton Junction is historically the main line of the Ellesmere Canal to the point where what we now call the Weston branch diverges, and then the Llanymynech branch of the Ellesmere Canal: approximately the first 16 km of what is now called the Montgomery Canal was built by the Ellesmere Canal Company. The Montgomeryshire Canal was planned with an end-on junction with the Llanymynech branch of the Ellesmere.
At present only the northern section near Frankton Junction, and a central section of the canal around Welshpool is naviagable.
History The canal was authorised in 1793 and by 1797 26 km had been built from Llanymynech to Garthmyl, but stopping 11 km short of Newtown. The canal travelled through a sparsely populated area, and generated only rural traffic which made little profit.
A lack of capital and income greatly delayed construction of the canal. With shareholders fearing they might lose their investment if the canal were completed, a separate company was set up to build the remainder of the canal through to Newtown, the work being completed in 1821: this part was known as the Western Branch of the Montgomeryshire, the original section being known as the Eastern Branch. In total the canal was built over a period of 30 years by three independent companies.
In 1847 the Eastern Branch joined the Shropshire Union network, followed in 1850 by the Western Branch.
Partly due to the late arrival of railways in the area, the Montgomery Canal gradually increased traffic and became profitable. It remained so until after the First World War after which it began making heavy losses. The Shropshire Union company was bought out by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1922 and the canal became increasingly run down.
In 1936 a breach ocurred near Frankton Junction and the decision was taken to abandon the canal.
In recent years enthusiasts have been steadily restoring the canal for use by pleasure boaters. In several places the canal has been filled in and roads have been built over the formation, so re-opening the full length of the canal would be an expensive project.
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