| Margaret launches our missing Link! |  |
By Emma Broom |
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PRESTON'S water link to the rest of the country has been officially opened by MP Margaret Beckett.
The Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs cruised down the Millennium Ribble Link yesterday and was greeted by dozens of spectators. The 6m Link joins the Lancaster Canal to the rest of the inland waterway network for the first time. (photograph) All ABOARD: Margaret Beckett aboard the Ashanti Gold after officially opening the Millenium Link basin. |
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"It was noticeable coming here today just how many people have taken the trouble to come here.
"I'm sure the local community will take great pride in it."
The Link starts 1.5 miles down river from Preton Riversway where the Ribble and Sharoe Brook meet.
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With plans already in the pipeline to restore the canal as far as Kendal, boaters will soon be able to travel non stop from London to the Lakes.
It is a joint project between the Ribble Link Trust, The Waterways Trust, British Waterways and Lancashire County Council. (photograph) Barge Trip: Mayor of Preston Jonathan Saksena and officials make their way through the locks. |
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It has been part-funded by the Millennium Commission and completes part of a plan first laid out more than two centuries ago. British Waterways regional director Derek Cochrane said: Two hundred years after the idea was first conceived, a waterway link has finely be constructed and everyone involved can now rightly share in that achievement.”
[Editors Note: see The Old Tram Road for more details of the plan originally proposed in 1792.]
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