A WORKING canal boat will return to a stretch of the Wilts and Berks Canal for the first time in more than 100 years following a £10,000 restoration project.

Boats Boswell and Pewsham were unveiled last week at Pewsham Locks following four years of restoration which was funded by Hills Waste Solutions.

The restoration work by volunteers included cutting the original boat, Boswell, in half to create a tug and butty, as well as replacing the electrics, repainting and restoring them back to working condition.

The boats will be used to carry tools and materials along the 1.5-mile stretch of the canal below Pewsham Locks.

Dave Maloney, chairman of the Melksham, Calne and Chippenham branch of the trust, said: “Volunteers have worked incredibly hard to convert Boswell; she had to be modified, as there was nowhere on our restored stretch of canal wide enough to turn her, but looking at them both now, it’s hard to believe they were originally one boat.

“I would like to thank everyone who has helped, and hope that they will all enjoy seeing a boat and butty back on our bit of canal.”

It will be the first time a working boat has travelled this section of the canal since 1901, when the collapse of the Stanley Aqueduct left this section of the canal virtually empty of water.

The boats were unveiled at Pewsham Locks by Warminster Mayor Terry Gibson, Mr Maloney and volunteers as well as chief executive of The Hills Group, Michael Hill.

“I am delighted to have been invited to this landmark ceremony,” said Mr Hill.

“Hills is pleased to have been able to help with this important community restoration project, and I am really happy to help celebrate the return of a working boat to this stretch of the Wilts and Berks Canal.”