Droitwich News
Work completed at Droitwich Spa Marina
4:30pm Tuesday 21st February 2012
MAJOR construction work to create Droitwich Spa Marina has now been completed.
The facility, based near the town’s rugby club in Hanbury Road, will form an integral part of Droitwich benefiting from the £12 million canal regeneration project unveiled last year. It will help accommodate the predicted increase in the number of boating visitors attracted to the town.
The extra visitors will bring an estimated £2.75 million to the local economy each year.
The 238 berth marina development, which has received interest from the community and narrowboat owners up and down the country, welcomed its first boats on Sunday.
The three boat arrivals marked the end of seven months of work to transform the 11 acre field. It also brings to an end the final phase of the construction programme - a 70 metre reinforced concrete entrance structure to connect the site to the canal network.
GJP Marina Developments, the appointed contractors, moved in excess of 300,000 tonnes of material over a 21 week period.
The coming weeks will now see a steady stream of boats arrive in the marina from across country.
The family-owned facility will hold another open day on Saturday, April 28 from 10am to 3pm.
“We are delighted to welcome boaters into our new marina, everyone involved has worked hard to transform this field into a marina, in just seven months,” said Nick Parkes, director.
He added: “Just like a motorway needs service stations and car parking, so does a canal, hence a need for narrowboat marina. We are pleased to be open now ahead of the spring/summer season.”
The completion of the marina creates a new chapter in the history of Droitwich Canal, originally the ‘Droitwich barge’ canal built by James Brindley and opened in 1771. It served the Droitwich salt industry, linking the town to the river Severn and the world beyond. The Droitwich junction canal was built by R Boddington and opened in 1854 and was one of the last canals to be completed. Both canals declined due to competition from the railways and were officially abandoned in 1939. Then in 1973, Droitwich Canals Trust and a team of volunteers set about getting this canal restored.
The waterway is the only one in the UK to have been fully restored from end to end in the past decade and makes up a new 21 mile circular cruising circuit – the Mid-Worcestershire Ring. Droitwich Spa Marina is the only marina on this new stretch.
For more information visit droitwichspamarina.co.uk