The Present and the Future
The Stover Canal Society was formed following a public meeting held in February 1999 which expressed overwhelming enthusiasm for the canal to be restored. Teignbridge District Council had incorporated part of the canal towpath into the Templer Way historical trail in the late 1980s and were considering what future steps to take; the Inland Waterways Association had been calling for action over the state of the canal and a number of individuals, notably the current society Chairman Roger Harding, had been enquiring about and investigating the status and condition of the canal.
At that time the majority of the canal was owned by Railtrack (now Network Rail), who agreed to hand over the canal free of charge to Teignbridge District Council for leisure use by the community. Considerable legal and other associated work has followed, and at the time of writing the transfer was expected to be completed in the spring of 2005. Once the transfer is complete the intention is to set up a Charitable Trust incorporating representatives of the society, Teignbridge District Council, the relevant County, Town and Parish Councils plus other interested parties to manage the canal and carry out restoration work.
Meanwhile, the society has made a start on the physical restoration of the canal, holding a number of Working Parties which to date have cleared scrub and trees from a considerable proportion of the canal, allowing the extent of the remaining work to be assessed.
A number of options for restoration and conservation of the canal have been considered, these are detailed in the Business and Development Plan which includes detailed information on the history of the canal, the current condition of the canal and its structures, and plans for the future.