About the Project - Background to the Project
(there will be more pictures, pages and a playlist added after the launch on 15th April)
The walk was designed by Galloway's (Lancashire's blind and partially-sighted charity) and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal Society, in cooperation with British Waterways, to provide an interesting and leisurely stroll along the canal towpath. The information about the canal's heritage and its interpretation is designed to be available to all, with tactile panels designed jointly by members of Galloway's and of the canal society.
The project was first suggested in 2002 when the canal society worked with Galloway's in providing a workshop on the canal at Lancashire College in Chorley. Traditional boat painting, costume, ropework and clog dancing were the canal-related workshops held at Lancashire College, with a visit to the boatyard at Adlington and a boat trip from Botany to the locks as the external visits. From work undertaken at this time, the canal locks at Johnsons Hillock were found to be an ideal attraction for both sighted and unsighted visitors, with much of historic interest.
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For several years nothing further was done until Galloway's members who had enjoyed the first canal workshop, requested a second one. Discussions between Galloway's and the canal society about a second workshop led to the idea of a guided walk down the locks where those reminders of the days when the canal was used for transport could be seen and felt. Many features are accessible to the blind and partially-sighted, such as rope grooves in the stonework of bridges and locks, it just required a guide to provide the information for people to locate and interpret what they found. For many blind and partially-sighted people, the towpath is seen as a safe place, with good surfaces to the path and few obstructions. The closeness of the water's edge is not seen as a problem by Galloway's members. With British Waterway's help, a £20,000 Local Heritage Initiative grant was obtained in 2006, and this is now provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The grant provided finance for workshops and site visits, the design, production and installation of signage, and the creation of sound files describing the walk, the canal's history and the operation of locks. These were to be available through the Galloway's website, together with the text so that sighted people could also obtain the information easily. The sound files were to be suitable for playing on an mp3 player or similar portable device. Information about how the guide was devised was also to be put together to provide advice for similar walks.
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