Swansea Canal Society was delighted to welcome our Patron, Liz McIvor, to Clydach. Liz is a much-respected industrial historian who is well known for her fascinating television documentaries such as ‘Canals: The Making Of A Nation’ (2015) and ‘Railways: The Making Of A Nation’ (2016), amongst others. She previously lived in the Swansea area but now lives in Bury, Manchester. She was in the area to speak at a Swansea Canal 225^th Anniversary Exhibition event at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea but first we took the opportunity to show her some recent developments on the canal in the Clydach area. The visit was hosted by Alan T and Martin D.

Mike F explained the recent improvements to our canoe and kayak hire arrangements and to the canoe store in Coed Gwilym Park, and the major landscaping changes around the towpath area including plans for the new slipway coming later this year.

We walked along the canal to see the wonderful tree carvings of flora and fauna, where Alan T pointed out the fox, the otter, birds of prey in the branches above and the other marvellous features in what has become an outdoor art gallery area.

At the Buried Lock site John D and Gordon told Liz of the plans to one day reinstate the lock chamber and excavate new sections of canal, which will complement the new boat basin.

Our final visit of the morning was to the Swansea Canal Centre development in Hebron Road. Liz was keen to understand how the Centre would fit into our future plans for better access to the canal, opening up additional stretches, running a small trip boat, etc. Gordon and James Daley, our constructor, explained the layout of the building, pointed out the solar panels (sufficient for all our power needs), the future location of the ‘green’ roof, the stone barge and canal mural, etc. She took a great interest in all that we showed her, and asked many question of her hosts.

Some years on from her previous visit it was our pleasure to bring Liz up to speed on the many changes and our ongoing projects before she headed into Swansea.

In the National Waterfront Museum, Liz enjoyed the “225 in 2023” exhibition and she and David Morgan from Glandŵr Cymru spoke eloquently to those present.

The Society is most grateful for Liz’s time and we look forward to seeing her back in Swansea very soon.

We are indebted to Yun Yun Herbert for the photos in the NWFM.