budget the award of £16 million for the purpose. The award comes from the government's 'Levelling Up Fund', and covers restoration of the remaining in Wales. The money has to be spent by the spring of 2024, and it is likely that this timescale will not be sufficient to allow the restoration of two road crossings, which will be completed afterwards. Architecture The lock gear on the Eastern Branch of the Montgomeryshire were of a different design to those on other canals. Whereas most other canal locks have culverts in the side walls to fill and empty the lock, with paddles opening and closing vertically, the locks on the Montgomeryshire were designed with a culvert in the base of the canal with the paddle sliding horizontally over the culvert. During operation, this can lead to a large whirlpool being observed. To operate the paddle, the winding gear is purely a geared design rather than rack and pinion. An effect of this is that there is no pawl to be operated and the paddles cannot be accidentally dropped shut. The paddle gear was designed by George W. Buck, who was appointed Engineer of the Eastern branch in 1819, and Clerk to the Western branch in 1822. Many of the lock gates on the Montgomeryshire Canal were replaced with cast iron gates. These gates were curved with tubular cast iron balance beams. The last surviving pair were removed from Welshpool and taken to Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum in the early 1970s. Bridge numbers on the Montgomery sections of the canal continue on from the Llanymynech Branch of the Ellesmere Canal at Frankton Junction. The first bridge on the Montgomery Canal (Lockgate Bridge) is therefore number 71, the numbering beginning at Hurleston Junction. Because of this, the Llangollen Canal has two separate series of bridge numbering, one ending at Frankton Junction and the other beginning at Frankton Junction. Nature conservation In the years following the closure of the canal, wildlife flourished. The whole of the Welsh section and parts of the English section (notably the section from the Aston Locks to Keeper's Bridge) were designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The notable wildlife includes Floating Water Plantain and Grass-wrack pondweed. To preserve the wildlife, nature reserves have been created at points along the canal. These include Rednal Basin, most of the Weston Branch and a specially constructed reserve alongside the Aston