Duchess is set to name boat on Wilts and Berks Canal

The Duchess of Cornwall will return to the Wilts and Berks Canal on Wednesday, September 8, to help celebrate its 200th anniversary.

Camilla, who is a patron of the Wilts and Berks Canal Trust, will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the canal by naming, and travelling on, the canal’s first purpose-built boat trip for visitors.

She will also be digging the first sod to create the new Melksham Link at Hilperton Marina.

In May, the duchess opened a bridge at the canal, just minutes from her country home in Reybridge, half a mile from Lacock.

It had been painstakingly restored by members of the trust.

Chairman John Laverick said: “The trustees are delighted that the Duchess of Cornwall has been able to help us mark the 200th anniversary of the opening of the canal. “It is a wonderful way for us to thank key supporters, as well as marking the milestone of commissioning our first trip boat which will give a real sense of what a fully-restored waterway will bring to local communities.”

The Duchess of Cornwall will also celebrate International Literacy Day on the same day by joining a ‘rhymetime’ session at Trowbridge Library in Mortimer Street.

The rhymetime is being organised in partnership with the National Literacy Trust.