The Montgomery Canal originally ran for 35 miles starting at Newtown and ending at Frankton Junction in Shropshire, where it joined the Llangollen Canal. After sections of its banks burst in 1936 it lay abandoned until a group of volunteers and the British Waterways Board began repairing it in 1969.
Beside the canal wharf is the Powysland Museum, marked outside by a big blue handbag (an Andy Hancock sculpture to commemorate the Queen's Jubilee) and pillars painted by local schoolchildren and topped by carved birds. Inside, the museum tells the story of the county, with great details – such as the Roman recipe for stuffed dormouse.
