Wey & Arun Canal Trust

Sir Peter Mursell was one of the first vice-presidents appointed by the Wey & Arun Canal Trust.

In the early days of canal restoration, particularly in the South of England, such projects were viewed with suspicion by many people and sometimes even with aggression. In the early ‘70's Sir Peter saw the bigger picture and became a strong supporter of the long-term project to restore the derelict old canal often referred to as London’s Lost Route to the Sea.

With his position at County Hall he was able to quietly let his fellow councillors and officers know of his support of the project and he was happy to accept the position of vice president to publicly show that support.

In those early days he hosted a cheese and wine evening for the committee amidst the lovely apple orchards in Kirdford. However, it was his continuing support in his quiet fashion and his willingness to attend special meetings and events whenever possible that was appreciated. Most of the time he was content to remain in the background and only proffer advise when asked to do so. On the rare occasions we called a meeting of the VP’s he was always ready with his ‘words of wisdom’!

He quietly arranged generous grants from his family trust for the canal trust on several occasions. To many of the 2500 members of the now thriving WACT he was probably just a name in the list of Officers of the Trust. It is now the time to remind those members of one of the strong supporters of the restoration of ‘our’ canal in those early days when one of the main tasks was to establish the credibility of the project.

It is unfortunate that Sir Peter will not have the pleasure of joining the first cruise under the new bridge at Loxwood. We will raise a glass to his memory when that event takes place, hopefully in the near future.

Peter Beresford
Vice President & former Chairman Wey & Arun Canal Trust.