The final phase is due to start on a £3.2 million project to restore canal basins which, in Victorian times, were a seaside-style playground for visitors from the Black Country and Birmingham.

The project in Stourport is due for completion by the end of March and will include a £600,000 landscaping scheme to improve access to the Tontine gardens. Nine-metre high crane-style lights are planned to help place the spotlight on the history of the basins – once a busy port.

Goods were transported between land, canals and the River Severn. Officials from British Waterways also plan to create a Discovery Trail around the basins to help link the old and the new and reveal some of their history to visitors.

A series of leaflets has already been produced detailing Stourport’s past and another is planned as part of a partnership with Bewdley Civic Society concentrating on the history of the basins.

These are expected to be published later this Spring.

The £3.2 million restoration scheme has been paid for through £1.7 million in grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £1 million from British Waterways and £256,000 from the regional development group Advantage West Midlands through Stourport Forward.

Support for the project has also come from county, town and district councils.

As work begins on the final phase of the project officials are now planning to hold a Flow Festival with party-style celebrations from July 11 to July 13.

Alex Ball, project manager for British Waterways, said: “This final construction phase is very important because it introduce new elements to the historic basins in an attempt to make the story of the inland port clearer to visitors.

“We hope people will come to Stourport Canal Basins many times over the coming years and will discover something new each time they return.”

By Sue Smith