WORK has started on a project to revitalise a Little Lever canal.

The Nob End Locks are at the centre of major works to uncover and restore the area’s hidden heritage.

Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Society (MBBC) is leading the project in partnership with the Canal and River Trust.

Volunteers began working on the site this weekend as part of a programme to excavate the lock and improve the appearance of the area, which is home to the famous Meccano bridge.

Society chairman, Paul Hindle said: “It’s been great fun and everyone’s had a great time.

“Under supervision of Bolton Council and the Trust, we are the first volunteer group in the North of England to use heavy machinery on a dig.

“It’s all about the heritage, we want to make the canal more visible and it’s been fascinating watching it re-appear very slowly.”

The project will see the excavation of infill underneath one of the bridges over the canal and the structure — known as the bullnose — that splits the canal.

The lock flight is also going to be partially excavated, after it was in-filled in the 1960s, to show off the locks.

Rubble will also be cleared and old trees and logs removed to give a clear view of the site.

Partial excavation of all six locks on the flight will also take place over the coming years.

It is one of the largest projects to take place on the canal in the last number of years, with over 200 tonnes of earth removed over the weekend.

Work on the initial stages of the project will continue over the next two months.

The society’s long term plan for the site is to return the lock to full operation, along with the rest of the canal and put back to how it used to be.

The remains of the long since demolished lockhouse is still visible on site and this too could be rebuilt in order to provide a station for a lock keeper.

To find out more visit mbbcs.org.uk.