AN HISTORIC stretch of Newport water will be unlocked after more than six decades this weekend.

Today, a boat was due to travel along a section of the Brecon and Monmouthshire canal for the first time in more than 60 years.

Newport's new mayor, Councillor Ken Critchley, will be on board for the landmark 650-metre journey between Ruskin Avenue and Cefn Wharf (Fourteen Locks).

On Saturday, a canal awareness day will allow the public to be able to take a look at the restored lock and take part in boat trips.

It marks the culmination of several years of painstaking restoration work and means Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canal Trust will now be able to run regular trips on the waterway, enhancing the site as a tourist attraction and educational centre.

Chris Morgan, of the Monmouthshire, Brecon and Abergavenny Canal Trust, hoped the serious attitude of Newport council in restoring the canal would spur the neighbouring Caerphilly authority into tackling the section through Pontymister and Risca.

"This project has brought together hundreds of volunteers from all walks of life, both abled and disabled, and indeed from various parts of the world.

"Some volunteers have come from France, Canada and Romania to work on this lock over the past three years."

Funding for the £200,000 scheme came from a variety of sources, including the city council, the European Regional Development Fund and Wales Tourist Board.

Cefn Wharf is one of the city's most historic sites where the impressive flight of 14 locks rises 160 feet in just half a mile.

Visitors can trace the growth and decline of the waterway and its role in transporting commodities as well as experience a "virtual" journey thanks to a computer-based information point.

Jeff Pride, director of Herian, a partnership set up to raise awareness of South Wales' industrial era, said: "People can come here both to enjoy healthy outdoor activity and to explore stories of the golden period when this canal played a major role in world industry."