SCHOOLS, businesses and community groups from Stourport are busy decorating model boats to celebrate the birth of a pioneering engineer.

James Brindley was the visionary who decided that the town should have a canal that linked to the River Severn.

And to celebrate 300 years since his birth, Stourport Forward are inviting people to decorate a ‘Brindley Boat’ in time for Heritage Open Days in September.

The boats will be displayed in the Tontine Gardens on September 10 and 11 and will then be on display in Stourport Library for a month.

Everyone completing a boat, which have been made for Stourport Forward by Kidderminster charity Twigs, will be mentioned in a publicity leaflet and visitors to the event will be invited to vote for their favourite.

They will also be invited to send representatives on a boat trip on The River King, on September 11 and prizes will be given for the best decorated boats.

Mr Brindley, who was born in 1716, was hired Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Company in 1766 to create a ‘navigable cut’ from the River Severn between Bewdley and Titton Brook to cross the River Trent near Heywood Mill.

He also decided on the layout of the main basins, wharfs and locks.

Eliza Botham, of Stourport Forward, said: “Stourport on Severn was the only town in Britain to be built because of a canal.

“It grew up rapidly because the engineer James Brindley decided that the tiny village of Mitton was the best place for the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to join the River Severn. It’s now 300 years since Brindley’s birth and Stourport Forward are celebrating in style.”

Anyone interested in decorating a boat should contact Eliza Botham on 07850 784895 or e-mail info@stourporttown.co.uk