On the morning of August 8, 1990, at the start of a bright sunny day, farmer’s son Russell Fletcher walked out of his home near Rowde, Devizes, up the hill past the 29 locks of the Caen Hill Flight, with his sister Shelley and his parents, to Lock 43. There, crammed up to 10-people deep on the towpath overlooking the canal, the 14-year-old witnessed the Queen travel by canal boat to open the Lock, and bring to an end 30 years of arduous, often thankless, repair work by thousands of dedicated volunteers. A subsequent A 25m Heritage Lottery grant, one of the biggest in its history, helped complete the waterway, which now attracts millions of visitors every year.