A PIECE of Shropshire’s canal-boating history will be floating into Ellesmere this weekend.

The famous Saturn Flyboat – which is the last surviving of its kind built by the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company – will be arriving on Saturday, in time for annual Ellesmere Festival.

Saturn was built in Chester in 1906 to transport cheese and other produce from farms in Cheshire and Shropshire to the markets of industrial towns and cities – 24 hours-a-day.

She has been restored to her original working condition and is now both an outdoor classroom for schools and an ‘eye-opening’ historical experience for adults – and sometimes still pulled along the canal by horse.

The historic, restored canal boat – which plays a big part in the heritage of Shropshire’s canals – will arrive on August 10, in time for Ellesmere Festival.

For those wanting to catch a glimpse, Saturn will the be docked between the 12noon 19.