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 £25m Heritage Lottery grant, one of the biggest in its history, helped complete the waterway, which now attracts millions of visitors every year.

25 years on, Mr Fletcher was among those invited to a celebratory re-enactment of the opening of the Kennet and Avon by the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire on Friday (Aug7) at Lock 44, one lock away from the Queen Elizabeth II Lock, where the original ceremony took place.

Mr Fletcher, now vice-chair of the Kennet and Avon Trade Association which represents the multitude of businesses that have sprung up since the canal’s inauguration, said: “It was the summer holidays and I’d got up the Caen flights really early to try and get a space on the embankment.

“They were just packed with people who had come to see the Queen. I remember trying to get a space so that we could see a little of what was going on. We had to wait for hours just for a brief glimpse. It was so exciting, but at the time we didn’t fully grasp just how much the canal and our lives would change as a result.”

Ian Sharpe, from White Horse Boats, moved to Devizes in 1986 and started to run public boat day trips along the Devizes stretch of the Kennet and Avon, however the boats would often get stuck on the canal bottom.

On the day of the Queen’s visit Mr Sharpe remembers speaking to the then chief executive of British Waterways, who encouraged him to continue with his business.

Mr Sharpe said: “Looking back on it I think he was trying to give me his personal guarantee that the waterway would thrive. Shortly after the Queen’s visit, the pumping station at Caen Hill opened thanks to the Lottery grant, which meant water could be recycled at Foxhangers, near where my boats operated.

“That was a real game-changer for us, and gave me the confidence to expand my business because I knew the water would be guaranteed. Without that, and the business we built together, I don’t think my wife Sue and I would have been able to afford to have our two children, Nicholas and Andrew, who both grew up here and now live and work in the area.

"The whole family has benefited from that day.”