Canal Boy

23: Chard Canal

Visited the canal 6 years ago but a slog down the A303 yesterday allowed a stop at the Ilminster inclined plane.

This incline (one of four on the canal) lifted tub boats 82' up Herne Hill towards Chard.

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#somerset

22: Croydon Canal

Just 27 years in use... abandoned in 1836, the first to be done so by an act of parliament

Here it is running alongside Betts Park in Anerley. Ripples from a disturbed moorhen...

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21: River Wye

It was navigated as far back as when Edward the Confessor had iron shipped from the forest to Gloucester.

Here is Weir End. Gonna guess there was a flash lock nearby (once upon a time before trows and barges were replaced by canoes and kayaks)

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#herefordshire

20: Lydney Canal

🎵 Whoaaaa we're halfway there 🎵

Here's the tidal basin – the gates onto the Severn are in the background. Apparently they're borked so the basin isn't usable and is chock full of river gunk.

The lock is just to the right.

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#gloucestershire

19: Pidcock's Canal

Short tub boat canal serving ironworks and collieries up and around the Lyd valley.

Perhaps misnamed as it predated the Pidcocks' management of the forges... should be Tanner's Canal!

These photos are the cut passing through Lydney.

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#gloucestershire

18: North Wilts Canal

Shortish canal linking the W&B and T&S. Love this stretch down to the aqueduct over the Thames (not as grand as it may sound!). First time back since 2020.

Lots going on here – junction, aqueduct, lock, basin!

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#wiltshire
#almostgloucestershire

A canal lock

A flight of canal locks, behind which are flats and a railway bridge

A large industrial building

17: Leeds and Liverpool Canal

The Stanley Locks, connecting the canal to Stanley Docks. Some wicked 1840s buildings going on here!

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"nah it's a s***hole" comes to mind as a pertinent quote from that trip

Up the ding.

More of a Basingstoke lad though, me

Psst @paulwhitewick.bsky.social on your turf innit

Oops... tagging this with #ukcanals too :)

16: Andover Canal

Not much to explore on this – taken over by the railway, then that too was removed and most now on private land. But a rainy September drive through Clatford meant one thing... a climb through brambles!

Last photo is at Rooksbury Mill in 2020.

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#hampshire
#andover

15: Maidenhead Waterways

Here, the York Stream and Moor Cut meet and become the Brat Cut. The Weir has boat rollers, but there are plans for a pound lock here to eventually link the town's waterways ring with the Thames.

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#berkshire

#14: Grand Junction Canal

Splitting the GU up for this seems sensible (my game, my rules!)

Startops End Bridge, with its double arch – on the right, the extant wide lock. On the left, the infilled and short-lived narrow lock.

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#13: Aylesbury Arm

Another GU arm... and treated to a staircase lock at the top!

Wouldn't want to travel the pound between locks 3 and 4 at the moment. But that weeping willow 😍

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#buckinghamshire

#12: Wendover Canal

Lovely short arm of the GU, winding past the old Tring Mill buildings on the way to Tringford Pumping Station. Plenty of damsons too – lavly!

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#hertfordshire
#buckinghamshire

A canal lock in the early morning sun

A hint of the autumn to come this morning. LOVE IT.

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#berkshire

#11: Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

One of my faves in the midlands. Just wandered from the Avon up the first 4 locks – the lock off the river (into the basin) is broad, the rest narrow...

Check out the balance beam at Maidenhead Road Lock!!!

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#warwickshire
#ukcanals

Usually avoid Greene King pubs from both food and drink point-of-view, but by the time we got there and discovered it was GK, it felt too late to back out!

#10: Oxford Canal

Despite being relatively local, I've only visited 3 times and only boated once (even then, it was from Duke's Cut to Jericho).

Had a lovely pint at the Jolly Boatman at Thrupp this week.

Lock and house photo from Nell Bridge Lock in 2020.

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#oxfordcanal
#oxfordshire

#9: Stroudwater Navigation

Originally surveyed by John Hore - him off of the Kennet and the Avon (but not the Kennet and Avon) fame.

Two photos of John Robinson Lock during a Feb 2023 visit with @paulwhitewick.bsky.social and @courtabovethecut.bsky.social

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#gloucestershire

I knew it was purchased around that time, but hadn't heard of anyone trying to get onto it! Given how the land there is often underwater, there are times of the year the lock would be irrelevant!

A lovely part of the world. Didn't have time for a pint in the Ship & Anchor, unfortunately!

#8: Portsmouth and Arundel Canal

I've explored a lot of this – Chichester Basin, the two locks on Portsea Island and the two near Chi – but this is finishing the job... The two locks near Ford.

One is under that meadow somewhere!

And I'm now 20% complete!

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#westsussex

#7: Rother Navigation

Nestled in W Sussex, the river was made navigable to connect Midhurst with the Arun, therefore giving it access to the both the sea and the country's waterways network.

This is Coultershaw Lock – a fab little area of industrial heritage!

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#westsussex

#6: Coombe Hill Canal

This short canal was built in 1796 to serve Cheltenham with coal. It had one lock off the Severn, and terminated in a basin on the Tewkesbury–Gloucester rd.

The lock was borked by a winter storm in 1876 and was never navigable again.

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#gloucestershire

#5: Thames and Severn Canal

By fluke I found myself near a part of the T&S I'd yet to visit – the Smerrill Aqueduct. It was built to cross the road from Cirencester to Kemble. It had a single arch and a stop lock, but now only the embankment remains.

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#4: Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal

The Bye Street locks, nestled in a cutting in Ledbury. Less than 90 years after the canal opened, in the 1890s the canal was infilled and they plonked a railway there instead.

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#Herefordshire
#Gloucestershire
#40before40

#3: Parole d'oro

I never said the canals had to be navigable!

Parole d'oro is named after the "golden words" on the bridge at the waterworks south of Lucca, Tuscany. Waters from the hills north of Pisa collect in these canals, before running down the Nottolini Aqueduct

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#italiancanals

Long since blocked by roof falls unfortunately. Last 'proper' boat through was in the 30s if I recall, but those with cojones suficiente could scramble and wade end-to-end in the 60s...