Aylesbury Arm, Grand Union Canal

The Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Junction Canal (later part of the Grand Union Canal) was a 10km long arm of the canal branching off the main line near Marsworth and ending near to the centre of Aylesbury. The arm was a fairly late addition to the canal network. Work started on it in 1811 and finished in 1814.

The canal was never intended to be a dead end arm, the original plan had been to continue the canal past Aylesbury to link up to the Thames at Abingdon - a scheme known as the Western Junction Canal. However landowners West of Aylesbury refused to let the canal continue past the town and through their land.

The canal arm has sixteen locks as it drops nearly 30m from Marsworth to Aylesbury. Unlike the Grand Junction Canal the Aylesbury Arm has narrow locks, this was due to difficulties with water supplies.

The Aylesbury Arm was used to transport agricultural produce, building supplies and coal. The arrival of the railways ruined the arm's profitabiity though commercial traffic continued into the 1950s. Now the arm a popular stop for leisure boaters and visitors.

One of the many boats using the arm

Circus Field Basin

Development at the end of the arm in Aylesbury

Enslow Wharf

The canals faced increasing competition and in many cases being eclipsed by railway companies in the 19th century and beyond. One new lease of life for the canals in latter years though were the transhipment whaves where goods were taken to/from railheads to businesses situated along the canals. The Birmingham Canal Navigations had many of these but the Oxford Canal had only one, at Enslow Wharf in Oxfordshire [1].

The Great Western Railway had a goods yard at Bletchingdon next to Enslow Wharf, a major trade being with the Oxford Cement Company at Kirtlington. The company had no rail or road access so everything had to be taken by boat, much of it taken to Enslow Wharf for transfer to rail. A steady trade in the early 20th century. The goods yard (closing in 1965), cement company, even the station have gone though the canal and railway line remain.


[1] Hugh Compton, The Oxford Canal (David and Charles, 1976) p. 135

King's Norton Stop Lock

When different canal companies were operating in competition, water was a precious resource and sometimes measures were taken to stop water flowing from one canal to another. Where the Stratford Canal joins the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at King's North was such a measure: a guillotine gate or stop lock [1].

The lock consists of two guillotine gates suspended from a metal frame over the waterway and lifted or dropped via a chain. This allowed for the two canals to have a different water level (the Stratford was usually a little higher). Now all canals are owned by the same trust water loss is not considered such a problem anymore, the gate has been kept open since 1959.

[1] Charles Hadfield and John Norris, Waterways to Stratford (David and Charles, 1968) p. 89

Stone and the Trent and Mersey

This signpost in Stone alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal proudly proclaims that the town is the birthplace of the canal. The canal scheme was known as the Grand Trunk Canal and was an ambitious scheme to link the two great rivers the Trent and Mersey. The first meeting of the Grand Trunk Canal Company was held in Stone. Josiah Wedgewood saw the potential in transporting raw materials and finished goods from his factories in the Potteries and backed the scheme becoming its treasurer, James Brindley was appointed as the canal's surveyor and engineer.

Work began on the canal in 1766 and by 1772 the stretch from Wilden Ferry to Stone was navigable which is where the canal company had its first headquarters. The canal transformed Stone from a quiet town to a busy inland port.

Looking after the horses

For most of the existance of Britain's canals boats have been hauled by muscle power, usually horse muscle. Horses were highly valuable assets for canal haulage companies and care had to be taken to look after them. This photo, from the London Canal Museum, shows a box of medicines and treatments for horses.

Hertford Union Canal

The Hertford Union Canal is one of London's canals, it connects the Regent's Canal to the Lee Navigation.

Information
Opened:	1830
Route:	Tower Hamlets
Distance:	1.5km
Status:	Complete

The canal is a short one being only about 1.5km long with 3 intermediate locks. The canal opened in 1830, having being promoted by Sir George Duckett - the canal was sometimes known as the Duckett's Canal because of this, and was intended as a short cut for traffic between the Thames and the Lee Navigation, especially enabling boats to miss the awkward Bow Bank Rivers.

Unfortunately, although the idea of the canal seemed sound it was not a financial success and within 20 years the canal was unnavigable and for sale. It was eventually bought by the Regent's Canal in 1857 to become of the Regent's branches and later became part of the Grand Union company.

The canal is entirely in Tower Hamlets. At its Eastern End it is within sight of the Olympic stadium connecting to the Lee Navigation near Old Ford Lock. Most of the Northern side of the canal borders on Victoria Park, the canal connecting to the Regent's Canal between Mile End and Old Ford Locks (not the same lock as on the Lee).

Hertford Union Canal

Hertford Union Junction (with the Regent's)

Old Ford Lower Lock, the Lee can be seen in the distance

Parnell Road Footbridge

Cambrian Wharf

Cambrian Wharf in Birmingham city centre used to be a junction of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal (Farmer's Bridge Junction) and the Newhall Branch of the Birmingham Canal Navigations.

When most of the branch was closed post-war (and later city development built on top of it) the junction was turned into a basin and residential moorings. The canal stretch from Cambrian Wharf to Old Turn Junction is all that remains of the Newhall Branch (though is just included as part of the Birmingham and Fazeley these days).

Electric canal boats

The traditional way to haul canal boats until the 19th century was using muscle, usually horse muscle but sometimes human too. Steam and later internal combustion engines later powered barges but there was an experiment in the 20th century to power barges via an electric overhead line. This Pathé newsreel shows an experiment held in Kidderminster (the photo below is of the canal at Kidderminster so near to where the experiment was).

Grand Junction Canal, Berkhamstead

The Grand Junction Canal connects Braunston in Northamptonshire with the river Thames (at Brentford) and was an important addition to the canal network in the late 18th century improving trade between the Midlands and London. The canal was bought out and became part of the Grand Union Canal in the 20th century and remains part of that canal now though these days for leisure. This Grand Junction Canal sign is still proudly displayed on a bridge at Berkhamstead.

Tooley's Boatyard, Banbury

Tooley's Boatyard on the Oxford Canal in Banbury claims to be the oldest working dry dock on Britain's inland waterways. As it has been in use since 1790 they probably have a point there. The boatyard has managed to survive the downfall of the canals for commerce and also modern redevelopment to reinvent itself as part of the heritage industry and an important part of Banbury's museum and heritage centre... and continue working on boats of course.

Gower Branch Canal

The Gower Branch Canal is a fairly late addition to the canal network and is only about 0.8km long.

The canal links the Birmingham New and Old Main Lines near Tividale and allowed easier access between the Old Main Line and the Netherton tunnel without having to make long detours.

Information
Opened:	1836
Route:	Tividale, Sandwell
Distance:	0.8km
Status:	Complete

The canal was authorised as part of the Birmingham Canal Act of 1768 however was not completed until 1836. It connects to the New Main Line at Albion Junction and is pretty straight up to Brades Hall Junction and the Old Main Line. The Gower Branch Canal has four locks to handle to height difference between the two canals, three of them being at Brades Hall Junction and two are a staircase lock. These are connected locks where leaving one lock enters you into the next.

Looking towards Brades Hall Junction

The canal is pretty straight

Brades Lock

Nightingale Arm, Cromford Canal

The Nightingale or Leawood Arm of the Cromford Canal was built by Peter Nightingale (the great-uncle of Florence) to reach his cotton mills and lead smelters [1]. The arm, which opened in 1802, reached Lea Wharf, later extending to Lea Mills before being cut back due to disputes over water rights. The arm was in use up into the 1930s but fell into disuse and was closed like the rest of the canal during the Second World War.

At the junction of the arm and main canal stands Aqueduct Cottage built for the lockkeeper who looked after the lock at the entrance to the arm. The cottage was lived in until 1970 [2] but unoccupied fell victim to neglect and vandalism and is now a ruin.

[1] Hugh Potter, The Cromford Canal (Tempus, 2003) p. 106
[2] Ibid. p. 27

Fradley Junction

Fradley Junction in Staffordshire is where the Coventry Canal and Trent & Mersey Canals meet. The junction, which was opened in 1790, was an important one for canal trade due to the Trent & Mersey's strategic links with two major rivers and also with the Coventry Canal offering access to the Thames via the Oxford Canal. Nowadays the importance of the junction is for leisure users of the canals. A nature reserve is adjacent to the junction.

Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station

Aberystwyth Lifeboat Station was established in 1861, though a lifeboat had been supported in the town since 1843. In 1861 a branch of the RNLI was established and the first boat RNLB Evelyn Wood was launched for the first time. This was a ten oared self-righting lifeboat and has been followed by seven other conventional all-weather lifeboats.

Since 1964 Aberystwyth has had inshore lifeboats only after the last conventional boat was withdrawn and indeed Aberystwyth was the first RNLI station to receive an inshore boat. These can travel in shallower water than conventional boats and thus are more useful in places where most call-outs might be to holidaymakers or boaters in trouble. The current lifeboat, which has been in service since 2008, is the Spirit of Friendship, an Atlantic 85. This has twin 115hp engines that gives it a top speed of 35 knots and carries a crew of 4, it is equipped with radar and direction finding VHF [1]. The station also has a smaller Arancia A-78 rescue craft.

Aberystwyth can be a busy station, in 2014 the lifeboats were called out 41 times. Over the years the crews have been honoured for gallantry 13 times. The RNLI is a charity that could not exist without donations, please visit their website and support this vital service which has saved so many lives.

[1] Nicholas Leach and Tony Denton, Lifeboat Directory (Ships in Focus, 2013) p. 139

Earlswood Lakes

On the border between the modern West Midlands region and Warwickshire are Earlswood Lakes. These were man-made reservoirs built in 1820 to provide water for the then-new Stratford-upon-Avon canal. Although the lakes were built to provide water (and still do to the canal) they quickly became a popular leisure destination especially for residents of Birmingham. The Lakes railway station was built in the early 1900s for these visitors.

Earlswood Lakes

Canal feeder

Grosvenor Road

Grosvenor Road crosses the lock entrance to the Grosvenor Canal off the Thames [1]. Once the Grosvenor stretched up to where Victoria station is but now is just a glorified pond stretching a 100m or so.

[1] P.A.L. Vine, London to Portsmouth Waterway (Middleton Press, 1994) p. 14

The case of the Birmingham Ship Canal

Birmingham is famously supposed to have more canals than Venice (albeit over a wider area) but the Second City lacks easy access to the sea by larger vessels. In the 1880s there were a number of schemes to enlarge some of the canals linking Birmingham to the major rivers of the country to create a ship canal that could allow vessels in the 200-300 ton range (depending on the scheme) to sail into the wharves in the heart of the city.

The scheme which probably came closest to getting the go-ahead was a link to the river Severn near Worcester by enlarging the Worcester and Birmingham Canal [1]. The scheme envisaged going through Droitwich (so presumably the Droitwich Canal would also have been enlarged). The Birmingham City Council formed a Ship Canal Enquiry Committee to look into the scheme which would have allowed vessels up to 200 tons right into the city. The cost of the scheme was estimated at £2 million (which these days would be hundreds of millions).

Barge on the Severn at Worcester

However in 1888 the Council declined to going ahead with the scheme and disbanded the committee, citing that it was outside of their municipal concerns [2]. By now the canals were being surpassed by the railways and there were also worries that the railways would undercut the new canal (which would be a considerable engineering and financial undertaking) making it economically unviable.

This wasn't the only scheme however, a number of the city's great and good also proposed a ship canal scheme linking Birmingham to the river Mersey [3]. This canal, which would have allowed ships up to 300 tons along it would have linked Birmingham to the Weaver Navigation Canal and then through to the Mersey, Liverpool and the sea. This canal would have been nearly 20m wide and over 3m deep and would have passed through South Staffordshire, the Potteries and Cheshire [4]. However this scheme (which would have cost a mere £1.6 million) also came to naught as did a scheme to link Birmingham to the Thames [5].

By the late 1890s canals were beginning to be seen as a bit old hat as the railway network continued to grow and few if any canal schemes were in development anywhere. In many ways it is a shame none of the ship canal schemes came to fruition. Ships up to 300 tons would be much larger than anything that usually chugs alomh through the canals at Birmingham's heart. The Edwardian steamer TSS Earnslaw perhaps can give us an idea of the sort of boat we could have expected making it up to Birmingham in the early 1900s (although it would be slightly oversize at 330t). The canal schemes came to nothing though may have inspired this song...

Photo (c) trakesht at Wikipedia

[1] Charles Anthony Vince MA, History of the Corporation of Birmingham Vol 3 1885-1899 (Cornish:Birmingham, 1902), p. 365
[2] Vince, p. 368
[3] Birmingham and Liverpool Ship Canal (Pamphlet, 1888), p. 5
[4] Birmingham Daily Gazette 6th July 1888
[5] Birmingham and Liverpool Ship Canal, p. 17

Dapdune Wharf

Dapdune Wharf in Guildford was the Wey Navigation's main boatyard and has been in use since the 17th century [1]. The wharf is still in use to support boating activities on this waterway.

[1] P.A.L. Vine, Surrey Waterways (Middleton Press, 1987) p. 86

Three lifeboats at Gloucester

Three preserved lifeboats at Gloucester Docks on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.

RNLB Richard Vernon and Mary Garforth of Leeds was built in 1957 and served at Angle and Whitlow until 1988 when she was retired and sold [1].

RNLB Dorothy and Philip Constant was built in 1962 and also served as a lifeboat until 1988, being stationed at Shoreham, Oban and Relief [2].

RNLB Robert Patton (later renamed The Always Ready) is the oldest of the trio dating from 1933. It served at Runswick until 1954 until being sold. First the boat served as a pilot at Sharpness Docks before entering private ownership [3].

[1] Nicholas Leach and Tony Denton, Lifeboat Directory (Ships in Focus, 2013) p. 72
[2] Ibid p. 78
[3] Ibid p. 43

Barrel roofed cottages of the Stratford Canal

Unique to the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal are a number of barrel roofed cottages [1]. These were built for the lock keepers or lengthsmen of the canal in the early 19th century.

While the Stratford Canal was under construction in the late 18th century (work began in 1793) the British economy ran into trouble due to the pressures of the Napoleonic War, work on the canal was suspended for a number of years before resuming in about 1809 [2].

Land owner William James helped save the canal project and came up with a number of ideas to save costs in order to complete the Southern section of the canal to reach Stratford. One of the ways to save money was on these lock keepers cottages. They were simply built single storey rectangular buildings with the "barrel" roof made from a series of arches more akin to a bridge than a house. Six were built on the stretch of the canal between Lapworth and Yarningale Common.

Bucket Lock Cottage near Yarningale Aqueduct

Another view of Bucket Lock Cottage

Barrel roof cottage at Kingswood

[1] Ray Shill, West Midland Canals Through Time: Severn, Avon & Birmingham (Amberley, 2012) 
[2] J.R Ward, The Finance of Canal Building in Eighteenth-Century England (Oxford University Press, 1974) p. 49

Cromford Canal

The Cromford Canal was built in Derbyshire to connect Cromford with the Erewash Canal at Langley Mill.

Information
Opened:	1794
Route:	Cromford - Langley Mill, Derbyshire
Distance:	23.3km
Status:	Partially watered, some canal bed lost

Work began on receiving an Act of Parliament in 1789. However the building of the canal did not run smoothly. The contractors walked out in 1790 due to issues with costs. The original engineer William Jessop underestimated how much the canal would cost to complete.

William Outram took over the project and took it to completion, but the canal proved a complicated and difficult affair involving the building of a number of tunnels and aqueducts. The first parts of the canal (on the Pinxton Arm) opened in 1792 but delays and difficulties with construction elsewhere such as at the Butterley Tunnel meant that the canal didn't reach Cromford until 1794 [1]. The Nightingale (also known as the Leawood) Arm which was built by Florence's great-uncle opened in 1802 [2]. The Cromford & High Peak Railway opened in 1831 connecting to the canal at High Peak Junction giving the canal a boost allowing trade up to Manchester.

In the end the canal cost twice as much as originally envisaged but it was a financial success. The canal carried limestone, coal, lead and iron ore among other cargos. By the 1840s the canal was carrying over 300,000 tons of cargo a year but as with all of the canals the coming of the railways eventually eclipsed it and by the late 1880s cargo has dropped to less than 50,000 tons. The canal was bought by the Midland and London North Western Railways and was used for local traffic.

The canal was largely abandoned in the early 20th century with some parts of it being lost due to subsidence such as at Butterley and road building [3]. The canal was officially abandoned in 1944.

Only a short stub at Langley Mill where it joined the Erewash and Nottingham Canals remained. However restoration efforts began in the 1970s with the towpath restored from Cromford to Ambergate and some navigation possible, though at the moment only the stretch from Cromford to the Leawood Pump House (around 2km) is fully watered and navigable. The canal retains some water as far as Ambergate.

Lawn Bridge near Cromford

Cromford Wharf

Towpath Swing Bridge at Leawood, current limit of navigation

Ambergate

Gregory Tunnel near Whatstandwell

Langley Mill Boat Yard

[1] Hugh Potter, The Cromford Canal (Tempus, 2003) p. 11
[2] Ibid. p. 106 
[3] Ibid. p. 67

Welcome to the Waterways History blog

Welcome to the Waterways History blog. On this blog I will explore the rich history and heritage of Britain's many canals, rivers and coastlines. Sometimes just a captioned photo, other times a full article. I will aim update every week at least a couple of times. I am based in the Midlands so there will be a regional bias though will also cover London and beyond. The themes will be varied, maybe a canal history one day, and an article on lifeboats the other.

I have had a great interest in Britain's waterways for a long time and often explore them. I am particularly interested in the architecture of the waterways and their interaction with other forms of transport and commerce.

All content, unless otherwise stated is original and is copyright Kris Davies.