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Restoration of the Canal |
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of all the canal needed to be saved The years immediately after the second world war were momentous days for the survival of the Kennet & Avon Canal. Officialdom saw the canals as an antiquated transport system which had outlived its usefulness, and was a drain on the public purse. |
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John Gould |
Fortunately, there were a few far-sighted individuals, who loved the canal system and its way of life and foresaw large scale leisure use by the population as a whole and thought that this was worth fighting for. |
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The Kennet & Avon Canal Association was established. Gradually the campaign to save the canal gained strength. In 1956 a petition to the Queen was organised, and an enquiry into the future of the country's inland waterways set up. By 1959 the mood had changed. |
| In June 1962 the Association acquired
charitable status and became the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust. This was an
important step as it allowed the Trust then to issue appeals and raise funds
more effectively and the aim became the restoration of navigation.
Then came the real turning point. The Transport Act of 1962 transferred the waterways from British Transport Commission to a new administration - BRITISH WATERWAYS BOARD. Here at last was an organisation prepared to listen and from this point on serious work could be undertaken on restoration. |
| The restoration starts, it's a mammoth task |
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The task -
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| During the late sixties and the seventies the outline restoration strategy was to link the Reading and Newbury Cruiseways, extend the Avon cruiseway eastwards and concentrate on the bit in the middle especially the Long Pound Devizes to Wootton Rivers. |
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During this period restoration began to make real progress. The pumping stations at Crofton and Claverton were restored. Various locks on the east end of the canal were reopened, the Caen Hill Locks and the Long Pound were cleared of undergrowth, Limpley Stoke Dry section was relined with concrete and the Bath locks restored. |
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Work started on restoring the Caen Hill Flight of Locks in 1980, the Canal Centre at Devizes opened in 1983 and in July 1984 Dundas and Avoncliff Aqueducts reopened linking Bradford on Avon to the sea. By 1988 restoration was concentrated on finishing the Caen Hill Locks and the 'Berkshire Gap' between Newbury and Aldermaston which consisted of a number of fixed swing bridges and turf sided locks. |
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Everyone was working towards the opening on August 8th 1990 by Her Majesty the Queen. The Rose of Hungerford bore the Queen through one of the locks and the boat broke the tape to open the canal. |
| The canal was officially opened in 1990 but that was not the end of the story. |
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Reopening of the canal in 1990 was a great achievement and everyone concerned must be congratulated, but the task of restoration was not complete and more work was required in order to fulfill its true leisure potential. The watersupply to the canal has already been improved with back pumps being restored on the Caen Hill Flight. |
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