Canal Boat – July 2018

64 July 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk

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restored and re-gated, the channel dredged.

And in the meantime, Phase 1b (as the

western four miles linking to Saul Junction

have been named) has not been forgotten.

Once again the HLF was seen as the potential

major funder, but the regional development

agencies no longer exist, so more of the

matching funding would have to come from

local authorities and other sources – including

CCT and the Canal & River Trust, which has

returned several years after the departure of

predecessor BW.

So why should HLF fund this length, when

the wisdom some years ago was that they

would be put off by the lack of heritage value?

Well, as Stroud District Council puts it “Our

support for the project is demonstrated by our

leadership of Phase 1A restoration and the £4

million which we committed to it. Phase 1B

will realise the full benefits of this

investment.” While the work might not be of

great heritage interest, it would help to secure

the future of the historic length already

restored, because visiting boats would bring

in income for the canal and the community.

And despite the first bid in 2015 being

turned down, the success of last year’s revised

application in passing its first major hurdle

appears to show that this approach has been

successful.

So assuming it passes the second hurdle

and the full £23m package can be assembled,

what will the restoration involve in practical

terms? You can see for yourself if you fancy a

walk – much of the route can be followed on

foot, starting at Saul Junction where it leaves

the Gloucester & Sharpness.

The first length from the junction is fully

navigable and used for moorings (as well as

for access to Saul Marina), but soon comes to

a stop at Walk Bridge, which carries a minor

road across at just above water level and will

need to be replaced with a high level bridge or

opening structure. A clear length of channel

beyond leads to Whitminster Lock, partly

restored but looking somewhat overgrown

and with a dam across the chamber. Beyond,

the canal and the River Frome share a course

for some distance, and this length will need

some flood control works plus a new junction

where the canal diverges to the left from the

river.

A well-preserved (but in some places

overgrown) length follows, and while one

farm bridge has been replaced with a low level

culvert and will need rebuilding, a second one

survives in good condition. This length comes

to an end at the first of the ‘big three’

obstructions: the A38, which at this point

meets the A419 at a roundabout. The

remarkable solution is for the canal to cross

the roundabout on the diagonal via two new

bridges.

Beyond is the start of the ‘missing mile’ –

there is little sign of the canal, and anyway a

diversion is needed to cope with the second

major blockage, the M5. A new length of canal

will bear off to the right from its original

route, passing through a new lock before

coming alongside the River Frome. The canal

will squeeze beside the river as the two

watercourses pass under the motorway

side-by-side using the existing river bridge –

again with some flood control implications –

before they part company again.

Rising through a second new lock, the new

canal channel will return to the original

course to pass through another surviving

farm bridge. This is followed by the start of a

flight of five locks: the first (Westfield Lock)

lies buried and part demolished, with a stream

cutting through the canal bed above the lock

which will need a small aqueduct. But the next

two locks (Dock and Pike) are partly restored,

the adjacent Pike Bridge road crossing was

rebuilt several years ago, and the final two

locks (Blunder and Newtown) were put back

into working order many years ago, when this

rewatered length saw regular use by the

Trust’s trip-boat.

This restored length continues through

several further bridges, including the unusual

Bonds Mill Bridge, a liftbridge rebuilt in the

1990s as a not entirely successful experiment

in the use of advanced structural plastics

which will need some further work.

This well-kept length of channel (benefiting

from recent attention by visiting Waterway

Recovery Group volunteers including last

winter’s Christmas Canal Camp) leads to the

third and final major obstacle: the

Birmingham to Bristol main line railway. The

towpath is well catered for with a tunnel

through the railway embankment, but the

canal passes through a culvert barely big

enough for a work punt. Agreement will need

to be reached with Network Rail about how to

insert a navigable sized culvert through the

embankment with the minimum of (costly)

disruption to train services.

And beyond the railway is the wide known

as ‘The Ocean’, the end of Phase 1B, and the

start of almost six miles of restored Phase 1a

Westfield Bridge survives, as do the buried

remains of the nearby Westfield Lock

Newtown Lock was fully restored some years ago