Canal Boat – July 2018

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat July 2018 65

RESTORATION

length leading to Stroud and beyond.

So if the complete funding is confirmed,

how long will it take? We spoke to Cotswold

Canals Trust, and the reply was that boats

could be cruising through to Stroud around

2024.

But that won’t be the end of matters. Firstly

there’s the unfinished business at

Brimscombe Port, dropped from Phase 1a

because commercial developers were no

longer in a position to pay to restore the canal

as part of a regeneration scheme. Following

grants from the Government Homes &

Communities Agency and more recently

£1.6m from Stroud District Council, the hope

is that this can now be put back on track with

the same 2024 completion target.

And then what? There are still 26 miles to

restore to reach the Thames, but work is

already in progress at various points along

the line. At the east end Inglesham Lock is

well on the way to completion thanks to a

funding appeal several years ago by the

Inland Waterways Association. On the

lengths between Cerney and Eisey a great

deal of mainly volunteer restoration has

already been completed including several

locks and bridges, and work continues on

Weymoor Bridge. And CCT will be on the

lookout for any further opportunities to

THE ‘BIG THREE’ OBSTRUCTIONS

There are three blockages

which represent the most

serious and expensive

problems to be dealt with in

opening up the Phase 1b length

of canal from Saul Junction to

Stonehouse. They are: the M5

motorway, the A38 main road,

and the Birmingham to Bristol

railway line. Here’s how they

will be dealt with during the

restoration work...

The restored length of canal and towpath

between Eastington and Bonds Mill liftbridge

progress the restoration as they arise.

But despite this progress, there will

doubtless need to be further major funding

applications in the future to deal with the

more serious blockages – not least, Sapperton

Tu n n e l.

However, to go back to the start of this

article when we explained that the phased

approach to restoration was a result of a

perception that it was just to big and complex

to be funded in one go: there’s just a chance

that that might not be the case after all.

Thames Water is still looking at ways to

move drinking water supplies from the

Severn to the Thames, and while it isn’t

currently the favoured option, doing it by

restoring the canal as a water transfer

channel isn’t entirely out of the question. And

that could see the entire canal reopened to

through navigation.

A new boat-sized culvert will be

inserted in the rail embankment

Two new bridges will take the canal

under the A38 roundabout

The canal will be diverted beside

the River Frome under the M5

Saul Junction

To Gloucester

To Sharpness

Whitminster

Lock

Gloucester &

Sharpness Canal

Site of former

Bristol Road Lock

Whitminster

‘Missing Mile’

Planned diversion

with two new locks Westfield Lock (buried)

Dock Lock

Pike

Lock

Blunder Lock

Newtown Lock

Stonehouse

Restored to Stroud and

just short of Brimscombe

Eastington Railway

A38

M5 motorway

River Frome

‘The Ocean’

R Thames

to Oxford

To Gloucester

To Sharpness

North Wilts Canal

to Swindon

Inglesham

Eisey

Cerney

Stroud

Stonehouse

Brimscombe

Port

Saul Junction

Cotswold Water Park

(^52612)
4
(^33)
2
Sapperton Tunnel
Phase 1b Saul to Stonehouse: Lottery
grant provisionally agreed 2018
Phase 1a Stonehouse to
Brimscombe: nearing completion
(except Brimscombe Port length)
Phase 3 Brimscombe to Water Park: Some
restoration completed mainly around Cerney
Phase 2 Water Park to Inglesham:
Some work completed around Eisey,
Inglesham Lock under restoration
Top: The entire Cotswold Canals,
showing the different phases
Above: Large scale map of Phase 1b
from Saul Junction to Stonehouse