Introduction
It is nearly 50 years since the Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group was formed. During those years many people have come and gone and many projects have been undertaken by members. As one lot of volunteers morphs into another much of the work previously undertaken and the people concerned can be forgotten.
The purpose of this site is to keep the past alive.
BACKGROUND
The Wilts & Berks Canal was officially abandoned by Act of Parliament in 1914. The canal had never been very successful, giving only a moderate return to the investors in the early days and becoming a financial burden in the final decades of its life. Very few mourned its passing, although local landowners bemoaned the loss of their water supplies. The canal slowly faded from memory. In the countryside it was variously, ignored and grown over, infilled with rubbish or returned to the plough. In the few towns through which it passed it was eventually built on, although in some places it took many years to finally eradicate the canal line.
Preservation of the inland waterway system began in 1946 when that dedicated group of eccentrics formed the Inland Waterways Association (IWA). Fortunately for us the IWA has succeeded in many of its goals and has been instrumental in not only saving much of the canal network from extinction but also in participating in the re-opening of several lost navigations. The first of the really impossible restorations was probably the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, which climbs over the Pennines, and incorporates Standage Tunnel (the highest, deepest and longest canal tunnel).
If in the 1970s you had asked even the most enthusiastic canal restorer about the Wilts & Berks Canal most would probably they would have answered “where’s that?” It was a truly lost canal. Admittedly short sections still lurked, mainly unnoticed, in towns and it could also be stumbled across by intrepid ramblers, but few would have identified it as the remnants of a commercial waterway, let alone be able to name it.
It is generally stated that the restoration of the Wilts & Berks started in 1977 when the Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group (WBCAG) was formed, but this not exactly accurate. The original intention of the Group was only to preserve and document what remained of the old canal, and possibly convert sections to become an amenity for local residents. It was in 1987 that the aim of full restoration using as much of the original line as possible was adopted. Since then, against all the odds, great progress has been made, and it is now recognised as one of the most important, and ambitious, canal projects in the country. There are still many years of work ahead with many obstacles to be overcome, but the prospect of sixty new miles of mainly rural waterway in the West Country provides the enthusiasm from all concerned.
The route of the restored Wilts & Berks canal will follow the historic line as far as technically and economically feasible. There will be some unavoidable diversions. A new section of canal will be built from the Kennet & Avon canal to the River Avon, which will then be used to take boats through Melksham to join another new, short length of canal to reach the historic line. Then there are no major diversions until the canal has passed Wootton Bassett, although the branch to Chippenham has been lost. Then a diversion is needed in order to allow the canal to pass under the M4 close to junction 16 where the motorway elevates to cross the railway. The main line of the canal will now take a totally new route following the M4 corridor as far as the A429, which it will pass under before turning north to eventually rejoin the original line near Bourton. Part of the original line through Swindon is still to be used to take the North Wilts canal through the town, although even this will have some alterations due to the development of the town. The North Wilts line as far as Cricklade will be mostly original, but south of the town it is currently proposed to take the canal to the east on a new route to join the Thames & Severn canal at Eisey, it having been determined that reaching the original junction at Latton would be too difficult. As the main line of the canal reaches Bourton it will need to pass under the main line railway. One carriageway of the A420 now uses the arch under Acorn Bridge which previously took the canal, so an alternative will need to be negotiated with Network Rail. After the railway the historic line can soon be picked up again and followed through Shrivenham towards Uffington where once again it will need to pass through the railway embankment. The short branch to Longcot is restorable, but does not feature in the current plans of the Trust. Uffington to Wantage is through countryside, posing only the usual problems with roads and footpaths. The canal through Wantage can follow the original line, except for a re-alignment in the new housing by Mably Way. The Wantage Branch is completely lost. From Wantage and through Grove all the way to the A34 the historic route could be followed, again having to pass through a railway embankment. But an ongoing problem in the area between the railway and the A34 is the prospect that a large reservoir may be built over part of the canal line. This would obliterate a length of the canal containing Ardington Marsh, Steventon and Drayton Locks. Because of this very little work has been carried out on this section. If the reservoir is built then the canal will be diverted around its perimeter. After the A34 there is no prospect of following the canal on the original route through Abingdon to the River Thames, but a new junction has been constructed downstream opposite Culham Lock Cut and this will be reached by yet another new section of canal.
The old Amenity Group (Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group) has been renamed the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust (WBCT) and is a member of a partnership (rather long windily known as The Wiltshire, Swindon & Oxfordshire Canal Partnership). The Canal Partnership was formed in 2001 “to deliver the project for the recreational benefit of local communities and to create a green/blue infrastructure habitat for wildlife”.