Wednesday, June 03, 2020

The remains of the Thames and Severn Canal



This video explores the substantial remains of the Thames and Severn Canal.

Fully opened in 1789, it ran from the Thames at Lechlade to the Stroudwater Navigation near Stroud, which linked it with the Severn.

Water supply was always a problem on its summit level, and competition from the railways led to its closure throughout by 1933.

The Cotswold Canals Trust is working towards its restoration but, as this video shows, has a long way to go.

2 comments:

david walsh said...

Worth reading "Hornblower and the Atropos", one of the early Hornblower books, in which our hero, plus wife, make a hazardous trip on this canal and the upper Thames to pick up a ship, and take part in Nelsons funeral, from Wapping in London. Dangers include navigating a flash lock and a drunker barge crew.....

Jonathan Calder said...

Thank you, David. I believe there is another account of a voyage along the canal in E. Temple Thurston's Flower of Gloster, which was published in 1911.