The Wilts and Berks Canal

Name: The Wilts and Berks Canal
SKU: 03ad875e45ab6f01a2134624b3a67e95
Price: 23.95 EUR
Availability: InStock

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Bol A history of the Wiltshire & Berkshire Canal In 1901, an aqueduct over the River Marden between Calne and Chippenham collapsed. This act of nature was like pulling out the bath- plug and a large section of the Wilts & Berks Canal just drained away. A small engineering disaster on that wet and stormy night signalled the end of one of England's most rural canals. The Wilts & Berks was conceived late in the canal boom and, like most of those later canals, was always doomed to failure. It always played second fiddle to the Kennet & Avon Canal and could never compete on equal terms. It didn't offer a shorter route to London, it couldn't take boats with a beam of more than seven feet, its main source of income, the Somerset coalfield, was soon worked out and it originally passed through no town of great importance. Ironically, its busiest period was in the 1830s when the canal was used to transport the building materials for the Great Western Railway - which ultimately killed off any trade there was left. The canal lay little used and was subsequently abandoned as towns like Abingdon, Wantage, Swindon, Calne, Chippenham and Melksham grew up around and on top of it. Despite this destruction and dereliction, the canal remained in remarkably good condition, particularly in the rural areas. It is now slowly being reclaimed from the mud, weeds, old cars, shopping trolleys and other rubbish that choke its path.

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Beschrijving (1)

A history of the Wiltshire & Berkshire Canal In 1901, an aqueduct over the River Marden between Calne and Chippenham collapsed. This act of nature was like pulling out the bath- plug and a large section of the Wilts & Berks Canal just drained away. A small engineering disaster on that wet and stormy night signalled the end of one of England's most rural canals. The Wilts & Berks was conceived late in the canal boom and, like most of those later canals, was always doomed to failure. It always played second fiddle to the Kennet & Avon Canal and could never compete on equal terms. It didn't offer a shorter route to London, it couldn't take boats with a beam of more than seven feet, its main source of income, the Somerset coalfield, was soon worked out and it originally passed through no town of great importance. Ironically, its busiest period was in the 1830s when the canal was used to transport the building materials for the Great Western Railway - which ultimately killed off any trade there was left. The canal lay little used and was subsequently abandoned as towns like Abingdon, Wantage, Swindon, Calne, Chippenham and Melksham grew up around and on top of it. Despite this destruction and dereliction, the canal remained in remarkably good condition, particularly in the rural areas. It is now slowly being reclaimed from the mud, weeds, old cars, shopping trolleys and other rubbish that choke its path.

Lees meer