All images from the Regan Milnes Collection.
The Bond End Canal Visitors to this year’s IWA Festival of Water will have the opportunity to explore the remains of a largely forgotten canal that has its roots in Burton-on-Trent’s brewing industry
Above: A working boat, Victory, from a Stoke-on-Trentbased carrier, on the Bond End Canal outside the Mount Pleasant Inn. The pub, located at Shobnall Basin, was a well-known watering hole for boat crews on the canal. It was never equipped with beer pumps, the staff having to go down to the cellar to draw pints. Sadly, after closing in 1961, the pub was demolished a few years later. Below: The Mount Pleasant Inn, at the junction of the Bond End and Trent & Mersey canals.
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he name’s ‘Bond, the Bond End Canal’, and, unless you have a deep interest in waterways history, it’s likely you’ve never heard of it. For not only was this Burton-based waterway less than 2 miles long, but it was also in operation for just a few years, from c1787 to 1874, and little of it remains today. The canal originally ran from the River Trent at Burton through the centre of the town to connect with the Trent & Mersey at Shobnall, but a fair chunk of it was infilled before the turn of the 20th century. As we’ll see, however, what is still in existence has earned its place in contemporary waterways history, and visitors to this year’s IWA Festival of Water, taking place on 27th-29th August on the Trent & Mersey Canal at Burton-on-Trent, will have the chance to explore it in person.
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Summer 2022 26/04/2022 12:08