10 minute read
silver propeller challenge
Exploring the far-fl ung reaches of the network is now even more rewarding
Exploring Active Restorations
Sue O’Hare explores four Silver Propeller Challenge locations on canals being actively restored
INSET: Work at Stainton – from this… ABOVE: ... to this.
LANCASTER CANAL TRUST
Some of the Silver Propeller Challenge locations are on restored sections of canals, to raise awareness of restoration work and encourage waterway users to experience what is being achieved. Here we look at four of these locations. Each is on a currently unconnected section of canal with plans to restore the rest of the waterway and reconnect it to the national network. All run through beautiful countryside, om Cumbria to West Sussex, and restoration has huge potential. In each case, IWA has actively supported restoration, including through rallies and funding as well as the provision of WRG volunteers.
The locations can be reached by local, portable and trailable cra . Tripboats are also available at three of the locations.
Stainton
The Lancaster Canal was intended to run om Westhoughton in Lancashire to Kendal in Cumbria. Although sections were built north and south of the River Ribble, the planned aqueduct to join them was never built. The southern section was eventually leased to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, leaving the Preston to Kendal section as today’s Lancaster Canal. The canal remained unconnected om the main network (albeit with a sea lock on the Glasson Dock Branch) until 2002, when the Millennium Ribble Link to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal was opened.
The canal’s principal purpose was to transport coal north om the Lancashire coalfi elds and limestone south om Cumbria – hence the local nickname of the Black and White Canal. It was fairly successful commercially and was particularly known for a fast and comfortable daily packet boat passenger service between Preston and Kendal.
The building of the M6 motorway severed the canal in 1968, at which point the northern section om Tewitfi eld to Kendal was abandoned and the southern end in Preston was truncated. The 6-mile section om Kendal to Stainton has been fi lled in but south to Tewitfi eld is in water and, though cut into lengths by road crossings, is navigable by portable and trailable cra . The Silver Propeller Challenge location is at the northern end at Stainton. There are two further Silver Propeller locations at the ends of the main navigable length, in Ashton Basin in Preston and Tewitfi eld Marina.
The long-term aim is to reopen the abandoned ‘Northern Reaches’, which will involve re-engineering the six places where the canal is culverted. The Lancaster Canal Trust’s ‘First Furlong’ project (now almost completed) aims to rewater the fi rst furlong om Stainton towards Kendal.
The canal has its own unique character as one of the country’s few coastal canals, with spectacular views over Morecambe Bay towards the Lake District. It was engineered by John Rennie and has substantial stone structures, most notably the Lune Aqueduct near Lancaster. The only locks on the main line are the eight derelict ones at Tewitfi eld, and the 41-mile lock- ee pound om Preston to Tewitfi eld is the longest in the country. Particular a ention was paid to the need to contain any breach, with both stop gates and grooves on bridges for stop planks. There were also plugs known as bed valves to dewater sections of the canal, opened by horse power using winching posts on the towpath.
The Lancaster Canal Trust operates a trip-boat om Crooklands. Canoes and paddleboards are welcome with a CRT licence or British Canoeing membership, and there is a slipway for trailable cra at Millness.
Find out more at lctrust.co.uk.
Chesterfield
The Chesterfield Canal was one of the last to be promoted by Brindley, though much of the engineering was done by John Varley and Hugh Henshall. It opened in 1777 and ran for 46 miles from the tidal River Trent at West Stockwith in Nottinghamshire, through Retford and Worksop to Chesterfield in Derbyshire. It was a significant engineering achievement, with two tunnels and 65 locks including some of the earliest staircases. The first six locks were broad to enable Trent barges to reach Retford, while subsequent ones were narrow.
The canal was very successful in the 19th century, carrying primarily locally mined coal, some brought out on the underground Hollingwood Common Canal. Other cargoes included 36,000 tons of local Anston stone used in the construction of the Houses of Parliament.
Subsidence caused by mining was a major factor in the canal’s decline, especially a collapse in Norwood Tunnel in 1907, and the canal was ultimately closed in 1961. By this time restoration efforts were already underway and the first 26 miles from the Trent to Worksop were saved, thanks to the introduction of cruiseways by the 1968 Transport Act. In 1976 the Chesterfield Canal Society (now Trust) was formed to restore the remaining 20 miles. By 2003 the canal was open again from the Trent to the eastern portal of Norwood Tunnel at Kiveton Park (another Silver Propeller location). At the western end of the canal the 5-mile stretch from Chesterfield to Staveley was fully restored by 2016.
In total, 12 miles of canal have been restored including 37 locks, despite challenges including the listed status of locks and HS2 plans. Fewer than 9 miles of the original route remain to be restored to link the two navigable sections, but this will require new lengths of canal to bypass a housing development at Killamarsh and to replace most of Norwood Tunnel. The Chesterfield Canal Trust has set an ambitious target of 2027 for the completion of the restoration, the 250th anniversary of the opening of the canal. After that, the trust has proposed building the Rother Link as a new navigation to join the Chesterfield Canal at Killamarsh to the River Don at Rotherham, creating a new cruising ring.
The eastern section of the canal is managed by CRT, but the isolated western section is owned and managed by Derbyshire County Council. It is full of interest, including six locks as well as the Tapton Lock Visitor Centre and the trust’s base at Hollingwood Hub. The trust runs trip-boats from Tapton Lock and Hollingwood Hub, and paddleboards and kayaks may be hired. There are two slipways, at Tapton and Staveley Town Basin. Visiting portable or trailable boats need a licence from Derbyshire County Council, available at Tapton Lock Visitor Centre.
Find out more at chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk.
Staveley slipway with trailable boat.
Hollingwood Hub.
Tapton Lock Visitor Centre.
rus t A l t I eld C A n Chesterf Canoes at Tapton slipway.
Berriew
What is now known as the Montgomery Canal (or ‘The Monty’) was built by three separate companies. It leaves the Llangollen Canal at Frankton Junction near Ellesmere in Shropshire and runs south-west for 35 miles and 25 locks through Welshpool to Newtown in Powys (formerly Montgomeryshire).
It is very much a rural waterway, constructed primarily to transport limestone to canalside kilns to make quicklime for agricultural use. Use gradually diminished after the introduction of the motor lorry. It was formally closed in 1944 following de facto closure in 1936 after a major breach.
Restoration started with a ‘Big Dig’ in Welshpool in 1969. The first section from Frankton Junction is currently navigable for 7 miles to Gronwen Wharf (another Silver Propeller location) and is expected to be extended to Crickheath in 2023. Work is in progress to remove two serious blockages on the 2 miles between Crickheath and Llanymynech, where a 1-mile navigable section straddles the English-Welsh border.
Beyond Llanymynech there is an unconnected 12-mile navigable length centred on Welshpool. This stretch runs from Arddleen southwards to the Silver Propeller Challenge location at Refail winding hole near Berriew, a picturesque mid-Welsh village. In 2021, the UK Government awarded over £15 million of Levelling Up funding to support the restoration of the 4.4-mile section from Llanymynech to Arddleen. Further funding will still be needed to connect the currently navigable sections, but at that point over two-thirds of the canal will be continuously open and there will be only a further 7 miles to Newtown to be restored.
The Montgomery Canal is of considerable ecological interest and this is an integral part of the restoration, seen particularly in the nature reserve at Aston Locks on the northern section created by WRG and largely funded by IWA. The canal has one of the most extensive collections of listed locks, bridges and other structures. Many of the locks have distinctive lock gear designed by the canal’s engineer George Buck. Unusually the canal falls from both ends to a sump level rather than rising to a summit level, and it often had surplus water which could be used to power mills. The remains of the location of a waterwheel can be seen beside the lock in Welshpool.
The Heulwen Trust operates a trip-boat from Welshpool for less abled people. Standard CRT licensing arrangements for trailable and small portable boats apply, with a slipway at Welshpool Town Wharf.
Find out more at themontgomerycanal.org.uk.
Berriew Lock.
CRT tug Aspull clearing weed at Refail winding hole. VIc SmIth
River Rhiw in Berriew village.
Southland Lock
Today’s Wey & Arun Canal comprises two sections: the Arun Navigation and the Wey & Arun Junction Canal. These formed the central part of the only waterway link built between London and the south coast, intended to provide a secure inland route during the Napoleonic Wars.
The River Arun was already navigable inland from Littlehampton, and the Arun Navigation was opened in 1787 northwards from the river at Pallingham to Newbridge near Billingshurst. It included a structure thought to be unique in British waterways: the combined Lordings Lock, Orfold Aqueduct and a waterwheel to lift water from the river into the canal.
The Wey & Arun Junction Canal connected Newbridge with the River Wey Navigations at Shalford. It was built by Josias Jessop in only three years and almost on budget, and opened in 1816.
The overall Wey & Arun Canal was 23 miles long and had 26 locks and one flood lock.
Unfortunately for the canal, coastal traffic revived after the end of the war in 1815. Although local industries developed and significant cargoes were carried for a while, the railways ultimately took away the business. An early leisure cruise was documented by J.B. Dashwood in The Thames to the Solent by Canal and Sea (1868) but the canal was abandoned in 1871 and the Arun Navigation followed. The canal was sold off and is now almost entirely on privately owned land. Renewed interest was generated by P.A.L. Vine’s 1965 book London’s Lost Route to the Sea. The Wey & Arun Canal Society (now Trust) was founded in 1970. In 2015 Timothy West and Prunella Scales traced the route from London to Littlehampton in their television series Great Canal Journeys.
Restoration by the trust initially focused on a 3-mile length centred on Loxwood, with Southland Lock at the current northern limit of navigation and Drungewick Lock at the south. More recently, restoration activity has been spread to other sections, as part of the long-term aim to open the whole route.
The trust runs trip-boats from the Canal Centre at Loxwood. Canoes and other small unpowered craft are welcome; a slipway is available at Loxwood. A licence or British Canoeing membership is required, and boaters are requested to advise the trust of their intended visit.
Find out more at weyarun.org.uk.
Autumn paddleboarder on the Loxwood section of the Wey & Arun Canal. Spring paddleboarder on the Loxwood section of the Wey & Arun Canal.
Kayaks on Platinum Jubilee Day, June 2022, Wey & Arun Canal.
