Stratford-upon-Avon Canal
Encyclopedia
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal
in the south Midlands of England.
The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for 25.5 miles (41 km) in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal
. Following acquisition by a railway company in 1856, it gradually declined, the southern section being un-navigable by 1945, and the northern section little better.
The northern section was the setting for a high-profile campaign by the fledgling Inland Waterways Association
in 1947, involving the right of navigation under Tunnel Lane bridge, which required the Great Western Railway
to jack it up in order to allow boats to pass. These actions saved the section from closure. The southern section was restored by the National Trust
between 1961 and 1964, after an attempt to close it was thwarted. The revived canal was re-opened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
, and responsibility for it was transferred to British Waterways
in 1988.
at Kings Norton
to the River Avon at Stratford-upon-Avon
in Warwickshire
. It consists of two sections, divided by a junction which connects it to the Grand Union Canal
. The northern section from Kings Norton in the suburbs of Birmingham
to Lapworth is level for the first 10.8 miles (17.4 km), following the 460 feet (140.2 m) contour, but then descends quite rapidly through the Lapworth flight of 18 locks, to reach the junction. There is a choice of route to reach the Grand Union, as there are two locks side by side, one on the main line of the canal, and one on the branch, but a channel joins the bottom ends of both locks. The junction is almost exactly half way along the canal.
The southern section continues the descent with the final seven of the Lapworth locks, passing under the M40 motorway
just before the final one. The locks are closely spaced until those at Preston Bagot are reached, after which there is a 6 miles (9.7 km) section with just one lock in the middle. This nearly-level section contains two of the canal's three iron aqueducts. The easy cruising is interrupted by the Wilmcote flight of eleven locks in just over a mile (1.6 km), soon after which the canal reaches Stratford-upon-Avon.
Along the 25.5 miles (41 km) route of the canal, there are a total of 54 narrow locks
. Near King's Norton Junction there is a disused stop lock, which used to prevent the canal taking water from the Worcester and Birmingham Canal when they were separately owned, but is now left permanently open. It is unusual in that it has two guillotine gates which are made of wood. When operational, they moved vertically in iron frames, and were counter-balanced by weights. A barge lock connects the terminal basin (Bancroft Basin) with the River Avon.
Earlswood Lakes
in Earlswood
are feeder reservoir
s to the canal. The three lakes were built between 1821 and 1822 and have a total capacity of 210 million gallons (950 Megalitres (Ml)). The lakes consist of three separate pools; Terry's, Engine and Windmill Pool. They are retained by earth embankment. Until 1936 the water was pumped into the feeder by a beam engine, whose engine house can still be seen. The feeder was navigable for coal boats to reach the engine house and is now used for moorings.
The southern section of the canal passes over three cast iron aqueduct
s, unusual in that the towpaths are at the level of the canal bottom.
Travelling north, from Stratford-upon-Avon, the first is the Edstone Aqueduct (also known as Bearley) which at 475 feet (144.8 m), is the longest in England. The aqueduct crosses a minor road, the Birmingham and North Warwickshire railway and also the trackbed of the former Alcester Railway. There was once a pipe from the side of the canal that enabled locomotives to draw water to fill the loco's tank. Some excellent pictures of the aqueduct with locomotive tanks being filled from the canal can be found on the Warwickshire Railways website
The second is the Wootton Wawen Aqueduct, just outside Wootton Wawen
, where the canal crosses the A3400
main road.
The third aqueduct is the more modest Yarningale Aqueduct
which carries the canal over a small stream near Preston Bagot, Warwickshire. This cast iron aqueduct was built in 1834 to replace the original wooden structure which was washed away when the stream flooded that year.
There is only one tunnel on the canal, at Brandwood
near Kings Norton Junction at the northern end. It is 352 yards (321.9 m) long, and the towpath leaves the canal to go over the top of the hill.
Another interesting feature of the canal is the unique barrel-roofed lock keeper's cottages to be found south of Kingswood Junction. All but two have been swamped by large modern extensions, but those at locks 28 and 31 are still in something like their original state, neither of them have either electricity supply or mains water.
Many of the accommodation bridges south of Kingswood Junction are twin cantilever bridges of cast iron, with a central slot to accommodate the tow rope of horse-drawn boats. On the northern section there are three lift bridges, one of which, no. 8, is electrically operated.
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was conceived as part of a network of canals which would allow coal from the Dudley Canal
and the Stourbridge Canal
to reach Oxford and London, without having to use the Birmingham canals, the management of which was seen as high-handed. An Act
was passed on 28 March 1793 for the construction of a canal from a junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal
in Kings Norton
to Stratford-upon-Avon. The Canal Company was empowered to raise £120,000 by issuing shares and an additional £60,000 if required. The route would take it close to Warwick and Birmingham Canal at Lapworth, but the act did not include any provision for a direct connection with it, or with the River Avon at Stratford. Negotiations started with the Warwick and Birmingham, and to second act was obtained on 19 May 1795, to allow a connecting link to be built, despite rather unfavourable terms imposed on through traffic by the other company.
Josiah Clowes
was employed as the engineer, and construction began in November 1793, starting at the Kings Norton end. He was also working on the Dudley Canal's extension, and another four canal schemes at the same time, and was the first great tunnel engineer. He died in December of the following year, but work continued until the main line reached Hockley Heath
in May 1796, one mile (1.6 km) short of the first lock at Lapworth. At this point, cutting ceased through lack of money, as the capital raised had all been spent. The Dudley Canal extension through the Lappal tunnel
was opened in early 1798, and with progress being made on the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, the Company obtained a third act of Parliament on 21 June 1799, which allowed it to raise more money, and included a diversion of the route further to the east near Lapworth, so that the length of the connecting link to the Warwick and Birmingham was only about 200 yards (182.9 m). Work restarted in 1799 under a new engineer called Samuel Porter, a former assistant of Clowes. He continued as far as Kingswood Junction, which was formally opened on 24 May 1802, after which cutting again ceased.
and the Midlands, and so the Canal Company obtained a further act of Parliament on 12 May 1815, which authorised a connection between the canal and the Avon at Stratford, as well as enabling them to build reservoirs at Earlswood
. The canal reached Stratford in June 1816 and a connection with the River Avon was made. The total cost of the canal had been around £297,000.
The southern section of the canal never realised James' ambitions, as the Upper Avon was too tortuous and prone to floods to be a reliable through route. He spent some £6,000 on improvements to the Upper Avon locks in 1822, but over-reached himself, and was declared bankrupt shortly afterwards. For a while the upper river was managed by a syndicate of seven people, all connected with the canal, and the Canal Company took out a lease of it from 1842 for five years. Trade was mainly coal, which was conveyed from Stratford to Evesham.
Traffic steadily built up, although tolls were low, to offset the costs imposed on goods passing through Kingswood Junction to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. On the southern section, coal was taken to Stratford, from where it was sold, or passed along the Upper Avon or the Stratford and Moreton Tramway
. Modest dividends were paid to shareholders from 1824, and the total traffic carried in 1838 was 181,708 tons, on which profits of £6,835 were made. In 1845, the company agreed to sell the canal to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
, who were also keen to purchase the Stratford and Moreton Tramway. It was not until January 1856 that the transaction was finally completed, and another year before the railway company took over day-to-day running. Another change of ownership occurred in 1863, when the railway company was absorbed by the Great Western Railway
. Traffic gradually decreased, but the fall in receipts was faster than the fall in tonnage, as the railway took the long-distance loads.
After Lord Methuen raised the issue in the House of Lords in 1947, and was assured that the bridge "would be lifted at any time on notice of intended passage being given", Tom Rolt of the Inland Waterways Association
(IWA) announced that he intended to pass under the bridge on 20 May 1947. Despite difficulties with the state of the canal, and the fact that the accompanying boat provided by the GWR got stuck, the bridge was reached. It had been jacked up and was resting on heavy timbers. Robert Aickman
, another of the founders of the IWA, had organised press coverage, and the story was reported in the national newspapers. IWA members were then encouraged to use the route. Eric de Mare repeated the exercise in 1948, using a converted army pontoon. A horse-drawn ice breaker was used to create a channel through the weed on this occasion, and the following year, Peter Scott
asked for the bridge to be lifted. In 1950, the bridge, which had become known as Lifford Bridge, or Lifford Lane Bridge, was replaced with a working swing bridge. The northern section of the canal was saved from dereliction by such pioneering efforts. The bridge has now been removed altogether.
By the 1950s, the southern section was un-navigable by canal boats, as several of the locks could not be operated, and some of the small pounds between the locks of the Wilmcote flight were dry. Problems with a bridge also began the process of restoring this section. Warwickshire County Council sought to obtain legal abandonment of the canal in 1958, as they wished to replace bridge 59 at Wilmcote without the expense of providing navigable headroom. A campaign against closure was mounted by the Inland Waterways Association and local activists. Two canoists, who had used the canal recently, produced a dated toll ticket for their journey, which was offered as proof that the canal was not disused. Retention of the canal was announced on 22 May 1959, and by 16 October, the British Transport Commission
and the National Trust
reported that they had agreed on the terms of a lease, under which the National Trust would be responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the southern section. The transfer of responsibility took place on 29 September 1960, and work began in March 1961. Although the Transport Commission made a contribution towards the cost, the National Trust raised most of the £42,000 required to put it back into good order. The project was managed by David Hutchings, who pioneered the use of voluntary labour, which would be used on many subsequent restorations, and assistance was also given by prisoners from Winson Green
prison and the Army. The canal was fully navigable by mid 1964, and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
officially re-opened it on 11 July. Its restoration was a turning point for the waterways movement in Britain.
The National Trust charged a private toll fee for navigation. Ten years after the re-opening, the Queen Mother performed the same ceremony for the Upper Avon Navigation, which had been derelict for more than a century, and the canal became part of a through route to the River Severn once more. In 1986, the National Trust indicated that they would like to hand control of the canal back to the British Waterways Board, and held discussions on 7 October 1986. The canal was transferred on 1 April 1988, authorised by an order of the Secretary of State, which provided £1.5 million, phased over five years, to enable the canal to be brought up to standard.
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
in the south Midlands of England.
The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for 25.5 miles (41 km) in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
. Following acquisition by a railway company in 1856, it gradually declined, the southern section being un-navigable by 1945, and the northern section little better.
The northern section was the setting for a high-profile campaign by the fledgling Inland Waterways Association
Inland Waterways Association
The Inland Waterways Association was formed in 1946 as a registered charity in the United Kingdom to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations....
in 1947, involving the right of navigation under Tunnel Lane bridge, which required the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
to jack it up in order to allow boats to pass. These actions saved the section from closure. The southern section was restored by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
between 1961 and 1964, after an attempt to close it was thwarted. The revived canal was re-opened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, and responsibility for it was transferred to British Waterways
British Waterways
British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
in 1988.
Route
The Stratford-upon-Avon canal connects the Worcester and Birmingham CanalWorcester and Birmingham Canal
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long....
at Kings Norton
Kings Norton
Kings Norton is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also a Birmingham City Council ward within the formal district of Northfield.-History:...
to the River Avon at Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. It consists of two sections, divided by a junction which connects it to the Grand Union Canal
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
. The northern section from Kings Norton in the suburbs of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
to Lapworth is level for the first 10.8 miles (17.4 km), following the 460 feet (140.2 m) contour, but then descends quite rapidly through the Lapworth flight of 18 locks, to reach the junction. There is a choice of route to reach the Grand Union, as there are two locks side by side, one on the main line of the canal, and one on the branch, but a channel joins the bottom ends of both locks. The junction is almost exactly half way along the canal.
The southern section continues the descent with the final seven of the Lapworth locks, passing under the M40 motorway
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
just before the final one. The locks are closely spaced until those at Preston Bagot are reached, after which there is a 6 miles (9.7 km) section with just one lock in the middle. This nearly-level section contains two of the canal's three iron aqueducts. The easy cruising is interrupted by the Wilmcote flight of eleven locks in just over a mile (1.6 km), soon after which the canal reaches Stratford-upon-Avon.
Along the 25.5 miles (41 km) route of the canal, there are a total of 54 narrow locks
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
. Near King's Norton Junction there is a disused stop lock, which used to prevent the canal taking water from the Worcester and Birmingham Canal when they were separately owned, but is now left permanently open. It is unusual in that it has two guillotine gates which are made of wood. When operational, they moved vertically in iron frames, and were counter-balanced by weights. A barge lock connects the terminal basin (Bancroft Basin) with the River Avon.
Earlswood Lakes
Earlswood Lakes
Earlswood Lakes is the modern name for three man-made reservoirs which were built in the 1820s at Earlswood in Warwickshire, England, to supply water to the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. They still supply the canal, and also provide leisure facilities, including sailing, fishing and walking...
in Earlswood
Earlswood, West Midlands
Earlswood is a small village at the south of the borough of Solihull in England. It straddles the county border of Warwickshire and West Midlands...
are feeder reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
s to the canal. The three lakes were built between 1821 and 1822 and have a total capacity of 210 million gallons (950 Megalitres (Ml)). The lakes consist of three separate pools; Terry's, Engine and Windmill Pool. They are retained by earth embankment. Until 1936 the water was pumped into the feeder by a beam engine, whose engine house can still be seen. The feeder was navigable for coal boats to reach the engine house and is now used for moorings.
Features
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s, unusual in that the towpaths are at the level of the canal bottom.
Travelling north, from Stratford-upon-Avon, the first is the Edstone Aqueduct (also known as Bearley) which at 475 feet (144.8 m), is the longest in England. The aqueduct crosses a minor road, the Birmingham and North Warwickshire railway and also the trackbed of the former Alcester Railway. There was once a pipe from the side of the canal that enabled locomotives to draw water to fill the loco's tank. Some excellent pictures of the aqueduct with locomotive tanks being filled from the canal can be found on the Warwickshire Railways website
The second is the Wootton Wawen Aqueduct, just outside Wootton Wawen
Wootton Wawen
Wootton Wawen is a small village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. The village is located on the A3400, from Birmingham, miles south of Henley-in-Arden and miles north of Stratford-upon-Avon. The soil is a strong clay and some arable crops are grown,...
, where the canal crosses the A3400
A3400 road
The A3400 is a road in the Midlands of England, running from Hockley Heath to a junction with the A44 near Chipping Norton. At its northern end it joins up with the A34, of which it was originally one section. At its southern end it joins the A44, passing through Woodstock and joining the A34 at...
main road.
The third aqueduct is the more modest Yarningale Aqueduct
Yarningale Aqueduct
Yarningale Aqueduct is one of three aqueducts on a 6 km length of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal in Warwickshire. It spans the Kingswood Brook near the village of Claverdon...
which carries the canal over a small stream near Preston Bagot, Warwickshire. This cast iron aqueduct was built in 1834 to replace the original wooden structure which was washed away when the stream flooded that year.
There is only one tunnel on the canal, at Brandwood
Brandwood End
Brandwood End is a locality in Birmingham, England, and part of the Brandwood electoral ward. It is the location of Brandwood End Cemetery....
near Kings Norton Junction at the northern end. It is 352 yards (321.9 m) long, and the towpath leaves the canal to go over the top of the hill.
Many of the accommodation bridges south of Kingswood Junction are twin cantilever bridges of cast iron, with a central slot to accommodate the tow rope of horse-drawn boats. On the northern section there are three lift bridges, one of which, no. 8, is electrically operated.
History
Dudley Canal
The Dudley Canal is a canal passing though Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat cruising route....
and the Stourbridge Canal
Stourbridge Canal
The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.-History:The Stourbridge and Dudley canals were originally proposed as a...
to reach Oxford and London, without having to use the Birmingham canals, the management of which was seen as high-handed. An Act
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
was passed on 28 March 1793 for the construction of a canal from a junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal
Worcester and Birmingham Canal
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long....
in Kings Norton
Kings Norton
Kings Norton is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also a Birmingham City Council ward within the formal district of Northfield.-History:...
to Stratford-upon-Avon. The Canal Company was empowered to raise £120,000 by issuing shares and an additional £60,000 if required. The route would take it close to Warwick and Birmingham Canal at Lapworth, but the act did not include any provision for a direct connection with it, or with the River Avon at Stratford. Negotiations started with the Warwick and Birmingham, and to second act was obtained on 19 May 1795, to allow a connecting link to be built, despite rather unfavourable terms imposed on through traffic by the other company.
Josiah Clowes
Josiah Clowes
Josiah Clowes was a noted civil engineer and canal builder.Clowes was appointed head engineer, surveyor and carpenter to the Thames and Severn Canal in 1783 to assist Robert Whitworth. Clowes became resident engineer and was paid £300 per year. Clowes' work on the canal developed him a reputation...
was employed as the engineer, and construction began in November 1793, starting at the Kings Norton end. He was also working on the Dudley Canal's extension, and another four canal schemes at the same time, and was the first great tunnel engineer. He died in December of the following year, but work continued until the main line reached Hockley Heath
Hockley Heath
Hockley Heath is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. The parish is to the south of the West Midlands conurbation, from Birmingham from Solihull and from Stratford on Avon...
in May 1796, one mile (1.6 km) short of the first lock at Lapworth. At this point, cutting ceased through lack of money, as the capital raised had all been spent. The Dudley Canal extension through the Lappal tunnel
Lapal Tunnel
The Lapal Tunnel is a disused canal tunnel on the five mile dry section of the Dudley No. 2 Canal in the West Midlands, England....
was opened in early 1798, and with progress being made on the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, the Company obtained a third act of Parliament on 21 June 1799, which allowed it to raise more money, and included a diversion of the route further to the east near Lapworth, so that the length of the connecting link to the Warwick and Birmingham was only about 200 yards (182.9 m). Work restarted in 1799 under a new engineer called Samuel Porter, a former assistant of Clowes. He continued as far as Kingswood Junction, which was formally opened on 24 May 1802, after which cutting again ceased.
Southern section
Construction only recommenced in 1812, under the leadership of William James of Stratford. James, who had owned shares in the Company since 1793, had a wide interest in turnpike roads and railways, and following a tour of the north of England between 1802 and 1804, on which he investigated railways and canals, he expanded his business interests to include coal mining. He rose to become chairman of the Canal Company, and personally bought the Upper Avon Navigation in 1813. He wanted to create a through route between the River SevernRiver Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
and the Midlands, and so the Canal Company obtained a further act of Parliament on 12 May 1815, which authorised a connection between the canal and the Avon at Stratford, as well as enabling them to build reservoirs at Earlswood
Earlswood Lakes
Earlswood Lakes is the modern name for three man-made reservoirs which were built in the 1820s at Earlswood in Warwickshire, England, to supply water to the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. They still supply the canal, and also provide leisure facilities, including sailing, fishing and walking...
. The canal reached Stratford in June 1816 and a connection with the River Avon was made. The total cost of the canal had been around £297,000.
The southern section of the canal never realised James' ambitions, as the Upper Avon was too tortuous and prone to floods to be a reliable through route. He spent some £6,000 on improvements to the Upper Avon locks in 1822, but over-reached himself, and was declared bankrupt shortly afterwards. For a while the upper river was managed by a syndicate of seven people, all connected with the canal, and the Canal Company took out a lease of it from 1842 for five years. Trade was mainly coal, which was conveyed from Stratford to Evesham.
Traffic steadily built up, although tolls were low, to offset the costs imposed on goods passing through Kingswood Junction to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. On the southern section, coal was taken to Stratford, from where it was sold, or passed along the Upper Avon or the Stratford and Moreton Tramway
Stratford and Moreton Tramway
The Stratford and Moreton Tramway was a 16-mile long horse-drawn wagonway from the canal basin at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire to Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour....
. Modest dividends were paid to shareholders from 1824, and the total traffic carried in 1838 was 181,708 tons, on which profits of £6,835 were made. In 1845, the company agreed to sell the canal to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton railway was a company authorised on 4 August 1845 to construct a railway line from the Oxford and Rugby Railway at Wolvercot Junction to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley, and Wolverhampton, with a branch to the Grand Junction Railway at Bushbury...
, who were also keen to purchase the Stratford and Moreton Tramway. It was not until January 1856 that the transaction was finally completed, and another year before the railway company took over day-to-day running. Another change of ownership occurred in 1863, when the railway company was absorbed by the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
. Traffic gradually decreased, but the fall in receipts was faster than the fall in tonnage, as the railway took the long-distance loads.
Decline and restoration
By the late 1930s the southern section had become derelict, although a water supply was maintained, which the GWR used to supply its engine shed in Stratford. The northern section was never officially closed, but traffic had virtually ceased by 1939. It was blocked when bridge no. 2, the Tunnel Lane lift bridge at Lifford, became faulty, and was replaced by the GWR with a fixed bridge which left insufficient height for a boat to pass.After Lord Methuen raised the issue in the House of Lords in 1947, and was assured that the bridge "would be lifted at any time on notice of intended passage being given", Tom Rolt of the Inland Waterways Association
Inland Waterways Association
The Inland Waterways Association was formed in 1946 as a registered charity in the United Kingdom to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations....
(IWA) announced that he intended to pass under the bridge on 20 May 1947. Despite difficulties with the state of the canal, and the fact that the accompanying boat provided by the GWR got stuck, the bridge was reached. It had been jacked up and was resting on heavy timbers. Robert Aickman
Robert Aickman
Robert Fordyce Aickman was an English conservationist and writer of fiction and nonfiction. As a writer, he is best known for his supernatural fiction, which he described as "strange stories".-Life:...
, another of the founders of the IWA, had organised press coverage, and the story was reported in the national newspapers. IWA members were then encouraged to use the route. Eric de Mare repeated the exercise in 1948, using a converted army pontoon. A horse-drawn ice breaker was used to create a channel through the weed on this occasion, and the following year, Peter Scott
Peter Scott
Sir Peter Markham Scott, CH, CBE, DSC and Bar, MID, FRS, FZS, was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer and sportsman....
asked for the bridge to be lifted. In 1950, the bridge, which had become known as Lifford Bridge, or Lifford Lane Bridge, was replaced with a working swing bridge. The northern section of the canal was saved from dereliction by such pioneering efforts. The bridge has now been removed altogether.
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...
and the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
reported that they had agreed on the terms of a lease, under which the National Trust would be responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the southern section. The transfer of responsibility took place on 29 September 1960, and work began in March 1961. Although the Transport Commission made a contribution towards the cost, the National Trust raised most of the £42,000 required to put it back into good order. The project was managed by David Hutchings, who pioneered the use of voluntary labour, which would be used on many subsequent restorations, and assistance was also given by prisoners from Winson Green
Birmingham (HM Prison)
HM Prison Birmingham is a Category B/C men's prison, located in the Winson Green area of Birmingham, England. The prison was formally operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service...
prison and the Army. The canal was fully navigable by mid 1964, and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
officially re-opened it on 11 July. Its restoration was a turning point for the waterways movement in Britain.
The National Trust charged a private toll fee for navigation. Ten years after the re-opening, the Queen Mother performed the same ceremony for the Upper Avon Navigation, which had been derelict for more than a century, and the canal became part of a through route to the River Severn once more. In 1986, the National Trust indicated that they would like to hand control of the canal back to the British Waterways Board, and held discussions on 7 October 1986. The canal was transferred on 1 April 1988, authorised by an order of the Secretary of State, which provided £1.5 million, phased over five years, to enable the canal to be brought up to standard.