| The Wilts & Berks Canal linked Abingdon on the River Thames to Semington on the Kennet & Avon Canal and as such provided a useful link from Oxford and the South Midlands to Bristol and Somerset. There were branches off the main route of the canal which gave access to Calne and also Chippenham. The North Wilts branch of the canal linked it with the Thames & Severn Canal near Cricklade. This book was first published in 1971, and a revised edition became available in 1986. The late Jack Dalby has been acknowledged as the authority on his subject and in the long years since his book was last available the interest in this canal has grom·n dramatically due to the w·ork of the Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group. Since the last edition of the book was published, a dramatic change of policy by the Amenity Group has had a profound effect on the fortunes of the canal. From just trying to preserve what remained of the old canal, the group decided that full restoration, using as much of the old line and infrastructure as possible, was practical. They had no doubt of the magnitude of the task before them, but were confident that a restored Wilts & Berks Canal was essential to the Wessex Waterway Network, forming, as it does, the central section. In the succeeding years, nearly 10 per cent of the canal, at several different sites, has been restored and a number of structures have been either restored or rebuilt. Doug Small of the Canal Amenity Group has written a new chapter, 'Into the 2lst Century', which brings the story of the restoration up to date. Contents:
- Preface
- The Case for a Canal
- Committee Work 1793-1795
- The Years of Construction, 1795-1810
- Committee Business 1800-1817
- Plans for Expansion 1810
- The North Wilts 1810-1820
- The Years of near Prosperity 1817-1841
- Letters and Coal
- The Years of Decline, 1841-1877
- Under New Owners, 1877-1914
- The W & B in 1985
- Into the 2lst Century by D.G. Small
- Wilts and Berks Canal Amenity Group
- Appendices
Continent: Europe
Country: UK
Area: UK Wiltshire Berkshire |
