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A brief tour down the Canal
Now that
the East Vale and Abingdon branches are one I thought I would take the
opportunity of this report to have a quick tour from the Thames to Childrey. As
we know the original route through Abingdon is not viable (although with what is
happening with British Waterways these days I suppose we should never rule
anything out). Therefore, thanks to the Herculean efforts of Geof Austin and
his associates, a new route from Culham to the A34 has been determined. As yet
there is not any access as the land is in private ownership. The other side of
the A34 is still blighted by Thames Waters refusal to decide on its proposed new
reservoir. If this doubtful project does go ahead then the Local Plan for 2011
would be calling for Thames Water to make provision for the canal.
Assuming
that the reservoir is not being built in the foreseeable future Drayton Lock,
which has over the years received continuous attention from work parties, would
be fairly easy to restore, as would the length of canal towards Steventon.
Steventon Lock and wharf area has been partially excavated and although clipped
by a farm road the line of the canal continues down to the Hanney Road, where a
road bridge would be required, and then continues across farmland to the
Ardington Locks. These are relatively intact, probably due to their remote
location, and have not yet received the benefit of any work. From Ardington to Smallmarch Lock the line is viable although overgrown with some trees in the
canal bed.
At Grove
Common Lock the branch has rebuilt the tail bridge and the lock chamber is
clear. The canal line continues up behind Ormond Terrace after which it
disappears at the site of the old road bridge. The other side of the A338,
in the garden of one of the bungalows, there is one side of an aqueduct and the
line carries on to Lime Kiln Lock, which is in poor condition. But, they
have restored the section of canal between here and Grove Top Lock. The
towpath is in good condition and this section, known as Elm Farm, provides a
very popular circular walk for the locals. Grove Top lock has had the wing walls
rebuilt and the area landscaped.
Mably Way is in the
way now, but it’s not insurmountable. We pick up the line at the far side on
the Stockham section which we have also restored and this also provides a
pleasant walk. At the end of Stockham a small estate, the A417 and a bungalow
need to be sorted; nothing too difficult in restoration terms. We are now on
the East/West Challow section which was the major work site for some time.
Branch members have cleared the towpath the whole length down to West Challow Bridge,
excavated under King’s Lift Bridge and begun restoration, cleared much of the
canal bed and dredged either side of Raines crossing. Complete dredging of the
whole section will continue as soon as the permissions are negotiated.
The first few
hundred yards of canal to the west of West Challow Bridge have been cleared up
to Childrey Bridge and the canal is now fully visible in both directions. The
brick bridge although collapsed would appear to have the abutments still in
place. The canal and towpath beyond Childrey bridge has also been cleared and
dredged. As always we have
to respect landowners rights and therefore the next field will not be touched at
present, although the line is clear of any major obstructions. Beyond here a section of canal
was cleared up past Childrey Wharf
to Childrey New Road Bridge some time ago (1991 during the Big Dig). Recently
many days have been spent clearing the 550 yards of towpath and canal that lead
up to Childrey New Road bridge. This culminated in a weeks work camp in
August 2005 which saw a long section of Childrey Wharf being completely rebuilt.
With the
landowners permission it is hoped to start initial clearance to the west of
Childrey New road Bridge.
To sum up. The
Canal from Culham to Childrey is still very well defined. There are no really
difficult obstacles that cannot be overcome when money becomes available.
Everyone is looking forward to reconnecting Wantage to the Thames.
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