Gloucester to Hereford Canal - Dymock Tunnel Search
Вставка
- Опубліковано 19 жов 2024
- The Gloucester to Hereford canal at Dymock in the UK.
This walk starts in Dymock where a section of canal has been restored to form a lake on the outskirts of a new estate. It is hard to see the big picture here as the surrounding land falls steeply from here on one side and is blocked by housing on the other, No doubt there is a plan.
The old canal is found after half a mile or so, and follows a ravine after a short distance. The footpath is quite a way above the waterway so that when the site of the Oxenhall tunnel is reached it is very difficult to make out details. It is reckoned to be collapsed but I'm sure I could see either the remains of the entrance or the tunnel lining. Judge for yourself.
Nice walk from here in beautiful country with a lovely old barn thrown in. At least that's what it looked like.
The canal was granted permission to be built in 1791 and work started in 1793. It reached Newent in just two years in 1795, but didn't reach Ledbury until 1832. It was finally completed to Hereford in 1845 an was closed after a mere 36 years in operation. This was mainly due to the railways proving such a strong competitor being quicker cheaper in most cases and reliable. This was true of a great many canals of the period and in fact the railway companies bought a lot of the competing canals, filled them in and built their railways on top. This was the case for this canal and the canal suffered the indignity of being used for the transport of railway building materials in the early stages of the railway build.
I spent time when I was younger finding the canal tunnel, very fascinating.
Hi Stephen, when we are young we don't think about danger, tunnels can be quite scary places. Ron
@@ParkinsonsWalks I've seen photos of a chap canoeing down part of it.
@@sixtysecondsofstephens2386 I saw that when I was researching the walk, brave fellow. Ron
Nice vidéo 👍
Thank you.
What a belting walk.There was a lot to take in(audio&visual).I wonder how old the big sheds were!,over three hundred i,ll bet.Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Mikego, I very much enjoyed the walk. A point of concern on the barns, some corrugated sheets were very loose, and the M50 is on the other side of the hedge. One good gust of wind!! P.W.
Another masterpiece PW. Of course the later OS maps don't do the canal justice, and I always refer to the 1888-1913 OS six inch which gives a lot more information than you can find on the H-G website. Another source of information is waterwayroutes.co.uk click on the H-G which is number 57, scroll down to download and click H&G canal map in Acrobat (pdf) format. I've printed off 11 A4 pages of the canal which is great in detail, locks, bridges, aqueducts updated this month, it includes the canal walks that you've undertaken including the last one I saw at Withington, which I walked back in the 60's when there wasn't much vegetation. Keep them coming PW.
I'm on the case Malcolm. P.W.
I am looking at a place called Tunnel Cottage, between Ledbury and Hereford, in its grounds is a deep cutting complete with submerged tunnel. The canal is filled in in sections so is hard to follow the original line taken.
What an adventure to go exploring Peter, take your camera! P.W.
@@ParkinsonsWalks The canal at tunnel cottage I think is over half a mile in water but to a depth double the usual for a canal so towpath is only any good if you have a snorkel. The tunnel emerges with about a quarter of a mile more with water in the channel. There are a couple of foot paths across the canal but the road paralleling the canal at Tunnel cottage is the only chance of viewing the canal/cutting otherwise.
Excellent. Are you planning on doing a video on the Ledbury to Gloucester Railway through Dymock / Newent etc? I grew up in Newent.
Hi Karl. Yes I have already filmed it, waiting edit now, that's the hard part. Probably be quite a few weeks before it is ready. P.W.
Parkinsons Walks ok I’ll shall look forward to watching it then.
Karl, this is now on my Channel. P.W.