Wilts & Berks Canal - 6 - The Wantage Arm
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- I visit the lovely Oxfordshire town of Wantage and explore what remains of the former Wantage Arm of the Wilts & Berks canal by following the route to where it joined the mainline of the W&B.
Website of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust:
www.wbct.org.uk/
#canal #wantage #oxfordshire
Hello Paul - greetings from Poland.
That was fascinating. A mile long arm with so much history, made even more interesting by the insertion of all the old photographs. Your "eagle eye" certainly came up with ,many treasures to show us.
The main line of the canal looks beautiful. 56 miles long - how wonderful it would be if eventually it is reopned to traffic and connected to the national canal system.
Thank you Michael!
Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the light on this late autumn day was particuarly beautiful.
It will be brilliant to see when it gets connected, although, like with the neighbouring Cotswold Canals, that may well be some way off. However, for now it is an important nature corridor.
Thanks so much,
Take care,
Paul
What a beautiful if slightly squelchy walk. I appreciate you finding and sharing wonderful old photos. You many be the only person in quite some time, who has stopped and admired that old wall by the path & checked out the mason's marks.
You are probably right about the mason's marks! They were well tucked into the hedge. Not all the marks are from when the bridge, was standing but some definitely were. Thanks Faith!
Beautiful video, it's given me a powerful urge to return to the area, spent many happy hours playing around the canal in grove woods, probably getting on for 50 years ago now.
Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it.
I am planning on doing another Wilts & Berks Canal video again soon - it is good to see the progress being made on restoration. I do hope that the Grove Locks can be restored soon.
Cheers,
Paul
Really interesting Paul. Thank you. I loved the old photographs. Also I looked up the Sack Hiring Company Office. In 2009 the developers wanted to pull it down but there was opposition. See Oxford Mail 2009. I am so pleased it was saved and has a blue plaque.😊
Thanks Cathy!
Thank you for the additional information too - so hard to believe that they wanted to demolish it a few years ago. Glad it is in good hands now.
Take care,
Paul
Fascinating video which shows how much you can find if you have an eye for detail - like spotting (I assume) stonemasons marks on that demolished bridge parapet. Wantage is a delightful town though I have only visited once - long ago. I may go back and look at the former site of the canal basin and visit the wharf house. Nice to see the eastern section of the Wilts and Berks is getting some restoration.
Thank you Malcolm!
Yes I am looking forward to catching up with the North Wilts Canal again soon, as I understand that a fair bit has happened since my last visit there. The East Vale Branch have been active too, with much work going on, but a smaller scale to elsewhere.
Yes some of those marks definitely were stonemason marks, but a lot weren't and had been added later. Shame the bridge has gone now, but there are no plans to restore the Arm here - it just wouldn't be possible with all the developments around the town.
Thank you Malcolm.
Take care,
Paul 👍
This was lovely to watch with all those autumn colours too!! It reminded me a little bit of the the one that you did in Wellington. I enjoyed seeing the old photos to help me imagine how it may have looked. Another quality video!
Thank you Louise! Glad you enjoyed this Canal adventure.
Yes, I think it may have been filmed around the same time of the year.
Thanks for a lovely comment.
Take care,
Paul
Hi Paul another nice video ,lots of information 👌👌
Thank you Roy! Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers, Paul
Mornin' Paul, Lovely autumnal walk, I think its my favourite time of the year.
Even though the canal has long gone it hasnt been totally erased as the sack house and wharf building testify. Of course, the trained eye, like yourself, finds the old course of the canal, bridges remains and a lock. Well done!!
This weekend I've been trying to follow parts of the acequia gorda (the big irrigation channel or Royal one). As it crosses the countryside its still clearly in use but as it enters the city its not clear if it still has a function you have to look harder for the remains. Much of the city has been built over and modernised with new trams cutting right across the old route. I did get some good photos here and there.
You found some really great archive photos to insert. At 22:26 there were two little girls on the towpath and they reminded me of a print that my Dad had made its a scene on the Grand Union Canal at the Bourne End Swing Bridge with two little kids collecting tadpoles!! My Dad tells me the lock keepers building appeared in the film, the Bargee.
Interesting to see the plaque for the steam tramway as well
Great way to start the week, thank you!!
Oh, yes I remember that film 'The Bargee' great film with some good canal scenes in it.
Well done for following the Acequia Gorda - I just looked it up.
Another viewer just told me that a few years ago they tried to demolish The Sack House! Thankfully, it wasn't!
Thank you David - and hope your week is going well.
Take care, Paul
@@westcountrywanderings I was going to reply yesterday but the rats had chewed there way through the cable and we lost all internet and phone for the last day. Mobile coverage here is almost impossible as well!!
There are two acequias gordas nearby. The one I referred to here was the acequia gorda de genil also known as the acequia real (royal acequia). The other takes its source from the river monachil and runs nearby, it crosses our main road through a syphon before crossing the fields and heading off the the next village, Ive posted a few photos of both and will do some more soon. All the best
Nice walk Paul, plenty of remains in the end, didn't look too promising at the start. Well done. Ron
Thank you Ron! Sorry I am behind with your vlogs and replying to comments at the moment - up.late editing last night and taking advantage of a sunny day in the Forest of Dean today for an explore. Take care, Paul👍🙂
Lovely video, Paul - thanks so much. I knew John Betjeman was associated with Cornwall but didn’t know about Wantage. I enjoyed the walk by the lost canal- shame that ‘they’ have built on parts of it. It’s an area I have driven through but don’t know at all.
Thank you Diana! Yes, he died and was buried in Trebetherick in North Cornwall - somewhere I have never been (Trebetherick, not North Cornwall!). Another subscriber told me that a few years ago some developers tried to demolish The Sack House and build over the route of The Arm of the Canal in Wantage. Thanks for watching! Take care, Paul
I think the building on the bridge used to be the headquarters of the canal company...
Ah, thank you!
Cheers,
Paul