Stroudwater and Thames & Severn Canals Update 4
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- I explore the Stroudwater canal from Eastington to the M5, and from Whitminster to Occupation Bridge, I also explore where the Thames & Severn meets the River Severn, as well as look at the latest at The Ocean in Stonehouse.
Details of volunteering opportunities mentioned in the video can be found at the Cotswold Canals Trust:
cotswoldcanals...
More details on the history of both canals including detailed maps:
www.cotswoldca...
Tom Scott's video about the fuel pipeline network:
• The secret underground...
My 'Source of the River Thames' video:
• A Wander to find the s...
#StroudwaterCanal
#ThamesandSevernCanal
#CotswoldCanal
Hello Paul - greetings from Poland.
A great video with so much information in it. It seems to me that everything is happening at once with work taking place in all sorts of places. The co-ordination must be a nightmare!
A mamoth task to get this canal work completed. Your video is wonderful. Thanks so much for all the hard work you put in in making it.
Thank you Michael. This video is my highest viewed to date, and it was the most amount of work and time I have done on a single video (over two weeks). It is frustrating that some parts of this project have agencies dragging their heels for internal political reasons. However some progress has been made over the past 24 months, and much progress has happened since the Trust's inception 50 years ago. It is an amazing and critical project. Thank you so much watching my video about it. Thanks again for watching and supporting my little UA-cam channel. Take care, Paul 🙂👍
Great content. Interesting and informative to watch. Tnx4sharing your exploration around Stroudwater Canal. New friend here watching from Dubai.
Thank you, and thanks for watching my channel. Glad you liked the video. Paul.
That was a busy video Paul and most enjoyable.
Thank you Dave. Glad you enjoyed it. Paul.
That was fantastic, I knew nothing about Lechlade or the surrounding area so that was so interesting as were the bridges and locks near Whitminster… from one end of the canals to the other.. this video covered them all… I watched this video before work this morning so I apologise if I’ve forgotten anything.. onto part 5 now 👍🏻
Thank you! Yes, the Eastern end of the T&S tends to get a little overlooked, because all the big restoration projects that have been happening down at the western end (at the moment!). Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for commenting too! Cheers, Paul.
Hi Paul enjoyed the update on canal work 👌
Thank you Roy. Glad that you enjoyed the canal update, take care, Paul.
You’re doing an excellent job mate I’m here listening to you and I think you need to give yourself a pat on the back
Thank you Leslie. Thanks for your kind words. I enjoy making these videos, but I didn't like the oozing and very slippery mud that I had to wade through to get to some of these locations at this time of the year! My boots are still trying to dry off from all that Thames and Severn mud before I can brush and clean them. Further updates and snippets from this, and other canals, as well as more things from the wider Westcountry coming soon. Thanks again, Paul.
Never mind about 'thank you for watching'. Thank you for making and publishing this video!
Thanks for your kind comment John. Appreciated. 👍Paul.
Great video, I lived in Stroud for 10 + years and followed the progress of the canal from the mid 70s although I now live in Devon I follow the progress with great interest and I am a member of the CCT. Please keep the vids coming they are very informative. Thank you Looking forward to the phase 3 video
Thank you Geoff. That's interesting that you used to live in Stroud and now live in Devon, as, for me it was the other way around. I grew up in the Stroud area, then settled in Cornwall, then moved to Devon, now I have done a full circle by moving back to Gloucestershire. I do still feature content from both Cornwall & Devon on my channel (I still have family there), as well as here in Gloucestershire, and other parts of the wider West, up as far as North Worcestershire (where I'll be heading again soon). I will be doing further updates on what is happening on these canals, as well as some canal walking tours. I will be heading back to the South Cerney/Cotswold Water Park area again soon too. Thanks again, Paul.
Great update. I have already started doing a thumbs up at the end of the videos.
Thank you faith! The more thumbs up a video has, the more UA-cam promotes it to possible interested viewers, so each thumb makes a difference. Thanks again, take care, Paul.
Recently started watching your channel.. I have been following different vlogs on the canals for a couple of years... so interesting to me.. I actually live in Missouri USA .. I am enjoying the history of the canals glad I found your channel.. I subscribed a couple weeks ago..
Thank you Dennis! Glad that you are finding the channel interesting, and thank you for subscribing. Yes, I will be doing further updates on this canal, so many exciting things happening on this one, but I will also be featuring aspects of other canals, as well as videos featuring railways, walking and history from the Westcountry part of England. Thanks again, Paul.
Great narrative of your travels along the canals and also other information of interest 👍 I love history and have learnt a bit more of the uk 🇬🇧 history, keep up with your great videos
Thank you Ben, and I am glad that you are finding them interesting. More updates on the progress of this one, as well as further background about the building of this canal still to come. I will be featuring other canals too, as well as my walk along the River Severn, and content from the wider Westcounty part of England too. Thanks again, Paul.
Hi Paul - Great vlog and very informative. Look forward to seeing the next update.
Thank you! Glad you found it interesting. Yes, more updates and all things canal coming soon. Paul.
Another great video Paul - very well presented and informative - learnt quite a bit. Well done and look forward to the next.
Thank you Philip. I am glad that you found it informative - I learnt a fair bit doing the research for making this video too. Thanks for the comment. More things canal and Westcountry coming soon. Paul.
Thanks for sharing
Thank you! Glad you liked it. Paul.
Not at all familiar with this part of the world. Well I am now. What a brilliant presentation. Sold!
Thank you for your kind comment Bob. Glad you liked it. Paul.
Good work.
Very useful information about the canals.
Well done.
Thank you. Glad that you found the information interesting. Paul.
Fantastic perspective and documentation!
Thank you so much and thank you for the subscribe 👍
Used to walk the towpath every day during 1953, from a hostel type place to the south of Stonehouse, westwards, to a tech site where the mill is now. We were testing a radar system for the Fleet(RN). Glad to see the swans are still in residence. Many thanks
Hi Jimmy - that's a great memory. I think the place you are refering to was called Sperrys - an American electronics manufacturer. They did make radar equipment, and started there during WWII - in fact the swingbridge house had a machine gun on the top of it during wartime -there is a photo in my video - you can see it in my update No1 on the Stroudwater canal. The road down to it is now called 'Sperry Way'. I have an interest in radar; I am an ex-RAF Radar Technician (during the 1980s). Great comment! Thank you, Paul.
Thank you for your videos. Like you, I am not a member of the CCT but follow the progress of its restoration. I think that they are missing a trick here because they should be doing what you do and they would probably gain more volunteers and funds.
A story about the Sapperton Tunnel. I walked the tunnel from the Coates' end to where it was blocked near the Sapperton end. There was on average about 1 foot of water to wade through. I am usually a sensible sort, but I found that as I progressed through the tunnel that the water dropping from the roof created loud splashing noises as it entered the ground water. This noise was disorintating because it echoed through the tunnel. Then I heard in the distance a train coming. Common sense told me that that was impossible but againt I found it slightly disturbing. As I progressed the train noise became louder with each train. I later could smell the trains and saw that there were air ducts to the train tunnel which runs in a similar route. A QUERY. I did write to Severn Trent when I was a shareholder suggesting that as they already pumped up water to Chosen (Churchdown ) Hill by pumping water a few meteres higher they could get over the watershed and add water to the River Churn which would take water to the Thames Water area where they are complaining that they are short of water.I later realised that Severn water would probably not be suitable to pump into the rare chalk River Churn. Later I heard that a pipe line was proposed using the Thames and Severn Canal which would not cause a problem with the Thames Water. I thought then that if that project were to proceed then it would help finance canal work. Is the CCT missing another trick here?
Hi John, thanks for another great comment. They have been looking for an official volunteer who is a photographer and videographer for publicity and archive purposes. Unfortunately, I could never fulfill that role. Due to my autism, I cannot function around people, or work with others. I certainly could not interview other volunteers for videos. They do have a YT channel and there is some good content on there. I loved your recollection about walking through Sapperton tunnel. Yes, I do not know if they have yet formulated a plan for water retention in the highest section of the canal yet, I suppose because they are focused on Phase 1b at the moment, but your ideas sound most interesting. Thanks again, Paul 👍
I will chat to my wife Carol as her mother lived in Frampton Mansell in the 1930's near the Sapperton Tunnel as she may have a memory or two of the Tunnel. I did go to school with I think a Michael Boakes in the 1960's in Dursley.
Yes, Michael Boakes is my mum's brother. He went to Dursley Modern School in the early 1960s. He still lives in the area. Small world! That would be great if she had a memory about the tunnel. I've just started planning that video. Thanks for the comment. Take care, Paul
@@westcountrywanderings From memory, the last time I saw Michael was in (approx) 1966 when I called into a small fuel station on the A38 at Cambridge to fill up my Triumph Herald with petrol. I think Michael was the fuel attendant.
@@TedCarolCollins Yes, that was his first job after leaving school. You have quite some memory! I too remmber that petrol station - think it closed circa 1969.
Great job Paul. River systems are very interesting. Even in my area they all seem to connect.
Hi Jay, thanks for your kind comment. Yes, the way rivers interconnect, and how those patterns and water courses have changed over the years is something I find intensely fascinating. Thanks again, Paul.
Suberb update on the progress of this canal its looking very promising that it will fully navigate able hopefully this year. We might even get the Queen to open it which would be very apt in her jubilee year 😎😎😎
Hi John, thanks for your kind comment. Yes, wouldn't that be amazing! I know Prince Charles did the Stroud -Stonehouse canal section restoration reopening in 2018, so you never know! Thanks again, Paul.
David Johns also did a vlog on this bridge.. Cruising the Cut
Yes, he did. I have been an avid follower of his channel for about 5 years. I have another update, update 7, launching tomorrow. Thanks for comment 🙂 Paul
Approx 1920 - 1930, Carol's mother Marjorie Robinson lived at Manor Farm in Frampton Mansel next to the railway viaduct.. She shared about how she used to go down to Sapperton tunnel and the bargees were kind enough to let her have a ride through it while the horse went over the top. She said the men used their feet to propel the boat through the tunnel while lying on their backs.
That's a great memory Ted. How thrilling to have been able to have had a free trip through the tunnel. I would love to see the tunnel reopened, but I don't think it will be in my lifetime. There are some great photos online on the Cotswold Canals website showing what the inside of the tunnel looks like now - sadly impassable all the way through of course. Thank you for sharing that. Would you mind if I mention it in my Sapperton Tunnel video (I haven't recorded it yet)?
@@westcountrywanderings Yes that's fine, glad to help.
@@TedCarolCollins thank you!
Thanks very much, some simple maps would help! I’m lost between Thames bit and Stroud bit
Hi Simon, thanks for your comment.
I did include a few maps in my Stroudwater Canal update number 3. Here is a link to where the maps start on that video:
ua-cam.com/video/g3NbTfUFTJc/v-deo.html
Hopefully, that should clarify things a bit, as it shows the Lechlade end in relation to The Ocean at Stonehouse.
I will be featuring maps again in some of the future canal videos, but I didn't include them again here to avoid duplication of what I had already covered.
Thanks again,
Paul.
I agree Simon. It's very difficult to visualize where on the canal route each segment of the report is located without jumping back and forth onto Google Earth or some other map. A caption at the appropriate time with a map and maybe an arrow showing the position would be so very helpful. Still very grateful for the update though! Hopefully it won't be too many years before it's connected to the main canal network. Same goes for the Montgomery canal! Think that one will be sooner.
@@treblebass6721 thank you for the feedback. I will be including maps in future updates. I appreciate the comment. Paul
Hi Paul, where do you keep getting this sunshine from, I haven't been out for ages. Always interested in the Thames Severn, like an old friend, thanks. take care of yourself. Ron
Hi Ron! Yes, I was a bit lucky. A lot of this one was filmed on Wednesday 5th January, when it was forecast to be sunny all day - trouble is, as you know, there is short daylight this time of the year, so I had to make it at pace to avoid running out of that most precious of resource for photographers, quality light. Yes, more updates from this one as the reconnection project continues West, and more canal, railway, walking, history & landscape content still to come. I'm having a few days off, while the weather is rubbish this weekend. You take care too Ron, all the best, Paul.
Hi. Will wide beam barges be able to navigate the new canal.
Thanks.
No, I don't think so, though the neighbouring Gloucester to Sharpness can. Parts of it are wide, but it (the Stroudwater) narrows considerably in places. The Sapperton Tunnel on the Thames & Severn canal was only ever made for narrowboats to 'walk' through. Thanks for the comment.
"Love to know what you think". I would love to know why the present source of the Thames was decided. Unlike Seven Springs it's often a grassy ditch with no water in it whereas I believe that Severn Springs has never dried up and the river Churn which flows from Severn Springs has always a substantial flow.I suspect that the decision to choose Thames Head as the source was either a mistake or politically motivated. Mistakes do happen. Aberystwyth was named after the mouth of the river Yswyth whereas the River Rheidol which also uses the same access to the sea is about four times larger. I was told by a museum worker in Aberyswyth that it was a King (Henry?) who got the river names mixed up.
Thanks for that great and interesting comment. 👍 That's true about the Thames Head source - when I made my video about it, it was very hard to see anything at all, whereas when I visited Seven Springs when I did the Cotswold Way (I do include a clip of it in the Best of Part 1 video, which I recently posted) there was plenty of flow in the height of the summer. I think you could well be correct in that a mistake was originally made, but now that it has been so established and deep rooted, that is now hard to change. Thanks for watching and commenting. Paul.
Nope! Aberystwyth got its name from the castle. The first two or possibly 3 Aberystwyth castles were on a commanding hillock on the south side of the Ystwyth (52 degrees 23.448N, 4 degrees 04.856W). The Rheidol valley and estuary were dominated by the Monks based at Llanbadarn and were apparently not quite contemplative peaceful folk. To counter their dominance the next castle was moved to the high ground to the north of the Rheidol valley thus commanding both rivers. The builder was, I think Edward 1st, but that needs to be checked. So no name mix up but certainly power politics.
@@peter_cuthbert I think that you should research the Welsh Language . Aber means mouth of or estuary. I got my information from a historian at the Museum. Your information seems professional but if one examines the facts then they are seriously flawed. If you still stick with your opinion please explain why they named the first castle Aberyswyth.
@@johntimbrell Yes, as a resident of the area I have learned the odd bit of Welsh. The first castle site can still be seen on the OS map on the south side of the River Ystwyth a little way inland near Tan y Bwlch. It is marked "Ring & Bailey" since the first 'castle' was of the Norman mott & bailey type made of wood and earth. You also need to remember that the two rivers were navigable futher up than they are now so it is logical that the castle should be 'Aberystwyth' being at the then mouth of the Ystwyth. The remains of the original castle are not public unfotunately. Since this is a discussion is about the Severn & Thames canal, I will add no more than to offer this link which explains the history of the multiple Aberystwyth castles in a couple of short paragraphs. [www.discoverceredigion.wales/heritage-and-culture-to-explore/the-story-of-ceredigion/welsh-princes-and-ceredigion-castles/] There is also an excellent TV programme about the various Aberystwyth Castles which was screened during Lock Down, but you will have to search for that yourself.
The Severn is the longest river in the UK, not England! The Thames is the longest river in England.
Good point! Thank you for the correction. Yes, the Severn crosses two nations. I am walking the Severn Way later this year, starting in Wales. In terms of the UK as a whole, it is often stated that the Severn is longer than the Thames, but if the Thames starts at Seven Springs then the Thames is longer for the whole of the UK, but that source point (rather than Thames Head at Kemble) is still disputed. Thanks for the comment. Paul.
Sorry but you have the the rivers around the wrong way. The Thames past that lovely roundhouse and continues navigable on for another 2/3 miles. Please check your facts.
Hi, thanks for the comment and watching. 👍I have just checked, and if you have Lechlade behind you, and you are looking at the Roundhouse in front of you, the River Thames is on the left and the River Coln is on the right, which is what I indicated in the text below the shot of the roundhouse. I may not have made it very clear when I was pointing though, so thanks for clarification. As regards to navigation, from several sources that I have read, boaters use the Roundhouse as a navigable aid to indicate end of navigation. However, official navigation rights end in the town of Cricklade a few miles further to the West, but beyond the roundhouse navigation can become tricky, especially if water levels are lower. More (smaller) boats used to go to Cricklade, but very few go beyond the roundhouse today. Hope this clarifies things. Thanks for commenting. Paul