A new dawn for historic waterway

This is Bath -

It was finished 200 years ago at the height of what was known at the time as canal-mania.

And today, on the anniversary of the day in 1810 when it finally opened amid much fanfare, a new dawn is breaking for the Kennet and Avon Canal. Back in the days between Christmas and New Year 1810, the last piece of the jigsaw which created a workable waterway between Bristol, Bath and London was completed.

Until then, for more than a decade, the canal was gradually built from Bath to Rowde in Wiltshire while, from the east, the canal came from Newbury into Wiltshire up the Vale of Pewsey.

There was already an important cargo trade between Devizes and London, and from Bristol to Bath and the towns into Wiltshire beyond, like Bradford on Avon, Melksham and Trowbridge, when the 29 lock flight at Caen Hill on the edge of Devizes was finally completed.

And those locks, the last to be restored when the canal was brought back to life in 1980, have been the focal point of the bicentenary celebrations in 2010.

Towards the end of the 200th anniversary year, the Government body that runs the canal, and all of Britain's restored waterways, was set free by Whitehall to become a stand-alone charitable trust, something the people running the K&A welcomed as the dawn of a new era.

British Waterways' chief executive, Robin Evans said: "The Kennet & Avon Canal is a beautiful waterway – a real jewel in the crown of the nation's working industrial heritage.

"We work with local authorities, the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust and many other groups and organ isations to keep the waterway working for everyone to use and enjoy.

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Photo Kennet and Avon Canal

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