Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal - Restoration

Restoration

A series of articles about the canal were published in the local press in early 1983, and this led to calls for a society to be formed which would raise public awareness of the canal. A meeting was held in Hereford to facilitate this on 13 April 1983, at which a canal society was formed, which soon became actively engaged in restoration. While the original goal was preservation of the remains, in 1992 the society became the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust (H&G Canal Trust) and the aim became full restoration of the 34 miles (55 km) of canal and locks so that Hereford would once again be linked with Ledbury, Dymock, Newent and the rest of the inland waterway system at Gloucester.

Since 1991 the local council authorities in Herefordshire have set aside land for development as a canal route. The planning department has approved projects with the canal in mind, and has taken action against those trying to build on the proposed route of the canal. Similar support has been given by the local council authorities in Gloucestershire.

In 2000, the Over Canal Basin (adjacent to the River Severn at Over on the outskirts of Gloucester, where the Canal links with the inland waterways network) was reconstructed entirely by volunteers from the Canal Trust and the national volunteer body the Waterway Recovery Group. The estimated commercial cost of the work was some £500,000, but it was completed against a 10 month deadline, with a budget of just £60,000. The basin was originally filled in in 1903, when the Over Isolation Hospital was built. The site was sold for housing development to Swan Homes, and agreement was reached to excavate the basin to enhance the project, under which Wharf House was rebuilt to provide a new canal centre. In late 2011, the Trust were able to buy a short section of the canal above the basin site. This had been purchased by residents in 2004 to protect their communal interests, and was passed to the Trust for a nominal sum. Like the basin, there was a deadline on development, which had to be completed by September 2012, but a major effort by the Waterway Recovery Group and members of the Trust resulted in most of the work being completed in April 2012. It was re-watered by 18 April, four months before its scheduled completion date, although it will not be formally re-opened until the Over Canal Festival at the beginning of September.

Major re-development in Hereford town centre has resulted in the construction of a new canal bed which will eventually link to a new basin, to form the centrepiece of the Edgar Street Grid development. Further development has also taken place on the Aylestone Park section, following the removal of silt containing heavy metals. Following partial restoration, which saw the Trust working on the park, and Herefordshire Council, owners of the park, working on the canal, a short section at Aylestone was used for a boat rally in May 2011. A slipway enabled the boats to be launched, and the canal will be made wider in due course.

The canal connects to an un-navigable part of the River Severn, separated from the main channel by weirs at Maisemore and Llanthony, both of which have derelict locks associated with them. Maisemore was sold by British Waterways some years ago, and they decided to dispose of Llanthony in 2007. The Canal Trust used a legacy to purchase the site, which includes two cottages, some land, and a small section of the River Severn as well as Llanthony lock. The lock is bigger than that at Maisemore, and access to the entrance lock at Over is easier because boats are travelling against the flow of the river as they approach it.