Route
The canal ran for 34 miles (55 km) from Hereford basin through Ledbury, Dymock and Newent to Over, on the West Channel of the River Severn west of Gloucester, with a short branch at Newent to the coal fields. The first 6 miles (9.7 km) from Hereford to Withington, which includes the Aylestone tunnel, was level, after which the canal rose by 30 feet (9.1 m) through four locks over the three miles to Monkhide. This section includes the skew bridge at Monkhide, built by Ballard at an angle of only 27° to the canal. The bridge was constructed of red brick with some stone dressing, and the parapets are capped with large black engineering bricks which indicate that they were made by B W Blades of West Bromwich. The bridge is a grade II listed structure. There is then another level section of more than eight miles to the outskirts of Ledbury, which includes the Ashperton tunnel. Water is fed into this section from the River Frome. The final 18 miles (29 km) to Over falls by 195 feet (59 m), and includes the 2,192-yard (2,004 m) Oxenhall tunnel, which was not destroyed by the construction of the railway, as the railway company took the sensible decision to avoid the likely problems of enlarging it, and built a diversion to the south-west. The coal branch left the canal below the tunnel, and dropped 10 feet (3.0 m) through one lock. The canal had 23 locks, 22 on the main line and one on the branch, and three tunnels. Like many English canals it was built to carry valuable cargoes by narrowboats.
Read more about this topic: Herefordshire And Gloucestershire Canal
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—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
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“A Route of Evanescence
With a revolving Wheel—”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)