126-534: The Basingstoke Canal is an English canal , completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation . From Basingstoke, the canal passes through or near Greywell , North Warnborough , Odiham , Dogmersfield , Fleet , Farnborough Airfield , Aldershot , Mytchett , Brookwood , Knaphill and Woking . Its eastern end is at Byfleet , where it connects to
252-453: A cargo of sand. The intention of this trip was to prove, at the request of the then owner of the canal, that it was still navigable and so avoid the possibility of closure under the Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1854 . Under that act, if the canal were not used for five years then the land the canal was built on could be returned to the original owners. It turned out not to be possible to navigate
378-512: A circular service started from Euston via Willesden and Waterloo to London Bridge. The SER was clearly reluctant to encourage this service, and diverted it to Cannon Street. It struggled on until ceasing on 31 December 1867. A few van shunts, and also the Royal Train, were the only movements over the line after that. The SER decided to instead build its own station at Waterloo, now known as Waterloo East , requiring passengers to transfer to-and-from
504-566: A classical style. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is an iron trough on tall stone piers. Barton Swing Aqueduct opens to let ships pass underneath on the Manchester Ship Canal. Three Bridges, London is an arrangement allowing the routes of the Grand Junction Canal, a road, and a railway line to cross each other. Locks are the most common means of raising or lowering a boat from one water level to another. The distinguishing feature of
630-482: A cleaned-up and well-used waterway was bringing visitors to other towns and waterside pubs – not just boaters, but people who just like being near water and watching boats (see gongoozler ). They began to clean up their own watersides, and to campaign for "their" canal to be restored. As a result of this growing revival of interest, for the first time in a century some new routes have been constructed (the Ribble Link and
756-598: A dedicated station on the south side of the LSWR station, opening it in 1854. It was independent of the LSWR, but it chartered daily funeral trains to from Waterloo to Brookwood for mourners and the deceased. First, second and third class accommodation was provided on the trains. The Necropolis Station was demolished and replaced by a new one beyond Westminster Bridge Road railway bridge; its new station had two platforms, and opened on 16 February 1902. The service continued until May 1941. The Charing Cross Railway (CCR), supported by
882-436: A dense suburban network and was pioneering in the introduction of a widespread suburban electrified passenger network. It was the prime mover of the development of Southampton Docks , which became an important ocean terminal as well as a harbour for cross channel services and for Isle of Wight ferries. Although the LSWR's area of influence was not the home of large-scale heavy industry, the transport of goods and mineral traffic
1008-466: A favourable forecast of expected traffic was published in 1787, and the canal committee took action. John Smeaton was appointed engineer, together with Benjamin Henry Latrobe , and William Jessop was appointed as assistant engineer and made a survey. To avoid Tylney Hall the route was changed, with the original long contour-following route which had been surveyed around Greywell Hill being replaced by
1134-795: A fully navigable waterway from the River Wey to almost as far as the Greywell Tunnel . However its usage is currently still limited by low water supply and conservation issues. The canal was originally conceived as a way to stimulate agricultural development in Hampshire . It was authorised by the Basingstoke Canal Act 1778 ( 18 Geo. 3 . c. 75), the company being allowed to raise £ 86,000 (equivalent to £12,870,000 in 2023) by issuing shares, and an additional £ 40,000 (equivalent to £5,986,000 in 2023) if required. The original proposed route
1260-557: A heavily built-up area was expensive and slow. Four extra platforms were opened on 3 August 1860 on the north-west side of the original station, but separated from it by the cab road. These extended as far as what is today platform 16 and were always known as the Windsor station. There was an extra track between platforms 2 and 3 and this was the line connecting to the South Eastern Railway ; it opened on 1 July 1865. The South Station
1386-566: A hub for secondary routes. The London and Southampton Railway opened in 1838, part of the way, and in 1840 throughout. Its promoters wanted to make a branch line to Portsmouth, but in those early days the cost of a direct route was impossibly daunting. The company renamed itself the London and South Western Railway, and instead built a branch line from Bishopstoke (Eastleigh) to Gosport , opening on 7 February 1842. Portsmouth could be reached from Gosport by ferry. The importance of Portsmouth attracted
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#17328519570451512-472: A line from Pirbright Junction, on the main line near Brookwood, to a junction near Farnham via Aldershot. The new line opened in 1870. A curve was opened in 1879 at Aldershot Junctions enabling direct running from Guildford to Aldershot; the original line via Tongham declined as a result. The local network was electrified in 1937 and the Tongham line was closed to passengers at that time. The Bordon Light Railway
1638-457: A lock is a fixed chamber whose water-level can be changed. Where a large height difference has to be overcome, locks are built close together in a flight such as at Caen Hill Locks . Where the gradient is very steep, a set of staircase locks are sometimes used, like Bingley Five Rise Locks . At the other extreme stop locks have little or no change in level but were built to conserve water where one canal joined another. An interesting example
1764-728: A narrowboat (a boat 7 ft [2.1 m] wide) no longer than about 56 ft (17 m). There are also several through-routes not connected to the main network, notably those in Scotland , e.g., Glasgow to Edinburgh via the Forth and Clyde Canal , the Falkirk Wheel , and the Union Canal ; and Fort William to Inverness via the Caledonian Canal (including Loch Lochy , Loch Oich , and Loch Ness ). There are four separate sections of
1890-536: A rival port—at being given simply as branch and thereby a roundabout route to London, killed the prospects of such a line. Portsmouth people wanted their own direct line, but in trying to play off the L&;SR against the London and Brighton Railway they were unable to secure the committed funds they needed. The L&SR now promoted a cheaper line to Gosport , on the opposite side of Portsmouth Harbour , shorter and simpler than
2016-550: A suburban network was developing, and this gathered pace in the following decades. The Chertsey branch line opened from Weybridge to Chertsey on 14 February 1848. The Richmond line was extended, reaching Windsor in 1849, while a loop line from Barnes via Hounslow rejoining the Windsor line near Feltham had been opened in 1850. In 1856 a friendly company, the Staines, Wokingham and Woking Junction Railway, opened its line from Staines to Wokingham , and running powers over
2142-508: A team of five canal rangers and one senior ranger, supported by a part-time seasonal lock keeper. A notable feature of the canal is the large number of concrete bunkers known as pillboxes still visible along its length; these were built during World War II as part of the GHQ Line to defend against an expected German invasion . Odiham Castle is situated at the Greywell (Basingstoke) end of
2268-620: A tunnel through it, shortening the canal by nearly 7 miles (11 km). The contract for construction was awarded to John Pinkerton, part of a family of contractors who had often worked with Jessop, in August ;1788. Construction started in October ;1788. The construction of Greywell Tunnel had been initially subcontracted to Charles Jones , although he had been dismissed by the Thames and Severn Canal company in 1788 after failing to complete
2394-568: Is King's Norton Stop Lock which was built with guillotine gates . See also List of canal locks in the United Kingdom . The Canals Collection at the Cadbury Research Library (University of Birmingham) contains archive materials relating to Midlands canals in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway ( LSWR , sometimes written L&SWR )
2520-541: Is usually given to L. T. C. Rolt , whose book Narrow Boat about a journey made in the narrowboat Cressy was published in 1944. A key development was the foundation of the Inland Waterways Association , and the establishment of fledgling weekly boat-hire companies, following the example of such companies on the Norfolk Broads , which had long been used for leisure boating. The authority responsible for
2646-543: The gauge wars . In the early days government held that several competing railways could not be sustained in any particular area of the country, and a commission of experts referred to informally as the "Five Kings" was established by the Board of Trade to determine the preferred development, and therefore the preferred company, in certain districts, and this was formalised in the Railway Regulation Act 1844 . The LSWR
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#17328519570452772-541: The British Transport Commission was formed by the Transport Act 1947 . After Harmsworth's death in the same year the canal was offered for sale again, and some interested enthusiasts and Inland Waterways Association members attempted to form a Basingstoke Canal Committee . At the auction in 1949 they were under the impression that Joan Marshall of Fleet, who had offered to bid on their behalf, had secured
2898-515: The Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency , but other canals are managed by companies, local authorities or charitable trusts. The majority of canals in the United Kingdom can accommodate boats with a length of between 55 and 72 feet (17 and 22 m) and are now used primarily for leisure. There are a number of canals which are far larger than this, including New Junction Canal and
3024-578: The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal , which can accommodate boats with a length of up to 230 feet (70 m). An incomparable purpose-built ship canal is the Manchester Ship Canal . Upon opening in 1894, it was the largest ship canal in the world, permitting ships with a length of up to 600 feet (183 m) to navigate its 36-mile (58 km) route. Canals first saw use during the Roman occupation of
3150-524: The Industrial Revolution took hold in the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, the technology allowed canals to be improved. The early canals contoured round hills and valleys, later ones went straighter. Locks took canals up and down hills, and they strode across valleys on taller and longer aqueducts and through hills in longer and deeper tunnels. From the mid-19th century, railways began to replace canals, especially those built with
3276-460: The Inland Waterways Association is to protect the existing waterways and help restore once-navigable waterways. In May 2005, it was reported that British Waterways (the predecessor to the Canal & River Trust) was hoping to quadruple the amount of cargo carried on Britain's canal network to six million tonnes by 2010 by transporting large amounts of waste to disposal facilities. The speed limit for
3402-491: The Kennet and Avon Navigation via a new Berks and Hants Canal . This link was proposed three times between 1793 and 1810, and a route was even surveyed by John Rennie in 1824, but following opposition from landowners was eventually rejected by Parliament in 1824 and 1826. This route would allow the tunnel to remain undisturbed. The canal is owned by both Hampshire County Council and Surrey County Council, with each authority owning
3528-924: The Liverpool Canal Link ), another is under construction (the Fens Waterways Link ). Large projects such as the restoration of the Anderton Boat Lift , or the building of the Falkirk Wheel attracted development funding from the European Union and from the Millennium Fund . The Rochdale Canal , the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Droitwich Canals have all been restored to navigation since 2000. There are now about 4,700 miles (7,600 km) of navigable canals and rivers throughout
3654-504: The Manchester Ship Canal , the Aire and Calder Navigation and the other large waterways) remain viable, carrying many millions of tonnes per year and there are still hopes for development, but containerisation of ports and lorries has mostly passed the waterways by. The last major investment development of the inland waterways was the enlargement of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation in
3780-588: The River Loddon following Eastrop Way, before passing under the A339 Ringway East. It then made a long loop southwards and then eastwards again, partly on an embankment, passing over small streams and water meadows. The furthest visible sign of the canal today is the buried Red Bridge, which can be seen where Redbridge Lane turns northwards west of the Basing House ruins. From here the canal route passed to
3906-528: The Sapperton Tunnel project, not entirely at his own fault. Jones was again dismissed in 1789 after the quality of the tunnel work was criticised. The canal was opened on 4 September 1794, but two sections of the bank collapsed shortly afterwards, and parts of it were closed until the summer of 1795. One of the main cargoes carried from Basingstoke was timber, along with agricultural products destined for London. A significant amount of traffic took place in
Basingstoke Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
4032-544: The South Eastern Railway (SER), opened from London Bridge to Charing Cross on 11 January 1864. Under the terms of the Charing Cross Railway Act 1859 ( 22 & 23 Vict. c. lxxxi), the CCR was required to build a spur from its line to the LSWR at Waterloo. The single-track connection ran through the station concourse between platforms 2 and 3 and there was a movable bridge to allow passengers to cross. On 6 July 1865
4158-592: The West London Extension Railway , then reaching the LCDR at Longhedge Junction. From there Ludgate Hill was accessible via Loughborough Junction. The Kingston to Malden link also opened on 1 January 1869; running through independently of the main line to Wimbledon, it joined the Epsom line at Epsom Junction, later Raynes Park station . The Kingston and Epsom lines ran to a separate station at Wimbledon at first; this
4284-484: The 1850s, carrying materials for the building of Aldershot Garrison , but this ended within a few years. The Up Nately brickworks, to which a 100 metres (110 yd) long arm of the canal was built for access, opened in 1898 and in the following year produced 2 million bricks which were mostly transported on the canal. However, there were problems with the quality of the bricks and the brickworks went into liquidation in 1901 and closed in 1908. Otherwise, trade on
4410-447: The 1960s to close commercially unviable canals, and to resist pressure from local authorities and newspapers to "fill in this eyesore" or even to "close the killer canal" (when someone fell in one). It was not long before enthusiastic volunteers were repairing unnavigable but officially open canals and moving on to restore officially closed ones and demonstrating their renewed viability to the authorities. Local authorities began to see how
4536-628: The Aire power stations lasted as late as 2004). However, the last new canal before the end of the 20th century was the New Junction Canal in Yorkshire (now South Yorkshire) in 1905. As competition intensified, horse-drawn single narrowboats were replaced by steam and later diesel powered boats towing an unpowered butty, and many of the boatmen's families abandoned their shore homes for a life afloat, to help with boat handling and to reduce accommodation costs –
4662-471: The City of London. The approaches to Ludgate Hill via Loughborough Junction were circuitous and slow, and inaccessible to passengers using main line trains, and outer suburban trains, at Waterloo. The City and South London Railway opened in 1890 as a deep level tube railway. Although it had limitations, it showed the idea to be practical and popular, and the LSWR saw that this was a way forward. The company encouraged
4788-453: The Gosport branch. It opened in 1894, but it never had through trains on to the LSWR. It closed to passengers in 1931 and completely in 1935. The LSWR opened a line from Guildford to Farnham in 1849, extending to Alton in 1852. At the time the establishment of the army garrison at Aldershot led to a massive increase in population there, and consequently demand for travel, and the LSWR constructed
4914-672: The Greywell Tunnel. Along the Basingstoke town section the River Loddon ran parallel with but not into the canal (the present day Eastrop Way, the former route of the canal, can be seen to be well above the river level) and there was also no connection with the River Lyde either at Huish Farm near Hatch (the river can be seen today to flow under the former canal bed just north of the M3) or at Mapledurwell. There are, however, small streams flowing into
5040-408: The L&SR included in its bill a change of name to the London and South Western Railway under section 2. Construction of the Gosport branch was at first quick and simple under the contractor Thomas Brassey . Stations were built at Bishopstoke (the new junction station; later renamed Eastleigh) and Fareham . An extremely elaborate station was built at Gosport , tendered at £10,980, seven times
5166-511: The LBSCR line there, was made. The LSWR route relied on running powers over the LBSCR route from Havant to Portcreek Junction. The LBSCR was very disputatious at this period, and there was an undignified stand-off at Havant before mature arrangements were agreed. The Portsmouth station was about a mile (about 1.5 km) from piers at which the Isle of Wight ferries might be boarded, and as the popularity of
Basingstoke Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
5292-425: The LBSCR route from Brighton. The actual point of junction was on a spur near Cosham, and it was agreed that the line into Portsmouth from there would be jointly operated. This still fell short of the expectations of Portsmouth people, as the choice was via Brighton, reversing there, or via Bishopstoke. A branch line from Woking to Guildford and Godalming had been opened, and now a line from Godalming to Havant, joining
5418-400: The LBSCR three miles north of Streatham Junction. The LCDR connection gave direct access to Ludgate Hill, and friendly relations now existed between the LSWR and the LBSCR, such that running powers were agreed to bridge the gap. All the route sections were ready and LSWR trains started using the route on 1 January 1869. The LSWR continued to be concerned about the remoteness of Waterloo from
5544-474: The LSWR and the LBSCR. The purported object of this short line was to alleviate the transfer to the ferries; by this time the through trains from London ran through to Portsmouth Harbour, so the benefit of changing trains to get to another pier was non-existent, and the Southsea Railway was a commercial failure. In an attempt to arrest the decline, railmotors were built to operate the line; these were reputedly
5670-418: The LSWR on foot. The inconvenience of the location of Waterloo as a London terminal continued to exercise the Board of the LSWR. At this time the London, Chatham and Dover Railway was building its own line to the city, but was in financial difficulty having overreached itself. It therefore welcomed an approach from the LSWR to use its Ludgate Hill station in the City of London, when a financial contribution
5796-456: The Lyde River. There was a short tunnel under Andwell Drove, and then the now demolished Penny Bridge leading under Greywell Road towards Up Nately . From this point eastwards the canal is still in water and is maintained as a nature reserve, with the towpath as a public footpath leading to the western end of the Greywell Tunnel. Footpaths over the hill lead to the eastern end of the tunnel, in
5922-606: The Midlands to Dickinson's paper mills at Croxley and the Kearley and Tonge jam factory at Southall both ceased in 1970 – the Croxley mills had changed to oil and the jam factory closed for re-location. Regular narrowboat traffics continued, such as lime juice from Brentford to Boxmoor (until 1981) while aggregates were carried on the River Soar until 1988. Some individual waterways (especially
6048-458: The North, a total area of 16 acres (6.5ha). Two more tracks were added down the main line from Waterloo to Nine Elms between 1886 and 1892; the seventh line was added on the east side on 4 July 1900, and the eighth in 1905. New platforms 1 to 3 were opened to traffic on 24 January 1909, followed by platform 4 on 25 July 1909 and platform 5 on 6 March 1910. New platforms 6 to 11 followed in 1913. In 1911
6174-607: The Pier Head in 1880. It was not operated by the mainland companies, but by the Isle of Wight's own lines, which used it as an extension of their own routes. In 1923, all the Island lines, including this, transferred to the new Southern Railway as part of the Grouping process. An independent Southsea Railway was promoted, from Fratton station, serving Clarence Pier on the south side of Portsea Island. It opened on 1 July 1885, operated jointly by
6300-514: The Rivers and Canals of England and Wales which was published by Lander, Westall and Co. In 1916, P. Bonthron published My Holidays on Inland Waterways which described his adventures covering 2,000 miles of inland waterways in his motor boat. In the latter half of the 20th century, while the use of canals for transporting goods was dying out, there was a rise in interest in their history and potential use for leisure. A large amount of credit for this
6426-606: The South West, the West of England, and even the West Midlands, and the LSWR and its allies continually fought the GWR and its allies to be the first to build a line in a new area. The GWR was built on the broad gauge of 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in or 2,140 mm while the LSWR gauge was standard gauge ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in or 1,435 mm ), and
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#17328519570456552-556: The United Kingdom . They have a varied history , from use for irrigation and transport , through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution , to today's role of recreational boating . Despite a period of abandonment, today the canal system in the United Kingdom is again increasing in use, with abandoned and derelict canals being reopened, and the construction of some new routes. Canals in England and Wales are maintained by navigation authorities . The biggest navigation authorities are
6678-552: The United Kingdom; 2,700 miles (4,345 km) of these are part of the connected system. Most of them are linked into a single English and Welsh network from Bristol to London , Liverpool to Goole and Lancaster to Ripon , and connecting the Irish Sea , the North Sea , the estuaries of the Humber , Thames , Mersey , Severn and Ribble . This network is navigable in its entirety by
6804-572: The Wey Navigation. This, in turn, leads to the River Thames at Weybridge. Its intended purpose was to allow boats to travel from the docks in East London to Basingstoke. It was never a commercial success and, starting in 1950, a lack of maintenance allowed the canal to become increasingly derelict. After many years of neglect, restoration commenced in 1977 and on 10 May 1991 the canal was reopened as
6930-429: The allegiance of any proposed independent railway was made clear by its intended gauge. The gauge was generally specified in the authorising act of Parliament , and bitter and protracted competition took place to secure authorisation for new lines of the preferred gauge, and to bring about parliamentary rejection of proposals from the rival faction. This rivalry between the GWR and the standard gauge companies became called
7056-503: The best that could be managed, one hour before the departure of each train from Nine Elms, and called at several intermediate piers on the way. To take one hour and only get as far as the starting point of the train was clearly not good enough, not even 150 years ago. The "Metropolitan Extension" to a more central location had been discussed as early as 1836, and a four-track extension was authorised from Nine Elms to what became Waterloo station, at first called Waterloo Bridge station. Opening
7182-407: The birth of the "boatman's cabin" with bright white lace, gleaming brass and gaily-painted metalware. A trip on the canal system was described colloquially as "a cruise on the cut". Constant lowering of tolls meant that the carriage of some bulky, non-perishable, and non-vital goods by water was still feasible on some inland waterways – but the death knell for commercial carrying on the narrow canals
7308-478: The canal and the Itchen Navigation . The suggestion was rejected and the canal company agreed not to oppose the construction of the railway. Commercial traffic on the canal mostly ended in 1910, although a low level of use would continue until the last cargo of timber to Woking in 1949. In the winter of 1913, Alec ("A J") Harmsworth attempted to navigate the canal in the narrowboat Basingstoke , carrying
7434-477: The canal at Fleet and Aldershot. In order to alleviate the lack of water in the western part of the canal, a stop lock was built just to the east of the Greywell Tunnel to raise the water level by about 30 centimetres (1 ft). However this was a long section of canal with many embankments and it is likely that this was a cheap short term measure, instead of improving the water supply or properly fixing leaks. There have been proposals to reconnect Basingstoke with
7560-415: The canal authority was last reviewed in 2011, with the two county councils allocating client officers from their Countryside teams to lead the strategic direction for the canal, taking on part of the former Canal Director's role. The canal authority is now formed of one canal manager, a senior administration officer and assistant, visitor services manager and visitor services officer. The canal is maintained by
7686-527: The canal for them. However, it turned out that she had instead bought the canal for £ 10,000 (equivalent to £383,000 in 2023) on behalf of the New Basingstoke Canal Company , with the purchase having been financed by Mr S. E. Cooke, inventor of the Duracast fishing reel . This company (with Cooke as Managing Director and Joan Marshall as General Manager) attempted to continue maintaining
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#17328519570457812-455: The canal in November 1973 and Surrey County Council acquired their (eastern) part after negotiations in March 1976. In February 1977 a job creation project started with the aim of carrying out restoration work on the Deepcut flight of locks. The work was coordinated with the work of the canal society who organised work parties at weekends while the job creation team worked on weekdays. After about 18 years of restoration, 32 miles (51 km) of
7938-422: The canal was never as intensive as had been predicted, and several companies attempted to run it, but each ended up bankrupt. The canal had started to fall into disuse even before the construction of the London and South Western Railway , which runs parallel to the canal along much of its length. In 1831, when plans for the railway were being developed, the canal company suggested instead that a link be built between
8064-413: The canal was private freehold property and therefore not subject to the Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1854. The Basingstoke returned to its base at Ash Wharf, the last successful boat passage through the tunnel. During World War I the Royal Engineers took over the running of the canal and used it to transport supplies from Woolwich to the barracks at Aldershot , Crookham and Deepcut . The canal
8190-411: The canal were formally re-opened on 10 May 1991. The western section from North Warnborough to Basingstoke remains un-navigable from the point at which it enters the Greywell Tunnel. The tunnel partially collapsed in 1932 where it passes from chalk into clay geology, and is now inhabited by a protected bat colony making it unlikely that the tunnel will ever be restored. Some of the former canal basin at
8316-431: The canal, including keeping the locks in working order. They tried to raise extra income from fishing and houseboat moorings as well as water supply. Unfortunately there was serious damage to Lock 22 in 1957, when some troops blew up the lock and drained the pound above, and a major breach above Ash Lock caused by flooding in 1968. By the late 1960s the canal was essentially derelict, despite volunteer efforts to improve
8442-427: The canal. The canal runs through part of the castle's bailey. The Greywell Tunnel (now disused), at 1,230 yards (1,120 m) long, was the 12th longest canal tunnel in Great Britain. 51°18′10″N 0°39′24″W / 51.30277°N 0.65669°W / 51.30277; -0.65669 Canals of Great Britain The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in
8568-437: The canals, the British Waterways Board , encouraged this process from the late 1950s by operating a fleet of holiday hire boats, initially converted from cut-down working boats. Holidaymakers began renting ' narrowboats ' and roaming the canals, visiting towns and villages they passed. Richer people bought boats to use for weekend breaks and the occasional longer trip. The concept of a canal holiday became even more familiar when
8694-430: The centre belongs to Surrey County Council. Each county council allocates revenue money to the canal authority, as well as the six riparian district/borough authorities through which the canal passes. The canal authority partnership is governed by the Basingstoke Canal Joint Management Committee – a joint committee of Surrey County Council formed of council members from each of the local authority partners. The structure of
8820-401: The centre of Greywell village, and the towing path continues onwards to the present day limit of navigation about 500 metres (550 yd) to the east. The Basingstoke Canal Heritage Footpath roughly follows the canal route for 2 miles (3.2 km) from Festival Place to Basing House. The main source of water for the western end of the canal appears to have been the natural springs within
8946-434: The contours of the land with occasional cuttings, tunnels and embankments. The route can be partly determined by noting that the canal falls between the 75m and 80m contours on Ordnance Survey maps, and can be traced on historical map overlays as available at the National Library of Scotland . The canal started at a basin, roughly where the present day Basingstoke Bus Station is located. From there it ran eastwards parallel to
9072-508: The development of a tube railway from Waterloo to a "City" station, later renamed "Bank". The LSWR sponsored a nominally independent company to construct the line, and the Waterloo and City Railway Company was incorporated by an act of Parliament, the Waterloo and City Railway Act 1893 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. clxxxvii), of 27 July 1893. The line was only the second bored tube railway in the world; it
9198-411: The docks, which were also directly served by goods trains. The railway was immediately successful, and road coaches from points further west altered their routes so as to connect with the new railway at convenient interchange points, although goods traffic was slower to develop. The London and Southampton Railway promoters had intended to build a branch from Basingstoke to Bristol , but this proposal
9324-555: The earlier proposal, but requiring a ferry crossing. Approval had been given in 1838 for the construction of a so-called floating bridge, a chain ferry , which started operation in 1840. The ferry would give an easy transit across Portsmouth Harbour, and the L&SR secured its act of Parliament, the London and South Western Railway (Portsmouth Branch Railway) Act 1839 ( 2 & 3 Vict. c. xxviii) on 4 June. To soothe feelings in Portsmouth,
9450-474: The early 1980s to cope with barges of standard European dimensions that never came. There have been a number of successful initiatives to get more traffic on to the larger inland waterways, though even the Manchester Ship Canal does not convey cargo ships to the docks in Salford, which have become little more than a water feature for the apartments, offices and cultural institutions of 'Salford Quays' that have replaced
9576-424: The entire length of the canal, but the boat did successfully pass through the Greywell Tunnel and was left at Basing Wharf over Christmas 1913. In January 1914 the boat finally reached Basing House where it was turned and returned to Basing Wharf to unload its cargo. Although it proved to be not possible to reach the end of the canal at Basingstoke Wharf, a legal appeal taking place at the same time established that
9702-505: The fact that most of the canal has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest . Two sections of the canal totalling 101.3 hectares (250 acres) are a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Nature Conservation Review site. These are the main length between Greywell and Brookwood Lye , and a short stretch between Monument Bridge and Scotland Bridge in Woking . It is the most botanically-rich aquatic area in England and flora include
9828-579: The first in the United Kingdom. The line closed in 1914. The market town of Midhurst wished to secure a railway and the Petersfield Railway was formed to build a line. The LSWR absorbed the local company before construction was complete, and it opened as a simple branch of the LSWR on 1 September 1864. A landowner wished to develop an area on the coast west of Gosport, planning a high class watering place. A railway branch line was, he believed, essential, and he paid for one to be built, connecting with
9954-605: The first part of the Kingston loop line . A single-track Shepperton branch line was laid in 1864, reaching westwards up the Thames Valley. In 1869 the Kingston loop line was completed by the south-eastward extension from Kingston to Wimbledon, with its own dedicated track alongside the main line from Malden to Epsom Junction (Raynes Park), where it joined the former Wimbledon and Dorking Railway lines. The company's first London terminus
10080-561: The home counties closed too in the 1960s and later, but much of the LSWR network continues in busy use to the present day. The London and South Western Railway arose out of the London and Southampton Railway (L&SR), which was promoted to connect Southampton to the capital; the company envisaged a considerable reduction in the price of coal and agricultural necessities to places served, as well as imported produce through Southampton Docks , and passenger traffic. Construction probably started on 6 October 1834 under Francis Giles, but progress
10206-428: The inland canal network accessible to wide or broad-beam boats of around 12.6 ft [3.8 m] wide (though two each are linked by tidal waterways). However, long-term proposed and already underway restorations and constructions of new routes would eventually link these sections, enabling wide boats to move freely between them and create a true north–south east–west network. The aim of campaigning bodies such as
10332-407: The island developed, the inconvenient transfer through the streets became increasingly prominent. Alternative piers on Portsea Island were built, failing to overcome the problem. A Stokes Bay branch was opened on 6 April 1863, connecting from the Gosport line; it offered direct transfer at its own ferry pier; but it was accessible via Bishopstoke, incurring a roundabout rail journey from London. It
10458-565: The junctions on it were given grade-separation. It pioneered the introduction of power signalling. In the Boer War its connections at Aldershot , Portland , and on Salisbury Plain , made it a vital part of the war effort, and later during the First World War it successfully handled the huge volume of traffic associated with bringing personnel, horses and equipment to the English channel ports, and
10584-637: The land could be used for development. This would therefore have ended any possibility of through navigation. As a result of their campaigning, Surrey and Hampshire county councils began negotiations in 1970 to purchase the canal. However, those negotiations initially broke down which resulted in both of them announcing in February 1972 that they would apply to take over the canal via compulsory purchase orders . The orders were confirmed in February 1975 but did not need to be used, as Hampshire County Council had been able to take possession of their (western) part of
10710-523: The land within their jurisdiction. Until 1990, the two councils managed their own sections separately. It was decided that a central body should manage the entire waterway and the Basingstoke Canal Authority was formed. In 1993, the canal visitor centre at Mytchett was opened which now also acts as the central offices of the canal authority. The canal authority staff are employed, administered and supported by Hampshire County Council; however,
10836-472: The large agencies that dealt with Broads holidays began to include canal boatyards in their brochures. Canal-based holidays became popular due to their relaxing nature, self-catering levels of cost, and variety of scenery available; from inner London to the Scottish Highlands. This growth in interest came just in time to give local canal societies the ammunition they needed to combat government proposals in
10962-408: The late 19th century as military training areas. The canal originally started from the centre of Basingstoke, but the first 5 miles (8 km) of route have now been lost. This section of the canal fell into disuse after the closure of the Greywell Tunnel, due to a lack of boat traffic, general neglect and a lack of water. There were no locks on the canal after Ash , so the route generally followed
11088-493: The line shared by the South Eastern Railway and the Great Western Railway gave access for LSWR trains over the remaining few miles from Wokingham to Reading . The Hampton Court branch line was opened on 1 February 1849. South of the main line, the LSWR wished to connect to the important towns of Epsom and Leatherhead . In 1859 the friendly Wimbledon and Dorking Railway opened from Wimbledon, running alongside
11214-454: The main line as far as Epsom Junction, at the site of the later Raynes Park station , then diverging to Epsom, joining there the Epsom and Leatherhead Railway , operated jointly with the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway . Parts of Kingston were three miles (4.8 kilometres) from Surbiton station but in 1863 a line from Twickenham to Kingston railway station (England) was opened, forming
11340-414: The majority of inland waterways in the United Kingdom managed by the Canal & River Trust is 4 mph (6.4 km/h). All speed measurements on Canal & River Trust waterways are expressed in terms of speed over the ground, rather than speed through the water. Canal aqueducts are structures that carry a canal across a valley, road, railway, or another canal. Dundas Aqueduct is built of stone in
11466-549: The nationally scarce hairlike pondweed and the nationally scarce tasteless water-pepper . The site is also nationally important for its invertebrates. There are 24 species of dragonfly and other species include two nationally rare Red Data Book insects. Eastwards from the mid point of the canal, it is surrounded by large areas of heathland . These are habitats for reptilian species, such as vipers and lizards , and birds such as nightjars , woodlarks and Dartford warblers . Much of this heath survives today due to its use since
11592-545: The new Southern Railway, it showed the way forward for long-distance travel and outer-suburban passenger operation, and for maritime activity. The network continued without much change through the lifetime of the Southern Railway, and for some years following nationalisation in 1948. In Devon and Cornwall the LSWR routes duplicated former Great Western Railway routes, and in the 1960s they were closed or substantially reduced in scope. Some unsuccessful rural branch lines nearer
11718-418: The new four storey frontage block was ready; at last Waterloo had an integrated building for passengers' requirements, staff accommodation and offices. There was a new roof over platforms 1 to 15; platforms 16 to 21 retained their original 1885 roof. Other platforms were rearranged and renewed; beyond the cab road platforms 12 to 15 were allocated to main line arrivals, opening in 1916. The station reconstruction
11844-511: The new station. Residents of Richmond upon Thames observed the popularity of this facility, and promoted the Richmond Railway from Richmond to Waterloo. The LSWR took over the construction of the extension from Nine Elms to Waterloo itself, and the line from Richmond to Falcon Bridge, at the present-day Clapham Junction, opened in July 1846. The line became part of the LSWR later that year. Already
11970-551: The north of Basing House and through Old Basing village. Some remaining cuttings, which may contain water in wet weather, can be found just off Milkingpen Lane and behind the Belle View Road/Cavalier Road estate. There was then another southwards loop, crossing the routes of the present day A30 and M3 and then across the Lyde River at Hatch. From here the canal ran eastwards across fields, on an embankment towards Mapledurwell to then cross over another branch of
12096-468: The railway. Reaching Bath and Bristol via Newbury was an early objective. The Great Western Railway (GWR) also planned to reach Bath and Bristol, and it obtained its act of Parliament, the Great Western Railway Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4 . c. cvii) on 31 August 1835, which for the time being removed those cities from the LSWR's immediate plans. There remained much attractive territory in
12222-543: The repatriation of the injured. It was a profitable company, paying a dividend of 5% or more from 1871. Following the Railways Act 1921 the LSWR amalgamated with other railways to create the Southern Railway , on 1 January 1923, as part of the grouping of the railways. It was the largest constituent: it operated 862 route miles, and was involved in joint ventures that covered a further 157 miles. In passing its network to
12348-428: The rival London, Brighton and South Coast Railway , which sponsored the construction of a route from Brighton to Portsmouth via Chichester. This opened on 14 June 1847. Portsmouth could now be reached from London via Brighton The LSWR had realised how unsatisfactory its approach to Portsmouth was, and made a connecting line from Fareham. Initially intending to build its own line to Portsmouth, it compromised and joined
12474-542: The situation. In 1966 the Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society (now renamed the Basingstoke Canal Society ) was formed by a group of local enthusiasts, with a view to reopening the derelict canal. They particularly campaigned to oppose proposals from the canal company in 1967 which would have retained only those sections of the canal useful for amenity and conservation purposes, culverting the water between them so that
12600-811: The south of Great Britain and were used mainly for irrigation. The Romans also created several navigable canals, such as Foss Dyke , to link rivers, enabling increased transport inland by water. The United Kingdom's navigable water network grew as the demand for industrial transport increased. The canals were key to the pace of the Industrial Revolution: roads at the time were unsuitable for large volumes of traffic. A system of very large pack horse trains had developed, but few roads were suitable for wheeled vehicles able to transport large amounts of materials (especially fragile manufactured goods such as pottery) quickly. Canal boats were much quicker, could carry large volumes, and were much safer for fragile items. Following
12726-519: The standard narrow (7 ft [2.1 m]) bridges and locks. As trains, and later road vehicles, became more advanced, they became cheaper than the narrow canal system, being faster, and able to carry much larger cargoes. The canal network declined, and many canals were bought by railway companies – in some cases to enable them to penetrate rival companies' areas transhipping to/from canal boats. Some narrow canals became unusable, filled with weeds, silt and rubbish, or were converted to railways. There
12852-401: The station, the locomotive was detached and the carriages were allowed to roll into one of the platforms while the guard controlled the brake. The Nine Elms site became dedicated to goods traffic and was much extended to fill the triangle of land eastwards to Wandsworth Road. Over the rest of the LSWR's existence Waterloo station was gradually extended and improved. Expanding its footprint in
12978-629: The success of first the Sankey Canal followed by the Bridgewater Canal , other canals were constructed between industrial centres, cities and ports, and were soon transporting raw materials (particularly coal and lumber) and manufactured goods. There were immediate benefits to households, as well as to commerce: in Manchester , the cost of coal fell by 75% when the Bridgewater Canal arrived. As
13104-471: The surviving section of the canal several times in the past, and this remains a long term aim of the Basingstoke Canal Society. However, the bat population now established in the Greywell Tunnel makes it unlikely that the tunnel will ever be able to be reopened. Another possible idea that has been considered in the past, and is still a long term ambition today, is to connect the remaining canal to
13230-517: The tender price for Bishopstoke. However, there was a tunnel at Fareham, and on 15 July 1841 there was a disastrous earth slip at the north end. Opening of the line had been advertised for 11 days later, but the setback forced a delay until 29 November; the ground slipped again four days later, and passenger services were suspended until 7 February 1842. With train services to Gosport operating, Isle of Wight ferry operators altered some sailings to leave from Gosport instead of Portsmouth. Queen Victoria
13356-460: The town: the terrain prevented a closer approach to the steamer berth. As leisure traffic developed this became increasingly, objectionable, and the mitigation provided by the horse drawn street running trams of the Ryde Pier Company from 1871, requiring two transfers for onward travel, was hardly sufficient. The LSWR and the LBSCR together built an extension line to the pier, and it opened to
13482-410: The western end has also been lost to modern development in and around Basingstoke. The canal is now managed by the Basingstoke Canal Authority and is open to navigation throughout the year. Lock opening times are restricted due to the very limited water supply in an attempt to postpone summer closures which have plagued the canal since construction. Boat numbers are also limited to 1,300 per year due to
13608-414: The wharves and warehouses. Early use of the canals for leisure travel was fairly limited. One of the earliest records of pleasure cruising was published in 1891. Two Girls on a Barge by Miss V. Cecil Cotes describes an unconventional adventure by two young ladies who took a barge from Paddington to Coventry. With the introduction of motor boats, George Westall authored a book in 1908, Inland Cruising on
13734-559: Was a late burst of wide-waterway building (e.g. the Caledonian Canal , and the Manchester Ship Canal ), and of invention and innovation by people such as Bartholomew of the Aire and Calder company, who conceived the trains of nineteen coal-filled "Tom Pudding" compartment boats that were pulled along the Aire and Calder Navigation from the Yorkshire coalfields, then lifted bodily to upturn their contents directly into seagoing colliers at Goole Docks (their descendants, Hargreaves' tugs pushing three coal-pans trains to be upended into hoppers at
13860-412: Was a major activity, and the company built a large marshalling yard at Feltham . Freight, docks and shipping business provided almost 40 per cent of turnover by 1908. The company handled the rebuilding of London Waterloo station as one of the great stations of the world, and the construction of the Waterloo & City line , giving access to the City of London. The main line was quadrupled and several of
13986-497: Was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway , its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth , to Salisbury , Exeter and Plymouth , and to Padstow , Ilfracombe and Bude . It developed a network of routes in Hampshire , Surrey and Berkshire , including Portsmouth and Reading . The LSWR became famous for its express passenger trains to Bournemouth and Weymouth, and to Devon and Cornwall. Nearer London it developed
14112-597: Was about 44 miles (71 km) long, running from Basingstoke to join the Wey and Godalming Navigations near Weybridge , with a large loop running to the north to pass around Greywell Hill. The loop cut through the grounds of Tylney Hall, owned by Earl Tylney , and he objected to the route. Due to this objection, difficulties in raising capital funding, and the American Revolutionary War being in progress, no construction took place for some time. Nearly ten years later,
14238-465: Was absorbed by the LSWR in 1871 and struggled on until 1915 when part of it ws requisitioned by the Admiralty. This issue of access to steamers was finally resolved in 1876, when the existing joint line at Portsmouth was extended to a Portsmouth Harbour station, where direct transfer was at last possible. In 1864 the Isle of Wight Railway was opened, starting out from a Ryde station on the south-east of
14364-458: Was also used to train soldiers in boat handling. Harmsworth, the last trader working on the canal, purchased the canal in 1923, but only used the lower section (from the Wey as far as Woking) for limited commercial carrying and pleasure cruising. After part of the Greywell Tunnel collapsed in 1932, the canal to the west of that, including Basingstoke Wharf, was sold. The canal was not nationalised when
14490-455: Was at Nine Elms on the southwestern edge of the built-up area. The wharf frontage on the Thames was advantageous to the railway's objective of competing with coastal shipping transits, but the site was inconvenient for passengers, who had to travel to or from London either by road or by steamer. Passenger steamboats left from Old Swan Pier, Upper Thames Street, not very close to the City centre but
14616-609: Was brought into use on 16 December 1878; it had two new tracks and a double sided platform; the original station now became known as the Central station, while in November 1885 the North Station was opened by extending from the Windsor station towards York Road. It had six new platform faces, so that the total was now 18 platforms, two in the South, six in the Central, four in the Windsor, and six in
14742-538: Was electrified, and was 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (3 km) in length; it opened to the public on 8 August 1898. The LSWR absorbed it in 1907. The LSWR's dominant route to Portsmouth was what became the Portsmouth Direct Line, its importance enhanced by the development of leisure travel to the Isle of Wight. Alton followed, later encouraging a local network for the Aldershot military depots, and itself forming
14868-490: Was eventually finished in 1922; the cost of the reconstruction had been £2,269,354. It was officially opened by Queen Mary on 21 March 1922. Following the cholera outbreak of 1848–1849 in London, it was clear that there was a scarcity of burial plots in suburban London. The London Necropolis Company was established in 1852; it set up a cemetery in Brookwood served by a short branch line off the LSWR main line. At Waterloo it built
14994-551: Was fond of travelling to Osborne House on the island, and on 13 September 1845 a 605 yd (553 m) branch to the Royal Clarence Victualling Establishment , where she could transfer from train to ship privately, was opened for her convenience. Between the first proposal for a railway from London to Southampton and the construction, interested parties were considering rail connections to other, more distant, towns that might be served by extensions of
15120-501: Was integrated into the main Wimbledon station during 1869. The platforms used by those trains were also to be connected to the Tooting, Merton and Wimbledon Railway which was under construction. The Tooting line connected into the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at Streatham Junction, and the LCDR was building a connection from its Herne Hill station to Knights Hill Junction, on
15246-518: Was on offer. Trains from the direct Richmond line via Barnes could access the Longhedge line at Clapham Junction, running through to Ludgate Hill by way of Loughborough Junction . This route became available on 3 April 1866. On 1 January 1869, the Kensington and Richmond line of the LSWR was ready: this ran from Richmond by way of Gunnersbury and Hammersmith to Kensington . Trains ran from there via
15372-847: Was planned for 30 June 1848, but the Board of Trade inspector Captain Simmonds was concerned about the structural stability of Westminster Bridge Road Bridge, and required a load test. This was carried out on 6 July 1848, and was satisfactory. The line opened on 11 July 1848, together with the four tracks from Nine Elms in to Waterloo. Waterloo station occupied three-quarters of an acre (0.3ha); there were two centre lines, and four other lines serving roofed platforms 300 ft (91m) long, soon after extended to 600 ft (182m). They were located approximately where platforms 9 to 12 are today. Only temporary buildings were provided at first, but permanent structures opened in 1853. At first incoming trains stopped outside
15498-642: Was rejected by Parliament in favour of the competing route proposed by the Great Western Railway . The parliamentary fight had been bitter, and a combination of resentment and the commercial attraction of expanding westwards remained in the company's thoughts. A more immediate opportunity was taken up, of serving Portsmouth by a branch line. Interests friendly to the L&SR promoted a Portsmouth Junction Railway, which would have run from Bishopstoke ( Eastleigh ) via Botley and Fareham to Portsmouth . However antagonism in Portsmouth—which considered Southampton
15624-401: Was slow. Joseph Locke was brought in as engineer, and the rate of construction improved; the first part of the line opened to the public between Nine Elms and Woking Common on 21 May 1838, and it was opened throughout on 11 May 1840. The terminals were at Nine Elms, south of the River Thames and a mile or so southwest of Trafalgar Square , and a terminal station at Southampton close to
15750-518: Was sounded in the winter of 1962–63, when a long hard frost kept goods icebound on the canals for three months. A few of the remaining customers turned to road and rail haulage to ensure reliability of supply and never returned, though both rail and road had been severely disrupted by the frost and snow too. Other narrowboat traffic gradually ceased with the change from coal to oil, the closure of canalside factories, and run-down of British heavy industry. The last long-distance narrowboat traffics, coal from
15876-462: Was the second British railway company to begin running a commuter service, after the London and Greenwich Railway , which opened in 1836. When the LSWR opened its first main line, the company built a station called Kingston, somewhat to the east of the present-day Surbiton station , and this quickly attracted business travel from residents of Kingston upon Thames . The availability of fast travel into London encouraged new housing development close to
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