Kennet and Avon Canal

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The Kennet and Avon Canal ( Kennet and Avon Canal ) is a Narrowboat Canal in southern England. It runs east-west direction and connects the rivers Avon and Kennet and thus the Bristol Channel ( the estuary of the River Severn ) with the Thames. It forms with the mentioned rivers a complete east-west inland waterway in southern England.

History

After the private Kennet and Avon Canal Company on April 17, 1794 received royal permission for the construction of a canal, the Kennet and Avon Canal was built in three sections. The channeling of the River Kennet between Reading and Newbury was completed from 1723. The Avon was navigable from 1727 from the Bristol Channel to Bath. The actual channel connection between these two river systems was completed under the direction of civil engineer John Rennie senior channel 1810.

Already in 1852 bought the Great Western Railway Company the channel for £ 210,000 and avoided as far as possible in the future to support the commercial freight freighter traffic on the channel. In this way, the Great Western Railway Company rid of a pesky competitors by buying him and henceforth neglected. Thus, the passage of the canal became increasingly difficult due to increasingly poorer maintenance and upkeep; last succeeded in a continuous passage from Reading to Bristol in 1951. Thereafter, the channel fell into disrepair. Plans to close the channel finally were, however, thwarted by canal enthusiasts. There followed a decade-long phase of restoration. In August 1990, he was re-opened by Queen Elizabeth. However, there were also in the subsequent period, considerable technical problems such as water scarcity which allowed only limited boat traffic. Only with the generous support payment from the fund of the lottery for the historical heritage of England (Heritage Lottery Fund ) in the amount of £ 25 million and other donations totaling just under £ 5 million restoration of the canal could be completed. The money was used for the repair of the locks and the river banks as well as the dredging of the channel bed. Even aspects of environmental protection and barrier-free access to the channel for people with disabilities were not forgotten.

Therefore today the channel is not only the recreational boating, but also the population serves as enthusiastic adopted recreation area, as a sports venue for joggers, walkers and cyclists, and not least as a commercial basis for newly created jobs at the charter company for recreational boats, narrowboats so-called, as well as in tourism industry.

Bath to Devizes

Bath itself is a popular tourist destination in southern England. Noteworthy in particular, the Roman Baths, fed by the only hot springs in England. Crosses from the perspective of the Kennet and Avon Canal, the Bath, Pulteney Bridge is particularly worth mentioning besides military. In fed the construction of the canal, were in Bath Gardens Sydney, a park, intersected.

In Claverton, a few kilometers east of Bath, is a 1812 by John Rennie built, water driven by the River Avon, now restored water pump which serves the channel above the Widcombe - lock staircase supply the power consumed by the sluicing water.

Another notable building is the channel Dundas Aqueduct, which is considered the most beautiful canal building John Rennie. It was after the first chairman of the Kennet and Avon Canal Company, Charles Dundas, named. A later descendant of this gentleman is Lord David Dundas, the performer of the one- hit wonders " jeans on".

But the highlight of the Kennet and Avon Canal Caen Hill Flight is the west of Devizes. It is a lock staircase of 29 locks, which leads to the channel over a distance of only 3.6 km along a 72.24 m higher level. 16 locks the lock staircase are built directly behind the other, only separated by a short canal piece along with balancing reservoir.

Even a experienced Leisure Department takes several hours to cope with the staircase of locks at hand.

This lock staircase was the last completed channel segment already in the channel opening 1810. This also applied to the re-opening after restoration in 1990. Was only after 1995, a pump-back system was installed which is capable of pumping from the bottom lock before the top lock within an hour, 1.2 million liters of water, limitations could be avoided by lack of water in the lock operation.

Devizes is a small town with 11,000 inhabitants. In the old Bear Hotel am Marktplatz both members of the former Kennet and Avon Canal Company and later in the 20th century, the members of the association for the restoration of decayed meantime channel. Convened in the 18th century

Devizes is also the starting point of a Easter annually organized canoe regatta. The aim is to Westminster 117 miles (178 km) away (London ), which reach even the fastest after a good 20 hours.

Devizes to Newbury

East of Devizes meanders of the channel over a long distance schleusenlos by the Pewsey Valley ( Vale of Pewsey ). In Pewsey Downs, a range of hills, is from afar a Whitehorse visible, one created by removing the sod -than-life outline drawing of a horse (called a Geoglyph, see White Horse Hill, another Whitehorse ).

Only at Wooton Rivers, a small village, followed by a further four gates that lead to the summit level of the Kennet and Avon Canal up. The other locks in an easterly direction towards the valley leading down to the River Thames. But first it is necessary to go through the only tunnel on the Kennet and Avon Canal. It is about 500 m long and has no towpath on. Since motorized Narrowboats penetrated only since the First World War, which meant for the getreidelten of horses boats of the 19th century that the crew of the narrowboats had to pull this attached to the side of the tunnel walls chains through the tunnel, while the Treidelpferd by another crew member was passed throughout the tunnel.

In Crofton is a lock staircase with 9 locks and the Crofton Pumping Station. Two operated by steam engines pump, water is pumped from a nearby reservoir to the apex position of the channel. The pumping station is now a small, daily open Technik Museum, which houses the two oldest steam-driven pumps and still functioning in the world. They date from 1812 and 1845 and were, after being out of service in 1958 took made ​​available from 1970 after successful restoration as a museum operated pumps to the public.