Old Pictures: Kennet & Avon Canal
.
Click on the thumbnail pictures for a larger view The Upper Wharf of the canal in Bradford’s Frome Road in about 1925, with a wooden horse-drawn barge being prepared for work. Just above the tiny cabin of the barge can be seen the small building which was the lock-keeper’ office. To its right is one of the diamond-shaped cast iron signs that showed the weight...
Read MoreThe Kennet & Avon Canal: timeline
1723: The River Kennet Navigation opened, Newbury to Reading
1727: The River Avon Navigation opened, Bath to Bristol
1788: In April, a canal linking the Kennet and Avon proposed at a meeting in Newbury
1789: Surveyed route presented to shareholders in the summer
1793: The Kennet & Avon Canal Act passed on 27th August
1794: The first sod cut, at Bradford,...
Read MoreExplore the Kennet & Avon Canal
.
The River Avon was canalised between Bath and Bristol in 1727, while to the east, the River Kennet Navigation from Newbury to the confluence with the River Thames at Reading had been made in 1723. The construction of a canal between the two to give a through route from London to Bristol, avoiding a long dangerous sea...
Read MoreExplore Bradford: The Canal Wharves
Past the Canal Tavern pub the Frome Road does a sharp double bend over a hump-back bridge which takes it across the Kennet & Avon Canal. Beneath the bridge is the first canal lock above Bath, which separates lower and upper canal wharves. The lower wharf mainly handled coal coming from the Somerset coalfield and stone going westwards, while the upper wharf handled various goods...
Read MoreCanals to Bradford on Avon
.
.
Explore the Kennet & Avon Canal Frome Road Canal Wharves Old photographs of the Kennet & Avon Canal Kennet & Avon Canal timelineRead More