When my daughter said she’d never walked along the canal, I
immediately went into local historian mode. What a lovely idea for an
educational day out. We made a picnic lunch and armed with cameras we headed
off with grandchildren in tow. Our walk took the route that begins behind the
Esso Service Station at the bottom of Kingshill and extends into the
Wichelstowe housing development.
Begun in 1795 and under construction for 15 years, the Wilts
& Berks canal opened in 1810. Stretching 52 miles from Semington Junction
on the Kennet and Avon to the Thames at Abingdon, the canal was used chiefly
for the transportation of coal from the Somerset mines. Its most profitable period
was during the construction of the Great Western Railway and the Swindon works
when it was used to convey materials. Sadly, the collapse of the Stanley Aqueduct
over the River Marden in 1901 sounded the death knell for the Wilts & Berks
after which it became an unsightly, stagnant waterway through the centre of the
railway town. Closed by an Act of Parliament in 1914 stretches were gradually in filled from the 1930s onwards.
But by the 1970s public opinion had changed and the many
advantages of a canal running through the town centre were recognised. In 1977
the Wilts & Berks Canal Amenity Group was formed becoming the Wilts &
Berks Canal Trust in 1997 and for more than 40 years volunteers have been busy
restoring and reconstructing the waterway.
Of course, I spared the children this blow by blow account …
We called in at the playpark in Rushey Platt just as the resident heron paid a visit causing great excitement.
On plaques installed
within the playpark equipment are verses of poetry written by Reginald Arkell.
Now, Arkell is a name well known in Swindon but more for the pubs and the
Kingsdown brewery than for poetry, but Reginald does in fact trace his roots up
the same family tree.
Reginald Arkell, poet, script writer and comic novelist was
born in Lechlade in 1881, one of farmer Daniel Arkell and wife Louisa’s eight
children. Daniel’s father was William Arkell, the younger brother of John
Arkell who established the brewery at Kingsdown in 1843.
And no, I didn’t try to explain all that to the
grandchildren.
At the appropriately named Beavan’s Bridge we joined the
former Midland & South Western Junction railway line, better known today as
the Old Town Railway Path. Following the closure of the railway in the 1960s
and before developers could stake a claim, the Swindon Bike Group proposed
transforming the route into a scenic park for walkers and cyclists. In 1995
sculptor Alec Peever and poet Fiona Sampson were commissioned to create a
series of sculptures to commemorate the industrial history of the area.
And no, I didn’t try to explain all this to the
grandchildren, although they did enjoy exploring the ‘stones.’
We saw ducks and swans, not forgetting the magnificent heron. We took photographs of each other, some enviable canalside gardens and a ladybird named Larry, but by now the children were cold, tired and hungry. We had walked an estimated four miles and to be honest they were pretty unimpressed by Swindon’s history.
Well, I had a nice time anyway.
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