Cotswold Canals

The Thames & Severn Canal ran from the River Thames at Lechlade, ascending sixteen locks, then through the 2 ¼ mile Sapperton Tunnel, to link with the Stoudwater Canal at Brimscombe. Twelve locks brought the Stroudwater Canal down from Stroud to Saul. From here, it continued to Framilode where it locked down into the tidal River Severn.
In 1827, the Gloucester-Berkeley Ship Canal was opened, thus creating the 'crossroads junction' at Saul. The mile length of the Stroudwater Canal to the Severn later became disused. The last recorded commercial toll on the Stroudwater Canal was paid in 1941. It was officially abandoned in 1954. The Thames & Severn had met a similar fate in 1933. Gloucestershire in general and the Stroud Valleys in particular are renowned for their beauty, seclusion and historic interest. Surely, reasons enough for the canal to be reopened to Stroud and beyond!

The Cotswold Canals Trust is a Registered Charity and its aims are:

To promote, for the benefit of the community, the reopening of the Cotswold Canals

To promote the restoration of the two waterways to give a balance between the needs of navigation, development, recreation, heritage, landscape conservation, wildlife and natural habitats

To promote the use of all towpaths as the Thames & Severn Way - long distance foot path

To achieve restoration of the Cotswold Canals as a navigable route from Saul Junction to the River Thames

related internet links

Cotswold Canals

a website from the

BBC

Hornblower and The Cotswold Canal

an excerpt from

Hornblower and The Atropos

by C.S. Forester

Sapperton Tunnel

the longest canal tunnel

in Britain

The Sapperton Tunnel Experience

brought to you by

The Cotswold Canals Trust

The Tales From The Towpath