Restoration
Following the publication of Ronald Russell's influential book entitled Lost Canals of England and Wales in 1972, a number of canal restoration schemes sprang up. Among the organisations established that year was the Stroudwater Canal Society, which soon became the Stroudwater, Thames and Severn Canal Trust, and from 1975, the Cotswold Canal Trust. Volunteers for the Trust have since been working to restore both the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames and Severn Canal. Extensive lobbying in 1979 resulted in Gloucestershire County Council deciding to rebuild a damaged bridge at Daneway, rather than replace it with a much cheaper low-level causeway, which would have severed the route. Two years later, County Council support was required when the project benefited from 20 workers and a £17,000 budget for materials under the Job Creation Scheme set up by the Manpower Services Commission, as the Council had to manage the scheme.
In 1991, the Trust commissioned the engineering consultancy Sir William Halcrow and Partners to conduct a feasibility study for restoration of the eastern end of the canal. Funding was provided by the National Rivers Authority, local authorities, and other interested parties. The report demonstrated that there was a good case for the provision of a navigable culvert beneath the proposed Latton Bypass. Despite initially saying that a culvert would not be built, negotiation continued, and – helped by grants of £250,000 from Gloucestershire County Council and £125,000 from North Wilts Council – the Department of the Environment decided in 1997 that a culvert would be provided under the road.
Read more about this topic: Thames And Severn Canal
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