We've completed our winter conservation programme on Kennet & Avon Canal

Linking the River Thames with the Bristol Channel, the Kennet & Avon Canal is over two centuries old and transformed the carriage of goods between London and Bristol during the Industrial Revolution. Built by the pioneering engineer John Rennie, the canal’s 104 locks, including the famous Caen Hill Lock Flight, plus its manmade bridges and aqueducts, including Dundas and Avoncliff, require an ongoing programme of care and attention to keep the canal in working order.

What's been done?

This winter we've raised the funds needed to enable investment in the canal, with larger-scale engineering works taking place to repair and replace lock gates, plus works to repair the ‘paddles’ which control the flow of water into and out of a lock so that boats can go up and down hill.

Handmade oak lock gates have been replaced at Hamstead Lock near Newbury with gates made to measure at our workshop by our specialist carpenters. The same is due at Heale’s Lock, east of Thatcham, but swollen water levels mean the work due for the historic lock structure is now planned for later in the year.

Repairs have been made to lock gates at Brunsdon Lock near Kintbury and at Woolhampton Lock by our teams.

At the historic Caen Hill Lock Flight near Devizes, essential work to repair the paddles have been completed at Marsh Lane Lock 27.

An important part of our heritage

Rob Coles, our area operations manager for Kennet & Avon East, explained: "We saw in the last Century what happens when this historic canal isn’t maintained and looked after, with locks broken and the canal abandoned and unloved.  It took a heroic volunteer movement to spearhead the restoration of the canal and, since 2012, our charity has been working with the community, raising funds and carrying out day to day maintenance plus important engineering works at this time of year.

“The canal is such an important part of our local heritage and landscape and it is being used today by thousands of local people, supporting jobs and as a vital habitat for nature. It's important that we protect the canal because of its heritage but also due to the role it continues to have today and will do for future generations.

"The challenges of rising costs, climate change, extreme weather events and the age of the canal mean our need to care for it is as great as ever, and we value the support of boaters, our volunteers and the wider public."

We undertake large-scale repairs during the winter when canals are quieter to minimise the impact on navigation. Across our entire 2,000 mile network this winter works spanned 45 canals and rivers and included 137 separate projects at more than 100 locks, 14 bridges, two tunnels and a host of embankments, sluices, culverts and canal walls.