Work starts to repair the Aylesbury Arm

Last week the wall at Buckland Lock, on the Aylesbury Arm, partially collapsed opening up a large crater along the towpath. As a result the lock, which is over 170 years old, has been closed until it can be repaired.

Opened in1839, the Aylesbury Arm is just over six miles long and is home to 16 locks and is a key destination for boaters wanting to visit the centre of Aylesbury and the waterside development at Aylesbury Basin. 

Extremely popular canal

Jeff Whyatt, senior waterway manager for the Canal & River Trust, said: “The Aylesbury Arm is a lovely quiet canal just off the main Grand Union Canal. Although it is only a few miles long it is extremely popular with boaters, walkers and cyclists and those wanting to explore their local waterway. 

“Considering the age of the canal, problems like the one at Buckland Lock, are thankfully still extremely rare. We are getting on with the job and hope to get the canal back open quickly as we can. Fixing this problem certainly isn’t going to be cheap, we are a charity and don’t have an endless pot of money, so it is likely we will have to make the difficult decision on what slightly less urgent, but just as important repairs on other areas of the waterways can be postponed whilst we work on these emergency repairs.”