Bridge no. 7
If it’s not moving, it will be claimed and numbered: locks, bridges, buildings and way markers all stamped on impressive iron-plaques along 137 miles of waterway.
I have been walking this route this past year, curious to know what flowed under a bridge that I crossed fairly regularly. This circular route is through the Chilterns fields and along a pretty, disused waterway on the Grand Union Canal network
The Grand Union Canal leaves the River Thames west of London at Brentford and climbs in a north westerly direction over fifty locks into the Tring Summit in the Chiltern hills, descends and climbs again to a new summit in Birmingham. All 137 miles and 166 locks can be travelled in five days, but for a more leisurely pace, a week should do it.
Technical stuff
What was needed was a staggering and ready supply of 200,000 imperial gallons (or 910 m3) of water for each time a boat crossed the Tring Summit. Construction of the Wendover Arm began in 1794 as the engineering solution needed to get barges over the 390 feet of Chiltern Hills - just what the chalk aquifer and springs at Wendover provided.
The 6.5 miles of the Wendover arm used to leak and the canal has long since silted up, too shallow to even bother inflating an SUP. It is retained by the wind and resident wildlife. The fallen leaves bob gently towards the Marsworth Locks down the barely discernible gradient, they won’t make it of course, slowing sinking into the sludge.
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Bridge no. 7
This is the Wellonhead Bridge, one of the 10 bridges between the Marsworth locks and the Wendover Basin. Unusually no.7 is still a busy brick road bridge with a tight humpback. Whilst so many are now footbridges or disused, no.7 is host to deep shadows, cars and bicycles, beside which trees heavy with foliage overhang.
For us, it is trails end. It’s yet another small detail - not preserved in aspic, but a functional and important link in this living, local and special landscape.
Quick links
The Grand Union Canal is not only England’s longest canal, but also the trunk route passing through towns and English countryside. Find a walk or fishing spot.
Here is a map of the route and the Canal Shop company offers an selection of interesting books and journals.
The Chilterns Canal Boat holiday company offer canal boats to hire.
For a longer read about our naturally outstanding Chiltern Hills, visit my blog here