The Basingstoke Canal passing through Woking

The Basingstoke Canal is one of the waterways in the United Kingdom. It is a man-made navigation channel joining Basingstoke to the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation. From Basingstoke it passes through or near Odiham, Fleet, Aldershot, Mytchett, Brookwood, Woking ending at Byfleet where it connects to the Wey Navigation. This, in turn, leads to the River Thames at Weybridge. Its original intention was to allow boats to travel from the docks in East London to Basingstoke. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1027 KB)The Basingstoke Canal passing through Woking, Surrey, UK. Photo taken by me 2005-08-21. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1027 KB)The Basingstoke Canal passing through Woking, Surrey, UK. Photo taken by me 2005-08-21. ... Waterways in the United Kingdom is a link page for any river, canal, firth or estuary in the United Kingdom. ... Basingstoke railway station, as seen from Churchill Way. ... The Thames (pronounced //) is a river flowing through southern England and connecting London with the sea. ... Map of Weybridge (from OpenStreetMap. ... The River Wey in Surrey is one of the Waterways in the United Kingdom and a tributary of the River Thames. ... Odiham today only has a population of 4406 and is situated in Hart district council in the English county of Hampshire. ... Location within the British Isles Fleet is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located about 40 miles southwest of London. ... Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, on heathland 55 km (35 miles) southwest of London, and is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. ... Mytchett is a small village in Surrey approximately 35 miles south west of London. ... Brookwood is a town (or village, as it likes to be known) in Surrey, located about 5 km west of Woking, in a semi-rural location. ... Woking is a large town in England, in the west of Surrey. ... Byfleet is a village and suburb of Woking in Surrey, England. ... The Thames (pronounced //) is a river flowing through southern England and connecting London with the sea. ... Map of Weybridge (from OpenStreetMap. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation). ...

The canal was conceived as a way to stimulate agricultural development in Hampshire. Following a Parliamentary Bill in 1778, construction began in that same year and was completed on 4th September 1794. One of the main cargos carried from Basingstoke was timber.^[1] 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

The canal was never a commercial success and fell into disuse even before the construction of the London and South Western Railway, which runs parallel to the canal along much of its length. Commercial use ended in 1910 but low level of the use of the canal continued. In 1913 Mr A.J.Harmsworth tried to navigate the canal in a boat called Basingstoke. The journey was motivated by a desire to keep the canal open since the canal act of 1778 specified that is the canal was not used for 5 years then the land the canal was built on would be returned to the original owners. It is thought that it proved impossible to navigate the entire canal but despite this the canal was not abandoned.^[2] The London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1840 to 1923. ... The Canal du Midi in Toulouse, France. ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...

Mr A.J.Harmsworth latter purchased the canal (in 1922) and running a number of boats on it for a mixture of limited commercial carrying and pleasure cruising. The canal was sold upon his death in 1947 and by 1950 was in the hands of the New Basingstoke Canal Co Ltd. the company did not maintain the canal and by the mid 60s it was essentially derelict.^[3]

A notable feature of the canal is the large number of concrete bunkers known as pillboxes still visible along its length; these were built during World War II as part of the GHQ Line to defend against an expected German invasion. Bunkers in Albania A bunker is a defensive military fortification. ... A bunker is a defensive warfare fortification to protect oneself. ... Combatants Allies: Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France/Free France, United States, Canada, China, India, Australia, Poland, New Zealand, South Africa, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, Bulgaria, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Burma Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian... A pillbox on the GHQ Line The GHQ Line was a defence line built in the United Kingdom during World War II to contain an expected German invasion. ... The majority of the fortifications scattered around the landscape of Britain date from World War II. They were constructed in a period of a few months during 1940 from the time of the Dunkirk evacuations. ...

After about 18 years of restoration, 32 miles of the canal were formally re-opened on 10th May 1991. The western section from North Warnborough to Basingstoke remains un-navigable from the point at which it enters the Greywell Tunnel. The tunnel is partially collapsed and is inhabited by a protected bat colony making it unlikely that the tunnel will ever be restored. 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Suborders Megachiroptera Microchiroptera See text for families. ...

There is an information centre for the canal at Mytchett.

See also

• Canals of the United Kingdom

For canals of Northern Ireland see the Canals of Ireland article // History See History of the British canal system for a more detailed history. ...

References

1. ^ Britain's lost waterways Michael E Ware page 40 ISBN 0 86190 327 7
2. ^ Britain's lost waterways Michael E Ware page 43 ISBN 0 86190 327 7
3. ^ http://www.basingstoke-canal.org.uk/history.htm

External links

• The Basingstoke Canal
• Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society
• The River Wey and Wey Navigations Community Site — a non-commercial site of over 120,000 words all about the adjacent Wey Navigation with a section about the Basingstoke Canal
• The Basingstoke Community website. Full details of community, tourism and business in basingstoke