Shared description

Wendover Arm Restoration

The Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal was originally planned as a feeder (non-navigable) canal to bring water from the Chilterns near Wendover to the reservoirs feeding the summit level of the Grand Union Canal (at the time known as the Grand Junction) near Tring. The Wendover Arm meets the G.U. a little to the NW of Bulbourne. As the marginal cost of widening the canal to navigabile dimensions was minimal, this was done and the canal opened to traffic in 1799 with a total length of 6.7miles (11km).
However it soon became apparent that the canal was plagued by leakages - so much so, that at times far from providing water to the G.U. it became a net drain on the system. For this reason the canal was closed to traffic in 1897 with a stop-lock being installed at Little Tring with the canal remaining in water from Bulbourne to the Stop Lock. The section of canal from Wendover to Bucklandwharf also remained in water as it was fed by chalk streams, however the middle section between Little Tring Stop Lock and Bucklandwharf had no such regular supply, so some sections of it dried out completely, while others became boggy or stagnant pools.
Nearly a hundred years after the canal's closure, a charitable trust, The Wendover Arm Trust was formed in 1989 with a view to reopening it to canal traffic. The first section to just-beyond Little Tring has been completed, while a good length section from here to Drayton Beauchamp is well advanced as at Spring 2015. The chief obstacles to its completion will be the road bridge carrying the former A41 (now declassified) and issues about the sensitivity of the natural environment nearer Wendover.
For the latest information on the Trust's work see their website here LinkExternal link
by Rob Farrow

Created: Mon, 23 Mar 2015, Updated: Mon, 30 Mar 2015


27 images use this description. Preview sample shown below:

SP9011 : Canal-side bench and trees, Wendover Arm by Rob Farrow
SP9112 : The Wendover Arm of the GU Canal, Little Tring by Rob Farrow
SP8911 : Accommodation bridge at Bucklandwharf by Rob Farrow
SP9012 : Wendover Arm: Partly restored section south of bridge 4A by Rob Farrow
SP8911 : Bucklandwharf - A section of Wendover Arm canal by Rob Farrow
SP8911 : Looking along the Wendover Arm to Bucklandwharf by Rob Farrow
SP9011 : Wendover Arm: Southwest of Drayton Bridge by Rob Farrow
SP9011 : Wendover Arm - Bridge 5 - Drayton Beauchamp by Rob Farrow
SP9212 : Tring: Brook feeding into the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union by Rob Farrow
SP9112 : Tringford Pumping Station by Rob Farrow
SP9112 : Footbridge over restoration of Wendover Arm by Rob Farrow
SP9012 : Wendover Arm - East of Drayton Beauchamp by Rob Farrow
SP8911 : Probable former course of Wendover Arm by Rob Farrow
SP8911 : Reeds beside the Wendover Arm by Rob Farrow
SP9112 : Whitehouses wharf, Wendover Arm by Rob Farrow
SP9012 : Wendover Arm: Partly restored section north of bridge 4A by Rob Farrow
SP9012 : Footbridge over dry section of Wendover Arm by Rob Farrow
SP9011 : Saxon Way Bridge on the Wendover Arm by Rob Farrow
SP8911 : Wendover Arm - view WSW from bifurcation by Rob Farrow
SP8911 : Wendover Arm - bifurcation by Rob Farrow
SP9011 : View through Saxon Way Bridge by Rob Farrow
SP9011 : Plaque on Saxon Way Bridge by Rob Farrow
SP9011 : Wendover Arm: Northeast of Drayton Bridge by Rob Farrow
SP9112 : View NNE from bridge over Wendover Arm by Rob Farrow
SP9012 : Wendover Arm: Bridge 4A by Rob Farrow

... and 2 more images.

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