Basingstoke Canal Angling Association

 

CANAL HISTORY -- Summary

The Basingstoke Canal started its life as a navigation canal for coal carrying barges way back in 1794. The canal meandered its way through 37 miles of picturesque countryside between the Wey Navigation Canal at Byfleet and a large turning basin at Basingstoke on which now stands part of Basingstoke's new town centre. The canal has 29 locks, only one of which is in Hampshire, and a 1,230 yard tunnel through Greywell Hill. The canal's decline in the early 1900's saw much of the canal become silted up and unnavigable, the last barge to tie up at the Basingstoke Wharf was in 1910.

The Surrey and Hants Canal Society was formed in 1966 in a bid to restore the canal to its former glory. Restoration of 32 miles of the canal, from the eastern end of the Greywell Tunnel to the Wey Navigation, was not completed until 1990, though fishing was viable in the late 1970's on the Hampshire sections. The 5 miles of canal between the Greywell Tunnel and Basingstoke could not be restored without a great deal of investment due to the collapse of the Greywell Tunnel in 1932, and both the construction of the M3 motorway and the Basingstoke town centre.

The Greywell Tunnel is now winter home to the largest roost of bats in Britain and as such has been designated a wildlife heritage site of world importance. Much of the canal has now been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to the great variance in aquatic plants and wildlife in and around the waterway.

The canal nowadays is a hive of activity especially at weekends; walkers, anglers, cyclists and boaters abound. Boatyards are flourishing at Odiham and Ash where hire craft are available to the general public. A tripping boat, the John Pinkerton, operates regularly during the summer and autumn along the Hampshire sections and a restaurant barge, The Camelot, operates out of the Canal Centre at Mytchett and The Painted Lady operates from Woking. There is also a boat, The Mildred Stocks, which caters specifically for disabled parties. There is always something going on the canal, so get down there and witness it for yourself.

In angling terms the canal came of age in July 1997 when it hosted it's very own National Championship match, a goal the BCAA had been aiming for since it's inception. The Division 5 National saw 900 anglers lining the towpath between Odiham and the Ash Aqueduct and provided one of the best nationals of the year. In 2001 the canal hosted the Division 4 National Championships which saw a top weight of over 40lbs and an average weight of over 3lb a man. In August 2002 the canal reached the pinnacle of the match fishing calender by hosting the Division 1 National Championships.

 Further information about the Basingstoke Canal can be obtained from the Basingstoke Canal Visitors Centre in Mytchett Place Road, Mytchett which is well worth a visit or they can be contacted on 01252 370073. Also take a look at our Other Links page for more exciting surfing.

 

CANAL HISTORY -- Chronology

 

This brief chronology has been extracted from a report presented to the South East Planning Council in 1967, which declared the business case for rejuvenation of the canal.

Our thanks go to Mr. Paul Blundell of the Master Baiters Fishing Club (one of the BCAA affiliated clubs) for providing the information.

 

If you would like to read further details about the canal, its restoration, and the work carried out by the Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society, please follow this link to the Society website:             http://www.basingstoke-canal.org.uk

 

 

1769           A 21.5 mile long canal is proposed, to run from Basingstoke to the Thames at Monkey Island.

 

1778           An Act is passed in Parliament for a canal of 44 miles long running from Basingstoke thorugh Odiham, Frimley and Woking to the River Wey, with a branch to Turgis Green.

 

1783           Efforts are made to start work on the canal after a delay caused by the American War Of Independence.

 

1788           Work began on construction of the canal.

 

1792           34 miles of canal and 24 locks are completed.  Plans are being discussed for an extension of the canal to join the River Itchen.

 

1794           The canal is completed to Basingstoke.  There is a variation from the original plan in that the loop around Greywell Hill has been replaced by a 1200 yard tunnel, and the branch to Turgis Green has not been built.  The length of the canal is now 37 miles.

                   The waterway falls 195 feet through 29 locks, each capable of passing a 50-ton barge 72.5 feet long and 13feet 10 inches wide.

 

1810           The Kennet and Avon canal is opened, thereby completing a direct water route between London and Bristol;  Some of the traffic formerly using the Basingstoke overland route is now diverted onto the new waterways.  (Thereby taking away most of the traffic which previously used the Basingstoke Canal).

 

1825           The Basingstoke Canal is now in a state of decay.  A Bill for the Hants-Berks Junction Canal between Old Basing and Newbury fails to pass through Parliament.

 

1839           The London and South Western Railway is completed from London to Basingstoke.  Trade on the Basingstoke Canal has revived somewhat by now, mainly because of the requirements of the railway engineers.

                   Frimley Aqueduct is built to allow the railway to pass beneath the canal.

 

1866           The Basingstoke Canal Navigation Company goes into voluntary liquidation.

 

1874           The Basingstoke Canal is sold for £12,000.

 

1878           The concern is liquidated and remains so for twelve years.

 

1890           There is a breach of the canal at Crookham:  a small culvert gives out, the banks on either side give way, water floods the country all around and the canal is left dry for miles.   The liquidated company is without funds to repair the damage.

 

1896           Sir Frederick Seager Hunt and others raise a sum of £50,000 to completely restore and deepen the canal, with a view to using it for transporting bricks from the Nateley works.

                   The canal prospers once again for several years.

 

Circa 1900

                   The railway is widened from two to four tracks, and the Frimley Aqueduct is extended proportionately.

 

Circa 1905

                   Nateley brickfields runs short of clay:  the brick traffic ends, and regular commercial traffic on the canal ceases above Aldershot.

 

1905           The canal is auctioned. 

                   It is purchased for £10,000 by a Dorset landowner acting on behalf of the notorious Member Of Parliament Horatio Bottomley.

 

1908           Bottomley floats the “London and South Western Canal Corporation” and sells thousands of shares, many duplicated and worthless.

                   The company goes into liquidation.

                   Bottomly is twice prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud, but neither time is he convicted.

 

1911           A private Act of Parliament is passed enabling Woking Urban District Council to carry out repairs to bridges and other canal works, and to charge the company with a proportion of the cost.  The repairs are proceeded with, and the owners duly approached for their share of the costs.

                   They refuse to pay.

 

1913           The Court of Appeal rules that the Council cannot claim anything from the company, that the company cannot levy tolls, and that the company is under no liability to maintain the navigation.  It is also ruled that such rights and obligations still lie with the concern liquidated 35 years earlier but which was never actually wound up; every member of that concern is now dead.   One of the judges states his opinion that the public right of navigation is not destroyed, but this is not relevant to the case.

 

1914           By the Railway and Canal Act of 1888, any canal that has not been fully navigated for three consecutive years can be abandoned.

                   Mr. A.J. Harmsworth has already twice navigated to Basingstoke to prevent abandonment.

                   His third attempt fails:  his narrow boat “Basingstoke”, loaded with five tons of sand, is forced to stop at Basing.

 

1923           The canal passes into the ownership of Mr. A.J. Harmsworth for the sum of £5,000.

                   Mr. Harmsworth sets up a successful road and water transport service.

 

Circa 1925

                   Frimley Aqueduct begins to leak at the joining of the old and new parts – rumour has it that the fires of the steam locomotives passing underneath are being extinguished – it is relined by the railway company.

                   Mr. A.J. Harmsworth, who has had no formal training in engineering, constructs a wooden trunk 190 feet long, to carry the canal’s water supply past the workings and keep the barges going at the eastern end.

 

Circa 1934

                   Drainage culverts from a pond on Greywell Hill have become blocked, water pressure builds up, and a tree on an island in the pond falls through the roof of the Greywell Tunnel.

 

1947           Mr. A.J. Harmsworth dies, aged 79.

 

1949           The Basingstoke Canal is auctioned on March 1st in 37 lots  “...with boat houses and cottages, as a going concern above Woking...”.

                   It is bought for the reserve price of £187 and 10 shillings per mile, being a total of £6,000, by a purchasing committee.

                   Subsequently the “New Basingstoke Canal Company” is formed.

                   Its new managing director is Mr. S.E. Cooke.

 

1964           Mrs. Joan Marshall, the general manager of the company, leaves, having held the post for 15 years.

 

1966           The Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society is formed, and begins a campaign to prevent the closure and wastage of the canal, and to invest in its restoration and usage as a valuable public leisure amenity.

 

1967           The New Basingstoke Canal Company publishes policy proposals which would mean the ending of the through navigation of the canal, for good.

 

1968           The Countryside Act of 1968 gave authorities the power to establish country parks, to provide recreational facilities within easy reach of centres of population.

The Basingstoke Canal passed through important development areas and with its linear shape was clearly accessible to a large public.

 

1970           The Surrey and Hampshire County Councils began negotiations to purchase the Canal in 1970.

 

1972           In February 1972 an official announcement revealed that the negotiations had broken down, and both County Councils therefore applied for Compulsory Purchase Orders. These were confirmed in February 1975 but in the event, Hampshire County Council had taken possession of the western end of the Canal in November 1973, and Surrey acquired the eastern half by negotiation in March 1976.

 

1976           Restoration began.

 

 

From here, and if you would like to read further details about the canal, its restoration, and the work carried out by the Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society, please follow this link to the Society website:              http://www.basingstoke-canal.org.uk