The Wilts and Berks Lost Canal - Scaling 7 Abandoned Locks 

With you on the rant. Right to roam, sorely needed. The more footpaths, the better for everyone to enjoy the countryside, fresh air, exercise. etc. Healthier happier people all round.

Congratulations. An excellent rant, TOTALLY justified.

Really enjoyed this one, especially the fun vessel demonstrating the need for side ponds and the rant incoming caption and rant progress bar.

Excellent video guys and love the rant...... well said!

Firstly, let me say that it is well worth supporting this channel either by patreon or RU-vid membership! Go join! Great video - the rant was well justified! Also love the graphics! This canal keeps giving you great things to explore!

Paul, I dug into my family history a few years ago. My great grandfather John Hilditch Cole was born in 1849 at a place called Turnhurst Hall in Staffordshire. His great grandfather lived there in the mid-18th century. The house was owned by a Mary Alsager and half was rented to the Cole family, while the other half was rented to a chap named James Brindley. It turns out that Brindley was a pioneering canal engineer and from experiments he carried out, building waterways between ponds in the grounds, that he designed what came to be the standard locks used on the English canal network. I have some pictures of the house and a copy of an archaeological study done in the 1990s (if I recall correctly) looking for the model locks. If you ever look into the origins of canals and locks and would like copies of any of this (Wikipedia is not entirely accurate in these matters), let me know.

Thanks for the links to more abandoned canal stories. Useful.

Round of applause for your rant. There's a place called Hartfield in Kent (you might have heard of it). There was a public footpath running through a piece of land that surrounded a house called Honey Pot Cottage (might have heard of that, too). We used to play Pooh Sticks (also, might have heard of it) on a tiny bridge over a stream in the woods at the back of the property. Until an American couple bought the place and told us all that we weren't allowed on their land or their public foot path. Their public footpath. Ruddy cheek. The path was used primarily for access to my family's fields, but pointing that out to them you'd have thought we had kicked their pet dog. No-one in the village liked that couple.

I’ve also shared to the wilts and berks friends and volunteer page and tagged the social media duo for the trust so hopefully they will share for you

hello again Paul and Rebecca , great video and great rant , i agree 100% , self entitled people get me angry , this was interesting , really well done and thank you guys 😊

If I won the lotto tomorrow I'd buy the land that right of way is on and name it the Rebecca and Paul Whitewick Memorial Right of Way. 😂 Love you two, thanks for all the entertainment and delightful rants. Please don't pass up the chance for more rants, especially on selfish closing of rights of way.

Hi Paul and Rebecca great work . I'm in New Zealand. But I grew up in Wootton Basset. I did walk bits of the canal in my early days 80's . I remember finding Tockenham basin. Keep looking I'm sure there was stone work. After the pound. Towards Wootton Basset side not far up.

Simply loved it. Your rant as well. Thank you both.

Paul - Rebecca....how I agree with you on these very pathetic Land owners who have to guard everything. I have a foot path on land above me, my garden. I'm always happy to see Walkers and Researchers of Somerset Coal Canal and SDJR that I live alongside. In fact our Cottage is built on Radstock Arm of SCC in about 1830. The World is going crazy.......

Thank you so much. Brilliant channel.

The land owner might have a ganja farm, needs some privacy to grow his crop. Innit.

An *EXCELLENT* statement.

Nice capture @ 1:48 of the test train and two class 37s.

The Trow family were quite prominent in and around Royal Wootton Bassett for many years - maybe that's the association. They ran several local businesses in the town. Keep up the fantastic work! If I'd have known you were in Tockenham I'd have popped by and said hello :-)

I used to live in Wootton basset when I was younger. We used to play in the woods and fealds next to the canal, it's great to learn about the history thanks so much.

Top notch rant and I did laugh at the rant progress bar! I'm find it increasingly common that even public rights of way have been blocked by landowners with electric fences, barbed wire or bulls.

That farmer is very anti canal, he’s the guy I mentioned in messages.

At least someone explained part of the story to you. Cheers to that lady. And cheers to you and Rebecca for today’s video. See you on the next! Cheers mates! ❤❤😅😅

Loved your explanation of the way locks work. Brilliant video and footage. Thank you.

There's a public footpath (marked on maps and signposted) near me which is totally impassible because owners of some of the properties which back onto it have extended their gardens and fenced off "their" little bit. One has even extended his shed to obstruct the footpath.

wonderful and enlightening

One more thing guy do you now on the Warminster Road just going out of bathhamton the use to be a bridge going over the road and down to the Avon all canal. Just that I had a old pictures of the bridge mite be cool all Bath stone. Some track way all railway going on. Never had a look may be a new one on the cards. Maybe. Keep up the good work guy. Loving the history.💯✌️✌️

Very interesting thanks 👍 I hate to see disused canals be great to see them bought back to life again. Well explained film 👌 cheers Glyn

Hi paul and rebecca another intersting video i just watched your haddon tunnel one with martin zero who i watch too .at the end of it you showed the water behined the wall at end of tunnel .if the had left a few blocks out of the wall the water would been able to drain away .the way it is that wall will give way at some point

great rant Paul and i totally agree ps no problem watching

Very well said Rant. Loved the walk too :)

Spot on mate! Totally agree.

For me, that might have been your best video yet, I like to know how things work and you told me new stuff in your usual engaging way along with your super production standards. Do any TV companies hire you to do stuff for them? They should. A kind or retro "How did they used to do that?" Think about how Dick Strawbridge grew from the Scrapheap Challenge seed...

Thanks

Rant progress bar was brilliant!!!🤣

Well said on public access! Too many misanthrope landowners want to unnecessarily block walking routes across their property and even bar the restoration of old rail routes

Loved your rant. Well said.

Well said, Paul.

Love the rant bar countdown at the bottom of the screen lol Great vlog too 👍👍👍

Great to see the flight but frustrating experience. Good explanation of how the side ponds work to store water. I have one planned which has some very odd shaped side ponds!! Thanks both

Very enjoyable - especially your thoroughly deserved rant. Well done!

Why block a path? for 150m. Great rant Paul and so correct. Greed? They want the restoration group to pay a ransom amount, could kill the whole restoration, which of course is likely the reason too. So many landowners make access available, the vast majority of course, so why are these few not publicly disgraced? Oh and a KISS for Rebecca, you could have done a little smacker Paul !

Good ranting there. I’m the same about town criers…

Another fascinating and informative film, Paul. Look forward to watching your weekly updates. Shame some others can't update as regularly - whoever runs Rebecca's Nest being an example, lol. If you are still doing disused railways, give me a shout when you do East Lincolnshire, my area if expertise.

we are still subject to the class system and the Normans thieving large parts of our Country.

Good rant... very well said. interesting video too. I would have thought some blocked footpaths could be reclaimed quite easily. Where people have "extended" their garden over paths surely the land registry plan might be useful. If the land registry plan does not show they own the extra bit of land then they don't. I believe the idea that if you fence off an extra bit of land it just becomes yours over time is an urban myth. I believe you have to show attempts to contact the owner and some kind of conveyance has to be done.

Excellent rant .

👍 for the rant 👏👏

BTW Paul "winding" is pronounced "win" "din" as in the early days when horsedrawn a small sail was erected on one end of the boat to aid in the turning if there was any wind. Very enjoyable as usual.

Amazing 👏.

Wasn't expecting Class 37s in the video! Love the rant and the Rant Bar! Great Video Paul and Rebecca.

Nice rant and worth it. Loved it.

Great rant! And fully justified.

Love the rant! Long live Wilts n Berks Canal!! Look forward to seeing you soon 🖖

Thank you for raising the important issue of public access. For 200 yards the landowner could have a fence either side of the path so they all connect up. As for landowners blocking legitimate access I thought County Councils had powers to deal with this. If they don't take action against landowners, then one has to ask if the County Council staff and Councillors have a vested interest in the blocked off land!! It could also be they are just not interested and need a good kicking to get them to act!

those part restored locks on the seven locks flight have been like that for many years, i did some volunteer work on them with WRG. that blocked bit has been like that for years, some in the restoration movement actually just relax and wait for said land owner to pop his clogs!

Your rant made me want to subscribe 30 times. Love your channel, have a great SPRING!!!!!!!

I watch this channel to look at the old relics!!!!

agreed with your rant, Thank god for scotlands right to roam!

Kiss(?!!!!) I love how you both are together, no need for a kiss. Maybe the odd hug though... Great video, as always, loved the technical details.

Fortunately, water supply isn't quite such a problem in difficult locations like this today because of the ready supply of Electricity and Electric pumps. You'll find that many locks on the canal system has been retrofitted with back pumping arrangements to push the water back uphill in times of shortage. Obviously that's expensive, but it's a viable solution.

Lovely graphic :)

Just got back from Sapperton Canal, this video is the perfect end to my day !

TY 🙏🙏

Paul watches AvE and it makes me incredibly happy. Thanks you two for another great vijayo

I do enjoy your channel. Perhaps if you go to Kent you can investigate the old Elham valley railway. Between the villages Bekesbourne and Bridge there is a tunnel used in WW2 as cover for a boche buster rail gun that could lob shells to Pegwell Bay in the event of an invasion. The railway was used by several rail guns because it twisted in different directions. There are historic photos and a Wikipedia entry. The tunnel goes under Bourne Park now owned by Rees Hyphenated Mogg.

Loved the video, thanks Paul and Rebecca and cheers to the rant.

There's a peculiar situation with landowners blocking access in the middle of the Avon Trail. If you download the pdf for the trail it shows a crossing of the Bitton Viaduct next to Avon Riverside Station. However, about 4 years ago the landowner on the downstream side blocked access to the river that had been used for at least 10 years. On the other side, where the station platform is, the gate at the bottom of the embankment is locked and, recently, a sign went up to say £1000 fine for trespassing on the railway. One has to wonder what the operators of the, already pretty lacklustre, Avon Valley Railway expect their passengers to do at what is the terminus of the line. To add to the frustration, passengers have to cross the line to get to the cycle/foot path which allows them to cross the viaduct and gain access to the riverside. So why not allow walkers access to the platform from the opposite bank of the river? There are a couple of alternatives for those wanting to complete the route. By crossing the viaduct at Saltford, the footpath on the opposite side of the river passes Kelston Mill and leaves a few hundred metres on a road with paved footpath to Swineford where the river path can be followed again on the opposite side to the guide. An alternative for those who wish to avoid the busy road is to divert off from Kelston Mill up to North Stoke and back down to Swineford. Or the most popular seems to be to ignore the threatening signs and squeeze through one of the small gaps in the fences on either side of the embankment.

I usually fry mushrooms, and I know from experience that you definitely can overcook them

Many thanks; rant and all!

Totally justified rant!

Top rant.

Well said, well ranted !! Suspect there is greed involved somewhere, unfortunately, sadly

We have a similar access problem on the Green way in Simon stone near Padiham in Lancashire. A local caravan site owner has closed a stretch of the old Great Harwood loop railway track bed, interrupting what is being developed as country walk, you can walk was end but not the middle frustrating.

Oh, for God’s sake Paul, give Rebecca a kiss!

I gave you a like for the rant. Had I been able to, I would have given you two likes. Well done. Well said!

good rant paul.

Love the rant bar😂

Hi guys there is a good working example of that canal called foxton locks Leicester. With a pub and restaurant at the bottom and coffee shop halfway up. Great day out for a walk and picnic.

I helped to backfill one of the restored locks with the WRG. Around 2006.

Excellant Rant...well worth it!!🤬🤬🤬😁😁

Nice explanation graphic 👍

Interesting video thanks for posting. When the canals were built, did the company own the land? When the companies or canals closed what happened to the ownership of the land?

Another really enjoyable video. If my kids had been watching they would said your rant sounded like me. They have heard me rant about landowners on many of our walks.

I live in RWB. There are plans to restore the canel from bottom of Bassett into Swindon. Not sure on the time scale on it. Getting under or over the M4 might be a problem

Hey! Where's the kiss???? Sometimes a kiss can help dispel your frustration over "private" paths!!!

"Because nobody else can enjoy it." *IS* the reason, Paul.

There's a local land owner along our nearest river (Slea) who's put a 6ft fence right up and over the bank/towpath on an ancient right of way. Selfish people!!

I am fiddling "Swinging on a Gate" on my Strad...

You guys are my local guides lol. Even tho I am a Trowbridge resident, I never knew about the wilts and berks canal until your video pinged. But for this video in particular I think you should have gone to Caen Hill - nice place for a picnic too 😄

Great Paul rant in the opening shot......

The blocked trail used to be enjoyed by families walking out to Laycock…… now pedestrians have to walk along the side of a fast and dangerous A road.

All that barbed wire, chains and red warning signs make me think the landowner is wanting to hide something. I can feel a Famous Five plot coming on.

Laws to provide land access etc for canal/rail companies, I understand the law commission repeals them when lines etc closed, but is there a list of such repeals ?

A bit of luck that when you pointed to the railway, it was one of the yellow departmental trains passing!

I like your rantmeter at the bottom of the video , very initiative. I m old and abandoned, you d better do one on me?!😆

You could come back with a drone! (they are not bothered by barbed wire and locks!)🙂

Perhaps a visit to fourteen locks in Newport (South Wales)?

What I don't quite understand is why this route was built to link Somerset to London when the Kennet & Avon offered a more direct route?

The trouble is, while people like you are totally responsible, take nothing but photographs and leave nothing but footprints, too many people aren't. They drop litter, they leave gates open, they trample crops, they don't move their dog mess off the path (or, if they do, they put it in a plastic bag which is quite unnecessary in the country). They let their dogs off the lead when there is livestock about, and generally do more damage than it's worth. I stress, a majority of people, and especially you two, wouldn't dream of doing any of those things - but so many people do that landowners do often feel the need to block them off.