History of the Melton Mowbray Navigation

The Melton Mowbray Navigation was conceived at the height of the 1790s Canal Mania boom, as a complement to the new navigation from Loughborough to Leicester - one of the most prosperous in Britain. Rather than building a whole new canal to Melton, the engineers decided to follow the example of the Loughborough Navigation, which is based on the River Soar. So the Melton line consists almost entirely of the River Wreake from Syston, near Leicester, to Melton itself. Short artificial cuts were built at each lock.

The waterway's initial success was soon boosted by the arrival of the Oakham Canal, which extended navigation to Oakham in Rutland. But when the railways arrived in the 1840s, the two waterways had vastly differing responses. The Oakham Canal's proprietors knew they could never compete, and sold out to the Syston & Peterborough Railway. The owners of the Melton Navigation believed they could struggle on. They were soon proved wrong - but since neither the Loughborough Navigation nor the railway company were interested in buying their business, abandonment was not achieved until 1877.

The Melton & Oakham Waterways Society was founded in 1997 to restore navigation along the river, and establish a new footpath along the route. They are working with the Environment Agency, English Nature, and local anglers to draw up a plan to improve recreational access along the river.