History of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal runs from the Worcester & Birmingham Canal at Kings Norton to the Warwickshire Avon at Stratford-upon-Avon and was first promoted by an Act of 1793.

The Northern Stratford linked Kings Norton with Lapworth. Wwith the exception of the locks at Lapworth and the guillotine-gated stop-lock at Kings Norton that prevented water loss from one company's line to the other, it was on the same level all the way. The route was therefore efficient and became very profitable, despite undergoing financial difficulties during construction which delayed its opening. From Lapworth the canal linked via a short line with the Warwick & Birmingham Canal, now part of the Grand Union.

Despite commercial pressure, not least from locals who saw the risk of prosperity passing them by, the construction of the Southern Stratford to link with the River Avon and thence the River Severn was not completed until 1816. The line was initially profitable, but the arrival of the railways saw dividends dwindle. In the 1850s, the whole canal fell into railway company ownership, after which time traffic steadily declined. The heavily locked southern section was particularly affected and by World War II it was almost unnavigable.

To the north, the canal owners fixed one of the swing bridges permanently shut. It soon became the scene of a number of incidents, where protesters including Sir Peter Scott aboard his boat Beatrice, insisted it be moved as it was blocking a statutory right of navigation.

Meanwhile, the Southern Stratford quietly decayed. But when Warwickshire County Council announced it was closing the canal by lowering a bridge at Wilmcote, public outcry prompted a campaign for restoration. Proposals for closure were stymied at the eleventh hour by a canoeist who produced a recent toll ticket, proving that boats still wanted to navigate the canal.

Having avoided closure, the Southern Stratford was taken over by the National Trust. By utilising a combination of volunteers, army personnel and prisoners, the canal was restored at reportedly less than half the estimated cost of filling it in. It was reopened by HM The Queen Mother in 1964. In 1988, the National Trust handed the Southern Stratford-upon-Avon Canal back to British Waterways and together with the Northern Stratford it now forms part of the Avon Cruising Ring.