Newent and Oxenhall Canal Open Day

Visitors are invited to come along to an Open Day on Saturday 12 September, from 11am onwards. Visitors can walk along the newly created path through the old Willows nursery, on through the woods skirting the Ell Brook and finish at the station.

The Canal Trust’s objective is to rebuild the 34-mile canal with connection from the centre of Hereford at Gloucester to the 2,500-mile inland waterway network. The plan is to restore the station platforms, which are still in situ, and run the Canal between the platforms. The original footbridge, which has been stored on site, will be restored to its former glory and a tea room and visitor centre will be built in the original style of the former station building.

The intention is to provide a financially sustainable independent Canal which does not require public money or depend upon Canal & River Trust for its future operation and maintenance. The Trust has major restoration sites in each county, which together extend to over four miles, and plans to progress several other developments in the near future.

The Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal took 53 years to build and was completed in 1845, making it the last major route built in Britain, apart from some navigations in Birmingham and the Manchester Ship Canal. The canal stretched for 34 miles from the River Severn at Gloucester, via Newent, Dymock and Ledbury to the city of Hereford, using twenty two locks and three tunnels. The canal was formally closed in 1881 to allow construction of the Ledbury to Gloucester railway which in turn was closed by Dr Beeching in 1964.

The Canal Society was formed in 1983 and in 1992 became the Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Trust, a registered charity. The Trust has an ordinary and corporate growing membership of over 1,300 nationwide and abroad.