[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> At the weekend we were walking down on the Somerset levels and we went
> along part of the "Parrett Trail".
> We came across several navigation structures including two locks (near
> Midelney and near Kingsbury Episcopi). One of which was was complete
> with ground paddle gear etc.
> Does anyone know the history of this navigation? e.g. When was it
> abandoned ?
As luck would have it, I just happen to have Charles Hadfield's 'The Canals of
South West England' open on my desk right now!
An Act of Parliament in 1795 enabled construction of the Ivelchester & Langport
Navigation to for a route from below Langport to Ilchester consisting of part
canal and part river navigation, but work was abandoned incomplete two years
later and the unimproved river continued to be used where practical.
In 1836 another Act authorised a 12 mile river navigation with 4 locks and a
flash-lock including two branches (Thorney branch and Westport Canal), opened
1840.
It was abandoned in 1878, following a decline that set in in the 1850s with the
opening of competing railways.
For some time after this date, the river which had reverted to its unimproved
state still carried a small amount of traffic mainly in its lower reaches.
Martin L
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