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'A series of articles about the canal were published in the local press in early 1983, and this led to calls for a society to be formed which would raise public awareness of the canal. A meeting was held in Hereford to facilitate this on 13 April 1983, at which a canal society was formed, which soon became actively engaged in restoration.[22] While the original goal was preservation of the remains, in 1992 the society became the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust (H&G Canal Trust) and the aim became full restoration of the 34 miles (55 km) of canal and locks so that Hereford would once again be linked with Ledbury, Dymock, Newent and the rest of the inland waterway system at Gloucester.[23]'

Our waterways are increasingly being used in association with new technologies, contributing to the creation of ‘Information Superhighways' and a potential source for thermal energy generation and cooling. They can act as catalysts for regeneration and a focus for development, are vital for many local small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) while also supporting and adding value to larger companies. They form a valuable part of the nation's visitor and green economies – engaging local communities and visitors alike and laying the foundations for future health, well-being and prosperity.

A supportive planning policy framework from national to neighbourhood level, can assist in unlocking the potential contribution and value of waterways to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of regions, districts, communities and individuals; along with protecting these valuable assets for the benefit of current and future generations.

It is therefore vitally important that planning policy recognises the multi-functional nature of waterways and the contribution they can make to wider economic, environmental and social objectives such as public health, renewable energy and sustainable development, strengthening resilience and creating conditions suitable for growth.

Since 1991 the local council authorities in Herefordshire have set aside land for development as a canal route. The planning department has approved projects with the canal in mind, and has taken action against those trying to build on the proposed route of the canal. Similar support has been given by the local council authorities in Gloucestershire.

The potential offered by the restoration of the Hereford and Gloucester Canal has been recognised locally with supportive planning policy frameworks developed by the local authorities through which the Canal passes – namely Herefordshire Council , Forest of Dean District Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council.

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'The canal connects to an un-navigable part of the River Severn, separated from the main channel by weirs at Maisemore and Llanthony, both of which have derelict locks associated with them. Maisemore was sold by British Waterways some years ago, and they decided to dispose of Llanthony in 2007. The Canal Trust used a legacy to purchase the site, which includes two cottages, some land, and a small section of the River Severn as well as Llanthony lock. The lock is bigger than that at Maisemore, and access to the entrance lock at Over is easier because boats are travelling against the flow of the river as they approach it.[24]'

Llanthony Lock

The canal’s connection to the River Severn at Over and thence to the rest of the waterway network has been something of a challenge since its very earliest days. Entry into the deep lock at Over from the tidal river required some very skillful manoeuvring on the part of the boatmen and while help was given, there were a number of serious accidents and sinking of boats.

Navigation on the river may have become a little easier for the last 10 years of the canal’s working life when Maisemore and Llanthony locks were built on the river. Maisemore Lock and its cottage were sold by British Waterways in the 1980s before restoration of the canal it served was imagined, but Llanthony Lock, though partly infilled, remained in the possession of British Waterways until 2008.

Both Maisemore and Llanthony locks were used as routes to the Hereford and Gloucester Canal (H&G) as can be seen from historical records, but only Llanthony permits full size H&G width boats to gain entry to the Canal. There were issues in using Maisemore Lock as this would involve all boats coming to the H&G having to turn in the River at Over so that they would be facing upstream to have steerage to gain entry to Over lock. By using Llanthony Lock, boats will already be approaching from downstream and a much safer approach to Over is permitted.

Maisemore Lock and its cottage were sold by British Waterways in the 1980s before restoration of the canal it served was imagined, but Llanthony Lock, though partly infilled, remained in the possession of British Waterways until 2008.

A national review by British Waterways led to their decision early in 2007 to dispose of Llanthony as a non-operational asset.

Although not, of course, part of the Hereford and Gloucester Canal, after lengthy negotiations the lock was bought by the Canal Trust for £150,000, together with the pair of lock cottages, a considerable area of surrounding land and a stretch of the River Severn including both banks and Llanthony Weir. Very significantly, the agreement also gave the Trust control of both Maisemore and Llanthony weirs but without liability for them.

In June 2008 the Trust received the very welcome news of a legacy, so what might have been an investment with borrowed money, funded by the income from the cottages, became a sound investment for the Trust, whilst securing this crucial operational asset.

Acquiring the whole site ensures the Trust has the land needed for modern day requirements for safe operation and entry to the lock, as well as an income stream to make this key operational asset self financing in the long term.

Although the Canal Trust already owned the point of entry to the River Severn at Over, it only connected us to the currently un-navigable Severn below Llanthony and Maisemore weirs. Until the 1980’s British Waterways owned both Llanthony and Maisemore locks, but before full restoration of the Canal was on the agenda, Maisemore was sold.

The Trust's volunteers then undertook to clear abnd undertake essential remedial work to the overgrown lock chamber, and to restore the lock cottages to a habitable condition, which are now tenanted and provide the additional revenue stream to fund other canal restoration work.

Over Lock

Very little is known about the 19th-century lock at Over. David Bick’s book has only one sentence about this key element of the canal and that is to suggest that the lock was 30 ft deep. Other sources such as the book “Rowing Holiday by Canal in 1873” also mentions a depth of 30 ft.

The lock closed to traffic in 1881, and with over 150 years passing since boats passed from the Severn onto the canal at Over.

In the autumn of 2023 the Trust began to consider a proposal for a project to reconnect the Canal to the main waterways network. At the October meeting of the Trustees, they authorised the creation of a sub-committee to manage the project and undertake negotiations with key organisations on behalf of the Trust.

The first part of the project would be to reconstruct the lock at Over - it would be the deepest lock on the canal system, beating the current deepest lock, Tuel Lane on the Rochdale, by a whopping 10 feet!

The existing Bailey bridge atlongside the canal basin at Over would be replaced with a traditional canal hump back bridge consistent with the historic bridges on the canal, which are all made of stone. The lock beneath the bridge would be capable of seeing full-size narrow boats (70 ft) pass from the Severn into Over basin.

Given the very large variation in river levels, the intention would be to build two floating pontoons between the lock and the river which will rise and fall with the river levels. The lock would need to be built to such a height that boats would be able to transfer through the lock for 2 hours either side of high tide at summer river levels. The window for use of the lock will be larger during the rest of the year as the river levels increase.

The pontoons will also provide a safe haven for boats transiting the tidal Severn where river conditions can be unpredictable.

Whilst much work could be undertaken using the Trusts's own volunteers, inevitably the temporary works and installation of the pontoons and their supporting pillars may well need a professional team.

Over Basin

'In 2000, the Over Canal Basin (adjacent to the River Severn at Over on the outskirts of Gloucester, where the Canal links with the inland waterways network) was reconstructed entirely by volunteers from the Canal Trust and the national volunteer body the Waterway Recovery Group. The estimated commercial cost of the work was some £500,000, but it was completed against a 10-month deadline, with a budget of just £60,000. The basin was originally filled in when the Over Isolation Hospital was built in 1903.[25]'

The site was sold for housing development to Swan Homes, and agreement was reached to excavate the basin to enhance the project, under which Wharf House was rebuilt to provide a new canal centre.[26]

'In late 2011, the Trust were able to buy a short section of the former canal route adjacent to the basin site (Vineyard Hill). This had been purchased by residents in 2004 to protect their communal interests, and was passed to the Trust for a nominal sum. Like the basin, there was a deadline on development, which had to be completed by September 2012,[27] but a major effort by the Waterway Recovery Group and members of the Trust resulted in most of the work being completed in April 2012.'

It was re-watered by 18 April, four months before its scheduled completion date.[28] It was formally re-opened by Timothy West and Prunella Scales at the 2012 Over Canal Festival.[29]

In 2000, the Over Canal Basin (adjacent to the River Severn at Over on the outskirts of Gloucester, where the Canal links with the inland waterways network) was reconstructed entirely by volunteers from the Canal Trust and the national volunteer body the Waterway Recovery Group.

The canal’s connection with the River Severn by means of Over Lock was situated on land owned by the West Midlands Regional Health Authority, having been the site of Over Isolation Hospital which closed in 1992. The following year the Authority began the process of disposing of the buildings and the large site they occupied. At the first meeting of the Secretary of State’s advisers with Tewkesbury Borough Council, the Council made it clear that proposals would not be considered unless provision for the canal restoration was included.

Eventually a plan for a residential development of 44 houses was proposed, but this was then amended to 33 before submission to the Council. The Trust saw this as an opportunity to work closely with a developer to prepare a scheme and revised plans were drawn up which made a feature of the canal and its junction basin around which the proposed housing would be focused.

The terms of approcval for thje scheme required the developer to transfer to the Trust the ownership of the land occupied by the canal, the basin and lock, together with the lock cottage which had first to be made safe and weather-tight.

For its part, the Trust was required to excavate the line of the canal and the basin, build a new wharf wall 75 metres long, and make arrangements for water to be abstracted from the River Leadon to maintain the water level of the basin - and all this had to be completed by September 2000 when it was expected the first houses would be ready for sale.

In the summer of 1998 the site was cleared of scrub in preparation for the excavation of the canal and basin. Then, in the space of nine days, a small team of volunteers using a large hired excavator and dumpers carrying 25 tons of soil at a time made an impressive start to the excavation. By the Spring of 1999 a Waterway Recovery Group work camp had completed the excavation and the task of building the wharf wall could begin. Three of the twelve pours of concrete for the foundations of the wall were completed by the start of the summer.

The project plan had assumed that the bricks for the wharf wall would be recycled from the parts of the hospital a single storey part of one of the wards was carefully demolished to provide a supply of bricks to be sorted and cleaned ready for another weekend of work by the Waterway Recovery Group. As the demolition contractors’ work got under way a continued supply of bricks became available for cleaning for reuse.

During the rest of 1999 local volunteers and a number of WRG camps saw the construction of the two brick wharf walls and the slipway. At the WRG Reunion Weekend about 140 volunteers were divided into teams working on different parts of the site. Work continued unabated with further WRG camps and long hours of local volunteer labour.

In early August 2000, as the deadline for completion approached, the last of the bricks of the wharf walls were laid and on Thursday 10 August a pump began to lift water from the River Leadon to feed the basin and canal. By the following Wednesday  both were full.

For two years this had been the largest all-volunteer waterway restoration project in the country, yielding an attractive landscaped canal basin entirely by volunteers and at a tenth of the cost which would have been incurred had contractors been used.

On September 29th 2000 Timothy West and Prunella Scales performed the opening ceremony, unveiling plaques on the feature wall of recycled bricks beside the basin with the letters “H&G” and “WRG” picked out in blue bricks, a permanent reminder of the partnership which delivered the restored basin on time and on budget.

Notwithstanding the huge efforts of the Trust’s volunteers, it was the support from the Waterway Recovery Group which made the task possible in the time allowed.

In 2001 work started on another major but largely invisible project, the building of the pump shaft, silt trap and abstraction and feeder channels to allow for the canal to be permanently filled. Three 2.5 metre diameter pipes, surplus to a long sea outfall project in Cardiff, were set on end to form the 9-metre-deep pump shaft.

The car park for the basin and The Wharf House was also built, carefully landscaped to intrude as little as possible into the site.

Skeet 2023, pp140-146

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