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48525

The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal alongside the Old Warwick Road, west of Lapworth in Warwickshire.

The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal was conceived as part of a network of canals which would allow coal from the Dudley Canal and the Stourbridge Canal to reach Oxford and London, without having to use the Birmingham canals. An Act was passed on 28 March 1793 for the construction of a canal from a junction with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal in Kings Norton to Stratford-upon-Avon.

The route would take it close to Warwick and Birmingham Canal at Lapworth, but the act did not include any provision for a direct connection with it, or with the River Avon at Stratford. Negotiations started with the Warwick and Birmingham, and to second act was obtained on 19 May 1795.

Josiah Clowes was employed as the engineer, and construction began in November 1793, starting at the Kings Norton end. He was also working on the Dudley Canal's extension, and another four canal schemes at the same time, and was the first great tunnel engineer. The main line reached Hockley Heath in May 1796; one mile (1.6 km) short of the first lock at Lapworth.

The Dudley Canal extension through the Lappal tunnel was opened in early 1798, and with progress being made on the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, the Company obtained a third act of Parliament on 21 June 1799, which allowed it to raise more money. Work restarted in 1799 under a new engineer called Samuel Porter. He continued as far as Kingswood Junction, which was formally opened on 24 May 1802.

Construction only recommenced in 1812, under the leadership of William James of Stratford. James, who had owned shares in the Company since 1793, had a wide interest in turnpike roads and railways and coal mining. He rose to become chairman of the Canal Company, and personally bought the Upper Avon Navigation in 1813. He wanted to create a through route between the River Severn and the Midlands, and so the Canal Company obtained a further act of Parliament on 12 May 1815, which authorised a connection between the canal and the Avon at Stratford.

Traffic steadily built up, although tolls were low, to offset the costs imposed on goods passing through Kingswood Junction to the Warwick and Birmingham Canal. In 1845, the company agreed to sell the canal to the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway, who were also keen to purchase the Stratford and Moreton Tramway. Another change of ownership occurred in 1863, when the railway company was absorbed by the Great Western Railway. Traffic gradually decreased, but the fall in receipts was faster than the fall in tonnage, as the railway took the long-distance loads.

Information Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford-upon-Avon_Canal

Taken in: UK / England / Warwick District / Lapworth (show map)

Taken on: April 20, 2016

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Old Warwick Road « less

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Camera: Nikon D7100, f/8.0, 1/250 sec, 18mm (=27mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7100
Lens:	18.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-6.3
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length:	18mm (35mm equivalent: 27mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Not Defined
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	Low
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Lightroom 6.4 (Windows)
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