A little effort, a lot of reward: The United Kingdom's canal system

Travel is one of life's great pleasures for my wife and I; We love exploring, seeing new places, learning about the culture and history and meeting new people. We've been around a bit, and have seen a lot! On a recent trip to England we discovered the canal system that covers most of the United Kingdom and it fascinated us!

The system that is still in use to this day is the product of a lot of hard labour conducted over the 18th and 19th centuries. Due to the Industrial Revolution in the mid 1800's in England a reliable and economical mode of transport was required to haul the vast quantity of commodities like wood, coal and wool around the country to feed the demand of the insatiable appetite of the factories churning out new and amazing things on an industrial scale.

Unfortunately due to the rise of the steam train the canals became less used in time; Trains simply could haul more product, much faster, and so the canals fell largely into a state of disrepair however due the dedication and hard work of enthusiasts the system has been mostly restored and now forms one of the most endearing and cultured ways to traverse the country.

One of the features I found fascinating was the loch system allowing canal boats to get from one level of canal-section to another on a higher, or lower, level.

Whilst in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, we got a close up view of one of the lochs in action as a canal boat exited the upper section/harbour to the canal system itself. I took the images in this post as the family navigated the loch and then went on their way.

Here you can see the canal boat has entered the loch and is waiting for the water to drain out from the higher level it has just left to the lower water-level of the canal it's about to enter. The big wooden wall-thing behind the boat is the loch gates holding back the higher water-level. On the right side image you can see the exit gates of the loch and the guy (blue shirt) manning the gate-boom. You can make out that the water inside the loch is still higher than the canal at the bottom of the image.

Here you can see the exit gates beginning to open as the water level inside the loch has equalised with that of the canal. The rear gates still hold back the higher water level to the rear of the image. They are manually operated by the people on the canal boat. The black booms you see in the left picture carry the weight and are counter-balanced to make them reasonably easy to operate. The right image shows the boat-family operating the loch-gates and the canal boat beginning to exit into the canal.

With the canal boat almost out the family begin to close up the loch leaving it as they found it for the next person to use. Once the boat is clear of the gates and they are closed the family will jump on board and go on their way. The main image at the beginning of the post shows the canal boat leaving the lock and heading off down the Avon towards the canal system and wherever the family were headed.

The canal system in the United Kingdom now has 3,500 kilometres of navigable canals. By around the 1950's it was becoming increasingly popular for them to be used for recreational and leisure use. More and more holidaymakers explored the United Kingdom by canal boat visiting the towns and villages that lined its route. With a speed limit of 6.5kph it's a slow and relaxing way to holiday and allows tourists to enjoy the scenery and tranquility of countryside UK and the hospitality of the towns and quaint villages along the way.

The small amount of effort required to navigate the canal system is far outweighed by the reward gained. This quaint mode of transport offers a different option than the Motorways and fast trains. It allows time to take in the serenity of the lovely countryside away from crowds and takes tourists through small villages and townships that they may normally miss. Who knows what treasures wait to be found there?