A Holiday in Somerset - Part 4: Some West Country Canals

On our visit to Aunty Ann and Uncle Derek, I was lucky enough to see some canals.  You might not know that there are canals in south-west of England, but there are, although they aren't linked together into a proper network any more.  

Uncle Derek took Endon and I, along with Aunty Ann, Polar and Grizzly, to see two of them.

The first was the Taunton and Bridgwater canal, which was part of a planned route linking the Bristol Channel to the English Channel, although that was never finished.  A section about 14 miles long is navigable today and we did see some boats moored on it.

We started our walk just east of Taunton and, close to the M5 motorway, we saw a kingfisher!  It was perched in a tree just across the canal from us and it didn't fly away when we stopped for Polar to take photos.

Underneath the motorway bridge there was some street art, like we saw in Birmingham, which was quite a surprise.  It is quiet when you are right underneath, but the traffic noise is very annoying on either side.

We were soon far enough away from the traffic for Endon and I to forage blackberries!

We found a World War II pill-box further along, which was built with the idea that invading enemies could be attacked from it if they were trying to cross the canal.  Luckily, it was not needed and now makes a good roosting site for bats!

When we reached the point that was the junction with the Chard Canal, Endon and I scrambled up to read the information board.  None of that canal is navigable now and it would be difficult to restore, as it used inclined planes and boat lifts, rather than locks, to move boats up and down the hills.

We loved these little narrowboats!  We don't think we will ever be able to bring Uppie to this canal, but it would be fun to boat on it one day.  We'll have to see if there is a trip boat and treat Aunty Ann and Uncle Derek to afternoon tea!

We had quite a long walk along the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, then Uncle Derek took us all to see something quite amazing - the remains of a section of the Grand Western Canal. 

This part is not far from their village, but you couldn't get a boat along it - except, perhaps, a small-bear-sized canoe.  A section has been restored at Tiverton, but this part is completely derelict.

In the middle of a clearing in the woods, however, are the remains of a huge brick structure which was a boat lift!  It must have been an amazing sight when it was working.  There are information boards to tell you about it, and you can follow a footpath around it to the upper level.

The lift stopped working before photography was invented, so the artist's impression in the picture is what people think it looked like back then.  We wished we had brought Hanley and Huddlesford with us, as they both love engineering.

Following the upper level along the old towpath, you soon come to a magnificent aqueduct.  This was built over the carriage road to a stately home, so had to look very fancy.  As you can see, it is very close to the main railway line into Devon and Cornwall.  

We think we are very lucky small bears to have visited such interesting places, and are very grateful to Uncle Derek for finding out about them and driving us to see them.  

There is just one more post to come about our holiday in Somerset - and it's about how we got a new Bear Bag!