CHORLEYWOOD CANAL

1800

With the Grand Junction Canal open, the businessmen of Chorleywood, Aversham and Chesham decided their towns should also be connected to the inland waterways network. The River Chess ran through their area and would provide the perfect route.

1801

The Chorley Canal gained its act of Parliament and work began. The biggest problem for the constructors was how to overcome the great climb up to Chesham. At first a mighty staircase of 20 locks was planned but because of water shortages this had to be abandoned until a better idea could be found. Meanwhile, the lower sections from Chorleywood to Aversham were completed and opened. The small village of Chorleywood on the Grand Junction Canal soon became a major wharf. Goods carried included grain, vegetables and trees which were taken from the area for replanting in London's parks.

1802

Aversham Tunnel was completed. It was 900 yards long with a towpath on both sides.

1803

A plan to overcome the mighty level at Chesham was finally put forward. William Jessop had been called in and he had decided the easiest method would be a unique boat chute. This would be 400 yards in length and would drop the canal over 50 feet. Boats would float into a dock at the top and then slide down the chute using the flow of water to regulate speed. Water in the chute would be kept shallow to prevent too much water usage.

1804

The Chorleywood Canal was completed, taking exactly 4 years to the day to construct. There was a great celebration with thousands of people turning up to see the boat chute in operation.

For the first few years the canal was a moderate success though most traffic was centred around the Grand Junction Canal wharfs. The boat chute was not popular with boat crews. Coming down was not too bad though boaters wives often complained about broken crockery. Going up was much harder, horses found it incredibly difficult to pull boats up the chute, especially after rain when the towpath was muddy.

1809

After 5 years in operation the Chorleywood Canal company finally decided it had to get rid of the boat chute. In its last year only 10 boats went up the chute to the terminus. Although over 30 per wee k were still coming down, the decision was made to replace it with a lock flight.

1810

Chesham Chute was replaced by a flight of locks. Although these took much longer than the chute to descend, they were far more popular with boat crews. It also helped trade on the hill. Because boats could now stop as they came down, a pub was opened beside lock 10.

1819

The company decided to install gas lighting in Aversham Tunnel to allow boats to use it during the night.

1825

Following a number of very dry summers the Chesham Lock Flight was suffering badly from water shortages. The company installed a small fleet of narrowboats which were employed to carry water back up the flight to help replenish the summit level. Each boat could suck water from the bottom of the flight using a hand operated pump and then take the water up through the 20 locks to the summit level. There were 5 boats in total, they went up and down the flight all day carrying water from the bottom to the top. Each boat could hold half a lock of water per journey.

1845

Like all canals, the Chorleywood was hit hard when railways arrived. Even their route was affected by the building of the new GNWR line. The railway needed to cross the canal near the terminus in Chorleywood but there was no easy way to do this as both modes of transport were built on the same level. A canal/railway crossroads was the first idea though this was dropped when the railway complained that it might cause the tracks to get wet. In the end a set of locks on either side of a short aqueduct were created. Boats entered the lock on one side of the railway and were lifted up 20 feet onto the short aqueduct across the line. On the far side another lock would bring them back to canal level. One of the water boats from the Chesham Flight was brought to the aqueduct to help with water supplies.

1850

Following the arrival of railways the Chorleywood Canal began to make big losses. From this time on income dropped every year.

1900

By the turn of the century only a handful of boats per year were climbing the long flight up to Chesham. Because of this the company decided to close its water carrying fleet. They also removed the gas lights in Aversham Tunnel, from this time on, all night passage through the tunnel would have to be done in the dark.

1923

With less and less boats using the canal the company sold out to GWNR who immediately closed down Chorleywood Aqueduct, severing the upper reaches of the waterway from the Grand Junction Wharfs.

Over the following years the upper reaches of the canal became derelict though the Chorleywood end remains in use today.

1993

A group of enthusiasts formed a restoration society with the aim of fully restoring the upper reaches. They were named the Chorleywood Old Canal Society. Initially, this was a disaster and few people seemed interested. Eventually though members swelled to huge proportions and there are now more members with COCS than virtually any other restoration scheme.

1994

As part of publicity COCS announced a competition to design a logo for the trust. The final design shows the trusts initials encircling a picture of the Aversham Tunnel mouth. This can be seen along the former towpath on sign posts which were erected, pointing to the head of navigation as part of a designated walk known as the Chorleywood, Aversham & Chesham Knock (a "knock" is a local word meaning walk or ramble).

1995

Concerns were put forward by British Naturists when it was found that a number of possibly rare flowers had taken root along the towpath. They announced an official visit to the site to view the flowers. If it was decided that the flowers were rare, restoration of the towpath would have be stopped. When the naturists' inspector visited the site he found the 2 flowers were of a sort thought to be extinct since 1923. However, as he left the site he was confonted by a bull on the towpath. The inspector ran back along the towpath and, sadly, trampled right through t he flowers.

Today the Chorleywood Canal is still not fully open but work is well under way. A decision still needs to be made on whether or not to reinstate the original boat chute or reopen the locks. It has been suggested that both would be a good idea as some hire boat engines may not be strong enough to climb up the chute against the current.