PRESS RELEASE

"Next stop Guildford", says Canal Trust

As part of the national strategy to connect Littlehampton to Kendal by inland waterway, the Wey & Arun Canal Trust is proposing a bold step in Loxwood. The plan is for the canal to cross the B2133 as it did until the end of the 19th century. Civil engineering professionals will carry out the difficult work, as they did in the award-winning project to build a new aqueduct in nearby Drungewick, which the Trust completed in 2002. However, there will be important contributions by volunteers. Project manager Eric Walker says, "This bridge is the most difficult part of the canal restoration in West Sussex. The road was realigned in the post war period and the angle between the road and the canal makes for a complex design. This is a beautiful rural canal and our aim is to enhance the availability of the canal to all its users - walkers, riders and boaters". The project is to tunnel under the road by the Onslow Arms on the Guildford Road. To do this engineers will have to drop the canal about 1.7 metres from Brewhurst lock at the south-eastern end and fit a new lock to the north of the road. The Wey and Arun Canal Trust estimate the cost of this project at £1.2 million, which is being raised. This project will be carried out in 3 stages. Stage 1 is to lower the canal by the Onslow Arms and divert the various services at a cost of £500,000. This money has been raised by the Wey and Arun Canal Trust and work on this stage is scheduled to start at the beginning of next year, subject to the necessary planning approvals being granted. The 2nd stage is to lower the canal by about 1.5 metres from Brewhurst lock to the east side of the B2133. Stage 3 is to tunnel under the B2133 High Street at Loxwood. Trust volunteers will then build a new lock on the west side of the road. Of course, this would not have been possible without the generosity of the land owners through which the canal passes. All of this is subject to approvals from West Sussex County Council, local councils and others. Initial meetings have taken place and all parties are keen to see this project through. The canal once linked Loxwood to Guildford and the Thames by water. When this ambitious project is complete, another link in London's Lost Route to the Sea (at Littlehampton) will have been hammered into place.

Further information and photographs in the form of JPEG files can be obtained from the Wey & Arun Trust's new Public Relations Officer: Sally Schupke (01483 560543): email: press@wact.org.uk. If you would like to receive future press releases by email or fax, please let Sally know.

Last updated August 2004