Whenever a derelict canal is to be restored, the first practical job is to clear out and remove the growth of trees, bushes etc which have grown up during the period when the canal was neglected. This is often called '
jungle bashing' or 'jungle busting'. In the case of the Wey & Arun Canal the period of neglect had been well over a century.
Many of the original brick arch accomodation
bridges had been allowed to decay and some had been demolished. A number of the
locks which had survived now had mature trees growing out from the chamber walls. Parts of the canal bed had been filled in, and that which had escaped was now completely overgrown.
Other parts of the canal which have been restored can be located using the
map.
