Ashby advances...

摘要

I'll begin this piece about the Ashby Canal by talking about the Kennet & Avon. Why? Because I remember cruising the eastern end of the K&A by boat in the latter stages of restoration in the 1980s, and the brilliant thing about it was that, every time we explored it, there was a little more open: first we got from Reading to Tyle Mill, then to Ufton, then to Aldermaston and so on. It gave an impression of a restoration that was going somewhere - and must have earned support from many boaters who could see it progressingn and could hardly wait for it open through to Bristol. Sadly, few waterway restorations work that way. More often, I find myself trying to explain to the boating reader why it's perfectly right and for the best that they won't be cruising the Thames, Berks & Andover Canal for many years, because the canal society is concentrating on restoring an eight-mile length in the middle of nowhere first. (Before you reach for your Nicholson's guide, I'd better point out that's a fictional canal!).