Today, the Warwickshire Avon is an attractive navigable river linking Stratford-upon-Avon to Tewkesbury, and (via its connections to the Stratford Canal and the River Severn) forming a link in the popular Avon Ring circuit of waterways. But historically it has a long and sometimes complicated history: originally as a freight waterway, but later as a result of its involvement in a series of restorations and re-openings which reflect the different eras of the waterway restoration movement across the country - and which might not quite be complete yet... With Coventry, Warwick, Stratford and Evesham on or near its banks, it's not hard to see why in the 17th Century thoughts turned to making the River Avon navigable. All these towns would be able to send out agricultural produce to destinations along the River Severn by barge, receiving coal and merchandise in return. William Sandys of Fladbury obtained powers in 1636 to make the river navigable.
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