From the Worcester& Birmingham Canal to the river Avon
The Canal also links with the Grand Union Canal at Kingswood via the short Kingswood Branch which is 0.25 miles (0.4km) long with 1 lock.
The canal was promoted by Acts of Parliament in 1793 and 1796 but the southern section was not completed until 1816. Initially, it was profitable but the railways soon began to attract traffic away from the canal. By the Second World War the canal was almost impassable.
In 1947, Tom Rolt journeyed along the canal and required the Great Western Railway to raise Lifford Bridge, which was blocking a statutory right of navigation. In 1958, Warwickshire County Council announced its intent to block the southern part of the canal with lowered bridges, but two members of the newly formed Stratford-upon-Avon Canal Society were able to show that they had made a recent journey by canoe and that therefore the canal was still used.
The National Trust took over responsibility for the Southern Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and a restoration plan was put into action. Following work by volunteers, army personnel and prison groups, the canal was reopened by her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in 1964. In 1988, the canal was returned to British Waterways.
