Next Meeting: 19 September at 7.15pm for 7.45pm in the Crawford Hall, Salford Road, Bidford on Avon.
Visitors £6.00
History of River Avon Navigation
Before canals, railways and even before proper roads, the rivers were often the best route in and out of the middle of this country, linking up other trading towns, the coast and the wider world. Our beautiful River Avon has literally shaped the towns through which it flows, and the reason why they are where they are. Some of the mills and crossing points date back over a thousand years.
The Avon was one of the first rivers to be managed by a system of locks and officially have its trading status protected by the crown 400 years ago. The talk will look at the decline in trade due to competition from the canals; and then to the renovation when a new era of leisure boating began and the navigation was recused from dereliction.
This will bring us up to modern day, and a snap shot of the great work that the Avon Navigation trust do today, to administer, maintain and improve the navigation for use by the public.
Speaker: Alex Mellor
Evening Host; Mike Franklin