Lydney Canal

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Lydney Canal
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Pidcock's Canal
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Upper Dock
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Swing bridge
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Lower Dock
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Tidal flood protection gate
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Lock
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Tidal Basin
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Sea gate
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Junction with River Severn
1946 OS Map Lydney map 1946.jpg
1946 OS Map
The tidal entrance gate Lydneyseagates.jpg
The tidal entrance gate
The semi-tidal entrance basin Lydneytidalbasin.jpg
The semi-tidal entrance basin
The lock Lydneylock.jpg
The lock

The Lydney Canal is a one-mile canal in Gloucestershire that runs inland from the River Severn to Lydney. It was opened in 1813 to trans-ship iron and coal from the Forest of Dean. It was once connected by a horse-drawn tramroad to Pidcock's Canal [1] which brought materials down to the wharves by tub-boat.

In the 1960s imported wood was still being brought in by barge from Avonmouth. [2] It remained in commercial use until the 1980s. The entrance to the canal consists of an outer tidal gate opening into a wide basin. From there a lock opens into the one-mile canal cut. Immediately above the lock, a pair of gates points the other way as protection against a high tidal flood in the estuary. There is one swing bridge across the canal.

The docks were restored between 2003 and 2005, using money from the Heritage Lottery Fund and others, to create a marina and harbour area for seagoing yachts and motor boats. [3] In 2015 the outer lock gates failed in the open position and are inoperable. Consequently the harbour has become silted up from River Severn mud and is out of use.[ citation needed ] As of 22 December 2023 the lock gates have been refurbished and refitted and closed, but it is not known if they are currently functioning.

Timeline

River Lyd

River Lyd approaching its confluence with the Severn. River Lyd through Lydney - geograph.org.uk - 582177.jpg
River Lyd approaching its confluence with the Severn.

The Lyd is a small river in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England.

The Lyd flows into the River Severn via the canal in Lydney.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Severn</span> River in the United Kingdom

The River Severn, at 220 miles (354 km) long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of 107 m3/s (3,800 cu ft/s) at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in the Cambrian Mountains in mid Wales, at an altitude of 2,001 feet (610 m), on the Plynlimon massif, which lies close to the Ceredigion/Powys border near Llanidloes. The river then flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. The county towns of Shrewsbury, Gloucester and Worcester lie on its course.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Avon, Bristol</span> River in the south west of England

The River Avon is a river in the southwest of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is a cognate of the Welsh word afon, meaning 'river'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgwater and Taunton Canal</span> Canal in south-west England

The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a canal in the south-west of England between Bridgwater and Taunton, opened in 1827 and linking the River Tone to the River Parrett. There were a number of abortive schemes to link the Bristol Channel to the English Channel by waterway in the 18th and early 19th centuries. These schemes followed the approximate route eventually taken by the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, but the canal was instead built as part of a plan to link Bristol to Taunton by waterway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Wye</span> River in Wales and England

The River Wye is the fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some 250 kilometres from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of the border between England and Wales. The Wye Valley is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Wye is important for nature conservation and recreation, but is affected by pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydney</span> Town and civil parish in Gloucestershire

Lydney is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been bypassed by the A48 road since 1995. The population was about 8,960 in the 2001 census, reducing to 8,766 at the 2011 census. Increasing to 10,043 at the 2021 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol Harbour</span> Harbour in Bristol, England

Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of 70 acres. It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out permanently. A tidal by-pass was dug for 2 miles through the fields of Bedminster for the river, known as the "River Avon New Cut", "New Cut", or simply "The Cut". It is often called the Floating Harbour as the water level remains constant and it is not affected by the state of the tide on the river in the Avon Gorge, The New Cut or the natural river southeast of Temple Meads to its source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharpness</span> Human settlement in England

Sharpness is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West England region. It is on the River Severn at grid reference SO669027, at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream, is still large.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severn Railway Bridge</span> Former bridge in United Kingdom

The Severn Railway Bridge was a bridge carrying the railway across the River Severn between Sharpness and Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It was built in the 1870s by the Severn Bridge Railway Company, primarily to carry coal from the Forest of Dean to the docks at Sharpness; it was the furthest-downstream bridge over the Severn until the opening of the Severn road bridge in 1966. When the company got into financial difficulties in 1893, it was taken over jointly by the Great Western Railway and the Midland Railway companies. The bridge continued to be used for freight and passenger services until 1960, and saw temporary extra traffic on the occasions that the Severn Tunnel was closed for engineering work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydney railway station</span> Railway station in Gloucestershire, England

Lydney railway station is a railway station serving the town of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the Gloucester-Newport line, 133 miles 37 chains (214.8 km) from the zero point at Paddington, measured via Stroud. The station is located a mile south of Lydney, and was originally called Lydney Junction, which is now the name of the nearby station on the preserved Dean Forest Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydney Junction railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Lydney Junction railway station is a railway station near Lydney in Gloucestershire. The station is now the southern terminus of the Dean Forest Railway. It is located to the south of Lydney, near the A48 road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severn and Wye Railway</span> Former railway in England

The Severn and Wye Railway began as an early tramroad network established in the Forest of Dean to facilitate the carriage of minerals to watercourses for onward conveyance. It was based on Lydney, where a small harbour was constructed, and opened its line to Parkend in 1810. It was progressively extended northwards, and a second line, the Mineral Loop was opened to connect newly opened mineral workings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pidcock's Canal</span> Former canal in Gloucestershire, England

Pidcock's Canal was a canal in Gloucestershire, England, which connected ironworks at Upper Forge and Lower Forge, and also ran to an inlet from the River Severn called Lydney Pill. It was constructed from 1778 onwards, and there were three locks below Middle Forge. Following the construction of the Lydney Canal in 1813, the canal connected to that, rather than Lydney Pill, and it was disused after 1840, by which time a horse-drawn tramway had been built up the valley of The Lyd. The tramway was eventually relaid as a steam railway and is now preserved as the Dean Forest Railway. Most of the canal, colloquially called The Cut, still exists below Middle Forge.

The Bullo Pill Railway was an early British railway, completed in 1810 to carry coal mined in the Forest of Dean Coalfield to a port on the River Severn near Newnham, Gloucestershire. It was later converted to a broad gauge steam line by the Great Western Railway, and was closed in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley railway station</span> Disused railway station in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England

Berkeley railway station served the town of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the Sharpness Branch Line, part of the Midland Railway (MR), which connected the Bristol and Gloucester Railway main line at Berkeley Road station with the docks at Sharpness.

Sharpness railway station served the village and docks of Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England from 1875 to 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Severn Bridge Railway</span>

The Severn Bridge Railway was a railway company which constructed a railway from Lydney to Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England. It was intended chiefly to give access for minerals in the Forest of Dean to Sharpness Docks, and the company built a long bridge, 1,387 yards (1,268 m) in length, over the River Severn. The line opened in 1879.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bicslade Tramroad</span>

The Bicslade Tramroad was a wagonway built by the Severn and Wye Railway (S&WR) in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. The first section of the line was opened in 1812 as a branch of the S&WR plateway from Lydney to Lydbrook, which had opened in 1810. It was expanded over time to serve the collieries and quarries in the Bixslade valley ; the last stretch, to Bixhead Quarry, opened in 1855. Stone traffic ceased in 1944 and coal followed in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Cut, Bristol</span> River in Bristol, England

The New Cut is an artificial waterway which was constructed between 1804 and 1809 to divert the tidal river Avon through south and east Bristol, England. This was part of the process of constructing Bristol's Floating Harbour, under the supervision of engineer William Jessop. The cut runs from Totterdown Basin at the eastern end of St Phillip's Marsh, near Temple Meads, to the Underfall sluices at Rownham in Hotwells and rejoining the original course of the tidal Avon.

Lydbrook Junction railway station is a disused railway station in England opened by the Ross and Monmouth Railway in 1873, it remained open for 91 years until 1964 when the line finally closed to freight, though passenger services ceased in 1959. The station was constructed in the hamlet of Stowfield approximately half a mile from Lydbrook and its viaduct on the Severn and Wye Railway. It was located approximately 4 miles and 34 chains along the railway from Ross-on-Wye station. In 1874 the Severn and Wye Railway opened a branch from Serridge Junction and Cinderford, passenger services commenced in 1875. All passenger trains along the S&W branch were withdrawn from 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speech House Road railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Speech House Road railway station is a disused railway station opened by the former Severn and Wye Railway in 1875, it remained open for 88 years until the line, north of Parkend, closed to freight in 1963. Passenger trains on the Severn and Wye Railway, north of Lydney, were withdrawn from 1929.

References

  1. "Lydney Harbour brochure" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
  2. Photo in Francis Frith Collection
  3. "Lydney Area in Partnership website". Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
  4. Forest of Dean Railways Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Joseph Priestley (1831). Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  6. "Lydney Harbour". Heritage Gateway. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  7. "Lydney Docks". Gloucestershire County Council. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012.
  8. "LAiP Projects - Lydney Docks". Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
  9. "English Heritage". Archived from the original on 23 February 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
  10. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 September 2008. Retrieved 11 September 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Lydney". Ports and Harbours of the UK. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
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