Chi Ship Canal to Re-open to the Sea.

[oldharry]

Do you mean Nelson's Navy? Surely the stretch from Ford onwards was after Nelson? Or was there an alternative route before?

Well, you may be right, but that was part of the publicity being put out 20+ years ago by WACT - how the canals enabled the Admiralty to get supplies down to Portsmouth from London in safety.

 

[Seajet]

Well, you may be right, but that was part of the publicity being put out 20+ years ago by WACT - how the canals enabled the Admiralty to get supplies down to Portsmouth from London in safety.

Old Harry,

yes I remember them saying this a lot over the years; seems reasonable to me.

 

[lenseman]

Portsmouth and Arundel Canal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth_and_Arundel_Canal

http://www.welcometoportsmouth.co.uk/portsmouth arundel canal.html

 

[oldharry]

Hmm, well, it doesn't seem to have been much of a success, whichever. presumably by then the Channel threat had receded, and by the time it was completed it wasn't really needed any more. Sad.

 

[SolentBoat]

I know Portsmouth quite well but had never realised that Locks Lake, Locksway Road, Towpath Mead and Old Canal were all on the route of an actual canal that once cut across the island.

Just looked at Google sat pics and, wow, you can clearly see a rather large lock.

 

[Mark-1]

I spoke to a mate who has been heavily involved in the Canal in the past.

He knows nothing of the current plans but made the following general points in addition to the issues we've already discussed:

1)The 're-opening the canal' story reappears every couple of years or so – but never happens.
2)The Canal Charity have very little cash.
3)Dredging the canal to any sensible depth would be very difficult.
4)If the canal was reopened it's very unlikely it could be open to general traffic.

Points 3 & 4 were of most interest to me and are restrictions imposed by the construction of the canal. Apparently the canal was sealed with about 5 inches of Italian clay for reasons of cost. So you can't just dredge it to full depth with a digger because unless you're precise you will tear through the lining. So you're forced to dredge to a much reduced depth. The clay is also very susceptible to wash which would be impossible to control if you allowed sea going visiting boats to enter. So there's two pretty insurmountable reasons why even if the other obstacles were removed the canal could never allow traffic from the sea. Chi Ship Canal Trust Boats would probably be the only motorized boats allowed the use the canal.

On the plus side the canal is part of the town drainage system so although it probably won't be properly re-opened, it can't really be filled in either.

Of course I might have misunderstood or misremembered some or all of this.

 

[Tidewaiter2]

An A27 Forum burgee window/bumper sticker

Brian,

I think a car sticker is an excellent idea !

I find the queues at weekends relatively OK, it's evening between 3 -6 which get me fuming...

Sounds like a good idea, with an adapted footie flag mast for signals to those in the East bound static park, when its raining.

 

[rotrax]

I spoke to a mate who has been heavily involved in the Canal in the past.

He knows nothing of the current plans but made the following general points in addition to the issues we've already discussed:

1)The 're-opening the canal' story reappears every couple of years or so – but never happens.
2)The Canal Charity have very little cash.
3)Dredging the canal to any sensible depth would be very difficult.
4)If the canal was reopened it's very unlikely it could be open to general traffic.

Points 3 & 4 were of most interest to me and are restrictions imposed by the construction of the canal. Apparently the canal was sealed with about 5 inches of Italian clay for reasons of cost. So you can't just dredge it to full depth with a digger because unless you're precise you will tear through the lining. So you're forced to dredge to a much reduced depth. The clay is also very susceptible to wash which would be impossible to control if you allowed sea going visiting boats to enter. So there's two pretty insurmountable reasons why even if the other obstacles were removed the canal could never allow traffic from the sea. Chi Ship Canal Trust Boats would probably be the only motorized boats allowed the use the canal.

On the plus side the canal is part of the town drainage system so although it probably won't be properly re-opened, it can't really be filled in either.

Of course I might have misunderstood or misremembered some or all of this.

If the canal were to be restored it is very unlikely, for the reasons you state to be usable by deep draught boats. The lock size will dictate the max. length and beam of boats and the design depth-surface to the blue clay "Puddle" that as you rightly say keeps the water in-the draught of vessels able to navigate it. It must be remembered that the canal was meant for flat bottomed horse drawn barges, not deep draught fin keel sailing boats!

 

[Mark-1]

Seems as good a place as any to remind ourselves of the painting by Turner from Poyntz Bridge.

 

[Twister_Ken]

As it's called a ship canal, it seems improbable that the draft was originally restricted to wet flannel proportions.

 

[Seajet]

Here's a pic from the excellent book 'Chichester Harbour, A History' by John Reger.

'The sailing barge Fanny. The view is at Hunston and the barge is bound for Chichester Canal Basin in about 1909'.

Yes there is, give me a chance !

I get the impression from the book that this is about as big as traffic on the canal got.

It also mentions that while there were various schemes to provide a safe link to Porstsmouth during the Napoleonic wars, they didn't happen; by the time the canal got going steam tugs were available for offshore traffic.

 

[Poignard]

Here's a pic

Oh no there isn't

 

[Mark-1]

As it's called a ship canal, it seems improbable that the draft was originally restricted to wet flannel proportions.

Yes, looks like the original canal could easily have handled the majority of sail or motor sea going pleasure boats all the way up to the basin. Not big sun seekers or larger fin keelers, though.

 

[Mark-1]

'Chichester Harbour, A History' by John Reger.

Will get hold of a copy of that, thanks.

 

[Seajet]

Mark-1,

Chichester Harbour - A History

John Reger

Published by Phillimore & Co Ltd,
Shopwyke Manor Barn,
Chichester,
PO20 6BG

ISBN 1-86077-019-3

It's full of detail, must have taken a lot of research.

 

[Mark-1]

Thanks SJ, short of buying a copy & posting it through my front door you couldn't have been more helpful.

 

[glashen]

I've found a bit more (actually quite a lot more) information about the project the cost and what is planned for anyone interested.

The Chichester Canal Restoration Project

Chichester Ship canal

I'm sure the project faces plenty of hurdles if it is to actually happen, but looking through documents certainly makes it look a bit more possible, taking on board some of the difficulties mentioned by Mark-1 of course.

 

[VicS]

From one of the links above

"The canal has a well-established Water Vole (Arvicola terrestris) population, a rare mammal, along much of its extent. The animal and its habitat are protected by law."​

That rules out any serious restoration work I should think!

 

[Twister_Ken]

From one of the links above

"The canal has a well-established Water Vole (Arvicola terrestris) population, a rare mammal, along much of its extent. The animal and its habitat are protected by law."​

That rules out any serious restoration work I should think!

Any sea horses?

 

[Mark-1]

K

I've found a bit more (actually quite a lot more) information about the project the cost and what is planned for anyone interested..

Thanks Glashen, I was hoping someone would be able to offer some information but I wasn't expecting a pdf spelling out the entire plan.

Let's hope it all happens.