Using the Chichester Canal

Greenheart

Greenheart

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I used to see the Chichester Canal when my family visited the yacht basin in the 1980s. I was always more interested in the seaward end. But is there any restriction on private individuals rowing or motoring small boats up the canal from Birdham to the city dock?

I've seen that it was or is possible to hire boats, at least for sections of this short, rural trip, but I'm curious whether the lock-gates at Birdham are opened at high water springs.

To whom does one apply for a permit?

Is there a freshwater supply from upstream, or is all of the canal motionless and brackish?
 
Cheers, I'll have a search.

Can't help thinking it would do Chichester commerce some good if that big edge-of-town dock (which I remember being in good condition) could develop into a sailor's tapas & winebar district. Though proprietors of the same businesses at the marinas mightn't like it.

Matter of fact, I haven't been there since the early 'nineties. A quick street-view scan on Google Earth shows the area looking nicely tidied up from what I recall twenty years ago.
 
I used to visit CYC a lot, and never heard even a hint of the Birdham end lock opening, I seem to remember looking at it last time I was there a couple of years ago and thinking it would take a lot of work to get it working but could be wrong - and canal restoration types are not shy of a challenge, have a look what the Wey & Arun Canal Trust have done !

BTW they operate several passenger vessels in summer season from the Onslow Arms at Loxwood, went on a pleasant little trip with them last autumn ( last of the season and water was very short, which doesn't bode well now ).

My girlfriend looked at a house for sale just South of Chichester, it happened to back onto the canal which seemed in very good condition at that point, I wondered about putting a canoe or inflatable on it too...

I think there are some blockages in the canal as it runs alongside Chi marina but they could just be cosmetic, requires a better look; the whips across the canal used by houseboat owners might be interesting to get past, and I wonder how keen those ( expensive ) houseboat owners would be on passing 'traffic' ?!
 
Surely the simplest answer is to simply walk the canal and see for yourself? It's a very pleasant and interesting walk, and 1 hour at most. The road bridge now blocking the canal (just a culvert) seems to be an almost insurmountable obstacle to restoring general navigation. Can you imagine stopping the traffic to Wittering on a summer weekend for an opening bridge?

If canoeing, during the nesting season you may well encounter an aggressive swan just above the road bridge on the Chichester side!
 
VicMallows said:
Surely the simplest answer is to simply walk the canal and see for yourself? It's a very pleasant and interesting walk, and 1 hour at most. The road bridge now blocking the canal (just a culvert) seems to be an almost insurmountable obstacle to restoring general navigation. Can you imagine stopping the traffic to Wittering on a summer weekend for an opening bridge?

If canoeing, during the nesting season you may well encounter an aggressive swan just above the road bridge on the Chichester side!
Click to expand...

I think there are two roads that block it The A286, near the entrance to Chichester marina, and the B 2201
 
Never underestimate the power of a good cause

While not seeking to underestimate the problems facing any attempt to resurrect the canal, I'd suggest having a look at the achievements of the Wey & Arun Canal Trust, such people just don't understand the meaning of 'can't' !

A stretch of that canal runs alongside Dunsfold Aerodrome where I used to work ( and Top Gear use now ); in the mid 1980's that bit was restored by BAe funding, partly to look better and partly to stock with fish for the airfield social club angling section !

At the time any thoughts of linking to navigable stretches North towards Guildford or South to the sea seemed hopeless, as in some places the canal was actually blocked and houses built on the infill, and at others the NIMBY's including celebrities and council officials didn't want nasty peasant boatie types going past their gardens...

That was in the 1980's - when I fulfilled a long time little ambition and did a boat trip on the restored stretch from Loxwood last autumn, I chatted with one of the WACT volunteers; they have already restored a long stretch ( our trip was 1.5 hours there & back ) and made new waterwheels, locks & other serious engineering infrastructure, it seems they have a serious plan sorted to complete the link-up, by a combination of getting some NIMBYS on side, otherwise buying adjacent land - with planning approved - and will simply build short new stretches bypassing the problems !

http://www.weyandarun.co.uk/

CanalTrip2011034.jpg
 
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when i asked about motorboats in chichester basin last week i was told they would allow rowing boats or canoes only.
it would be a lovely place for a small motor powered dinghy
 
dancrane said:
I used to see the Chichester Canal when my family visited the yacht basin in the 1980s. I was always more interested in the seaward end. But is there any restriction on private individuals rowing or motoring small boats up the canal from Birdham to the city dock?

I've seen that it was or is possible to hire boats, at least for sections of this short, rural trip, but I'm curious whether the lock-gates at Birdham are opened at high water springs.

To whom does one apply for a permit?

Is there a freshwater supply from upstream, or is all of the canal motionless and brackish?
Click to expand...


Here's a thread about it.
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303040

It's fed by freshwater but blocked to boats by two culverts and various fixed locks at the sea end (can't be opened). With a few carry rounds you could easily do it by water in a dinghy or canoe *but* I'm pretty sure only Canoes are allowed.

Permits for canoes from the trust IIRC:
http://chichestercanal.org.uk/

You can hire a rowing boat or ride as a passenger on "their" canal boat(s) but bicycle or on foot is probably the best way to see it.
 
VicS said:
I think there are two roads that block it The A286, near the entrance to Chichester marina, and the B 2201
Click to expand...

Canoes can make it under the B2201 :D ... at least according to the pic on Google Earth. There's also an alternative route to Selsey so an opening bridge could be more acceptable and certainly make construction more realistic.
 
Agreed, that road-bridge appears to have scuppered passage by boat just there, for all time. Not good. I s'pose it would be cheaper to raise the road, than to employ a 'Falkirk Wheel'...

FalkirkWheelSide_2004_SeanMcClean.jpg


...might obstruct the famous views of Chichester's cathedral, too. :( Sorry about the size of the pics!

Thanks for the 'Wey to the Sea' vid, Seajet. I once knew some short stretches of the Arun and Rother and Wey, and always regretted the neglected navigability visible in places. Nice to see that so many people are keen to undo the effects of long disuse.

Decades ago, I used to paddle my Topper from Midhurst, downstream towards Pulborough. Once upon a time there must have been substantial traffic even up near Midhurst, because there was evidence of a large lock at South Ambersham.

Trees meant the Rother was only ever a paddle trip. It'd be a fine thing to see sails, gliding across the fields past Hunston. :)

chicanal03.jpg
 
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