28 Cotswold Canals

Canals are not greatly associated with the Cotswolds, but there are actually two, and they’re well worth exploring: the Thames and Severn Canal and the Stroudwater Navigation. The 56km pair, which, merging in Stroud, became known as the Cotswold Canals, were built in the 18th century to help transport goods up and down the Thames and Severn, before their closure in the 1920s. The Cotswold Canals Trust restoration project to reopen the derelict canals has seen volunteers clearing towpaths, rebuilding walls and restoring locks. Visitors can help with the work – or by taking one the four gentle boat trips along the canal, with all funds going towards the canals’ restoration. CM www.cotswoldcanals.org.uk

Reclaiming the canals The Stroudwater Canal project at Ebley; (below) Culbone Church