Buckinghamshire's Lost Canal.

[@pwhitewick]

Try Readly, with my link you can get 2 months free, which can be cancelled at any time: readly.com/paulandrebecca

[@frankgulla2335]

Thank you, Paul, for your continuing effort to inform the world about the English countryside.

[@jlaakso1706]

What's really gratifying is that these societies aren't just doing this work for themselves - as you say, they're not likely to see the end result during their lifetimes - but for the generations to come, who will hopefully have a chance to enjoy a glimpse into history that could be otherwise lost.

[@misterflibble9799]

To be fair, we do get quite a lot out of it ourselves. The end result is not the only product of the work. We also get to learn new skills, spend some time outside, meet interesting people and have some fun! Granted, there are occasions where it can be less fun (especially when the weather is against you), but we wouldn't do it if we didn't enjoy it. Seeing the fruits of ones labour come into use (like Bridge 1 (4:45) where I did a reasonable amount of work) can be particularly pleasing, though.

[@Belznis]

Definitely worth restoring, never been to UK, but watching sometimes the historic documentaries and thinking how beautiful these structures and construction projects must have looked. The more you clean up the less trash will be lying around and the more the other areas will become developed. And the trees are beautiful along the shores.

[@BuckinghamCanalSociety]

Great work Paul. Many thanks for coming to see us. Just sorry you didn't get better weather!

[@philsharp758]

The canals were nationalised in 1948 ( which means the Government paid the canal owners to take over and own the canals) and British Waterways came into existence in 1962. It was transformed into a charity in 2012 to become the Canal and River Trust. As of its 2021 accounts it has more than a billion pounds in assets and more 19 employees earning more than £ 90,000 p.a. The canals belong to the people of the nation, as we have already paid for them. Whilst it is inspiring to see volunteers working to re-open the disused canals, it is time to call to account those supposedly responsible for canals and to use the available funds to enable the restoration works.

[@philsharp758]

@@derektaylor2941 £223 milion pounds are in liquid financial assets, not the real estate. Carry on working for this "charity".

[@notsohairybiker]

Somehow, the rain and mist gave this a totally different dimension to what I expected. Fantastic atmosphere Paul.

[@paulinehedges5088]

I just LOVE your enthusiam! A plank of.wood coveted with moss makes you SO happy and that rubs off on me. Thank you for another entertaining video.

[@adamg393]

If it wasn't for you guys nobody would know about these old canals, keep up the good work

[@pdxyadayada]

Keep up the good work! Thanks for taking me along..

[@philipbellew9645]

Lovely video to encourage people out whatever the weather to have a walk and a snoop around. A walk with a purpose is always so much more fun than purely 'going for a walk'.

[@grahamkearnon6682]

You know Paul I bet you could find beauty in my hall ceiling damp patch, keep it up mate, from a very long distance veiwer/fan.

[@TrevsTravelsByNarrowboat]

Ahh from the towpath side walk through the tunnel under the canal to the Barley Mow. Good beer and food in there, or it was the last time I was in there anyway.

[@davidbassett4577]

It still does lovely food & a good pint of Everards Ales and is very dog friendly

[@martinmarsola6477]

Thanks for the great tour today, Paul. Cheer mate! 🇬🇧🙂👍🇺🇸

[@a11csc]

what a project that will be,thanks for taking the time to film it

[@stephenrowley4171]

Danger marker might be due to buried power cables there often buried in tow paths

[@YannaTarassi]

The rain added a lovely atmosphere :)

[@jackprier7727]

Wonderful stone-walled underpass-

[@jwillisbarrie]

Thanks for adding actual captions for the Deaf.

[@pwhitewick]

Cheers Jim. We always try but miss mistakes sometimes!

[@briancjohnson]

"We have too many pets and too many kids." Yanno, there are solutions for that! Keep the pets, sell the children. :)

[@pwhitewick]

100% game

[@stevie-ray2020]

.....and Paul wants to build a model railway?

[@timeast6412]

Hi Paul,thanks for the update on the Buckingham arm.I used to work on the roads in that area so I know it well.There are some formidable obstacles to overcome on the route but hopefully in many years time it may succeed.Without getting too political,in my view I see so much money wasted by Government and Councils on ridiculous projects,that could be used for this sort of thing however obviously others would disagree. By the way the last section into Buckingham town has gone completely,but the site of canal basin still exists and possibly some of the original buildings which are used by businesses.

[@SteamCrane]

"A concrete block with the word DANGER on it. How strange is tha... AAAAUUUUGGGHHHHHH!!!"

[@Mldy291]

Living near this I walked from Cosgrove to Old Stratford either early last year or late 21, they have done so much since then

[@davie941]

hi Paul and Rebecca , another very interesting video , its nice to see someone trying to restore it , well done again and thank you 😊

[@MCP53]

Yay! Very interesting as we walked through the 'orse 'ole' just the other day and were wondering what lay beyond. Big thunbs up to these restoration people! I've also boated the whole length of the K&A navigation, also made possible by such people.

[@malcolmsmith6615]

To stand in a near-intact lock is a rare treat indeed. It helps you appreciate how deep the water would be when the chamber is full. Did you spot the narrow gauge tracks laid into the wharf surface at Cosgrove? Another rare treat. Great video, beautiful weather! Cheers for another fun and informative quarter of an hour. 👍

[@pwhitewick]

Ah yes indeed, had to chop them out of the final edit though.

[@malcolmsmith6615]

@@pwhitewick At least you saw them (and I understand the need to edit). I’m also intrigued about the remains of locks that run parallel to the GU either side of Cosgrove aqueduct. They were the line of the GU before the aqueduct was built. I’ve always wanted to go looking for them but I’ve never achieved it. Not sure how much there is to see these days.

[@christophermatthews6972]

I have seen concrete markers saying "DANGER buried cables" above electric cables. Could grass have grown over part of your marker?

[@williamw7847]

Yet another interesting video Couple of suggestions: Carry your waterproof trousers in a (gasp) carrier bag. Then, to put them on, simply put the carrier bag onto your boot/shoe and it will help it slide through the trouser leg AND stop any dirt getting on the inside of your trousers! At 08:41, I wonder if the DANGER slab was from a concrete conduit carrying power cables. So that top slab marks a power cable run or had been picked up and dropped on that spot.

[@keithsbitsandpieces]

Absolutely fascinating Paul , As children 55+ years ago we used to visit my dads family in Deanshanger and there were 2 humpback bridges in the village, 1 at each end where the canal passed under , I remember clearly in the early 1970's when they demolished the bridges and filled the canal in , if you look up ROBERTS CLOSE in Deanshanger that is named after my dads family home

[@hymieweiss1]

Greetings from across the pond. Great video! I'd love to see a longer form walk like you and Rebecca do exploring that canal in more depth. Looks like lots of interesting things to see more closely (like the old locks). I look forward to the Sunday videos each week!

[@robinwatling6538]

enjoyable as ever ,thank you!

[@hedleythorne]

I want a concrete block with "Danger" written on it. Great film.

[@TheCelts01]

Great vid guys once again. Please do more from these Videos. Briliant. Your Nr1 Fans in Hamburg Germany ××××

[@christopherescott6787]

I see you have a standard Doxie. We have the very same except our pup is a mini named Beretta. Splendid topic as par usual. Thanks for another great history lesson. Cheers from Edmonton Canada.

[@lilchris26]

Nice video Paul, I am already a Readly user and I have Model Rail and lots of magazines fantastic. I also have my n-gauge railway in the loft. Keep up the good work. Chris

[@brianaveriss7972]

Enjoyable video Paul, thank you.

[@timstriathlonjourneys7575]

How great to see your walking my local disused canal. Some interesting facts about the Buckingham end of the canal. The town council used the wharf as the outlet for the town’s sewer when the canal was first built!

[@MrSouthwestplumber]

just beautiful

[@bobsrailrelics]

That small tunnel was tighter than the ones I filmed in Pontypool!! Never say never as they say, I remember the Kennet and Avon before it was preserved. Never thought it would happen, especially Devizes, but have we are. Great video. Thanks.

[@philbo2152]

Great video Paul, I live on the stretch between Old Stratford and Cosgrove and walk it every week, literally done it hundreds of times, but never been the other way from Thornton to Buckingham. Absolutely must do it

[@pwhitewick]

Nice one!

[@andrewjameson5918]

Paul, this was brilliant. Love the Cosgrove tunnel.

[@shirleylynch7529]

Most enjoyable walk and explore. Really interesting. Thank you

[@Jimyjames73]

Very Good - a very big plan that they have got!!! 🤔🚂🚂🚂

[@johnbhancock]

Loved the incidental music on this one

[@cooper68ns]

Thanks I enjoyed that walk very much. I think this is one that will get done. Cheers

[@timowen6296]

70 odd years since I explored the route of the canal to Cosgrove as a 6 year old. Not alot changed. Good luck to the restorers. Met people in Buckingham who remembered it being worked, they'll be long gone.

[@SuperTonywilliams]

Well-done mate, tough conditions but you came through with a fine interesting film, cheers.

[@darrylnoonan5282]

Paul, trying to put one's leggings on over one's boots doesn't wor.....oh you've worked it out for yourself. Don't worry you're not the first and I guarantee you'll try it again at some point! Been there and got the T-shirt! Love the videos so keep up the good work and send my regards to the lovely Rebecca and the kids. Cheers Dar.

[@TimothyPaigeChambers]

Put your boot in a plastic carrier bag first and it will slip through easily.

[@danielwilliams4007]

Thanks Paul, I Readly enjoyed that episode!

[@robertansell4538]

Outstanding vlogs every time

[@janecapon2337]

This was a really great visit to a wonderful piece of country.Many thanks for sharing it. I enjoyed the dreary weather too: Mind, I didn’t have to walk in it.

[@ReubenAshwell]

Brilliant video and very interesting to see an abandoned canal.

[@princecharon]

'A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit.' - Greek Proverb

[@AJP-kf7wq]

i ve known about the Buckingham arm for a while now, ride along the section between Cosgrove and Old Stratford quite a lot. i have been meaning to take in the section between Thornton and Buckingham for a while after tracing it on the OS map ap. i will leave it to dry a bit more as there has been plenty of rain lately but looks like i will be taking the dog for a long walk very soon. thanks for highlighting this section

[@robertmaitland09]

I think the weather added to the atmosphere of the places you visited, back in the day canals were commercially used in all weathers, hardy people from the past.

[@davidbassett4577]

Been through that underpass a few times walking with my dog Pepsi & had a few pints in the Barley Mow Pub at Cosgrove … love the iron Aqueduct at Wolverton on the Grand Union Canal .. great video Paul .. I’ve not walked that abandoned arm (yet!)

[@oneteaminbristolbcfc]

Thanks for this ✌️❤️

[@michaelmiller641]

Fascinating video, at least old canals are more difficult to obliterate than railways!

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

A very enjoyable and inspiring video showing what can be done in canal restoration. This looks a solid well engineered project, taking the view that under present circumstances, canal restoration is often a generational project. Given the growing social and economic importance of canals, especially for local development, it would be nice to see more resources being made avalable, nationally, to nurture and support such initiatives. Really good video,. Thank's.

[@MichaelSebastianTodd]

brilliant video

[@bringingverneyjunctionback9642]

Well done Paul. If I’d known you were up this way I’d have tried to join you 😀

[@briancjohnson]

Making this a separate comment for visibility: Readly works in the US! It is very expensive for USA folks to get Britrail magazines, but not on Readly! One monthly price, all the 'zines.

[@pwhitewick]

Cheers Brian.

[@eze8970]

TY. 🙏🙏

[@davidwicks3334]

Another great video especially as the Buckingham canal is close to my home 😊

[@AnyoneForToast]

Aaawww, you got sausssaaaaggge doggieee! Squeezy squeezy huggy! Ideal for all those tunnels. Keep her away from all those badgers, though. 😁👍

[@jasonhaymanonthedrawingboard]

Fantastic!

[@robertcoleman4861]

Wonderful volunteers doing great work.🍺🍾☕🫖

[@randomroveruk6715]

I too didn't know that Bradshaw did canals. That's an idea for a new series for Michael Portillo to do. Unless you two get in first!

[@maedero05]

Long way to go ! Aylesbury branche like, nice someday !

[@aengusmacnaughton1375]

Paul -- even though a kept up, maintained and in-use canal is great -- there is a great charm also to these ruined and aged walls/bridges and structures which have been mostly forgotten....

[@MrGreatplum]

The canal restorers are so right about canals being corridors of bio-diversity - the best of luck to them!

[@gilles111]

Your room with the maps looks like a room I get in in the morning and have to be dragged out at the end of the day because you want to go to sleep.

[@ned_10]

Hi Paul, are you interseted in 1970's 00 gauge hornby trains and accessories?

[@hunty1970]

Too tip for putting your waterproof trousers on over boots. Grab a plastic bag, put your boot(foot inside) inside and the trousers will slide over the boots. 😊

[@merlinonline67]

I looked at this canal about 13 years ago, first off it has too many engineering obstacles on its original route, first, it has to get over the A5 dual carriageway which is on the level, it could go south on a new route, and go under by the River Great Ouse and that would mean it misses out Old Stratford. The original route past the A5 is now a housing estate, the route can still be followed but it would be too tight for modern navigation, the canal went under the old A5 Watling Street by a short tunnel which is filled in. I honestly don't see this canal ever getting re-opened as the number of volunteers will decrease to such an extent that the society will probably fold. The are plenty of canal restoration projects that are going to do likewise, canal restoration needs volunteers who can do the work, and also lots of money, yes there is the waterways recovery group but they can't be everywhere. There are going to be some successes in canal restoration such as the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration but too many other schemes have grandiose schemes like the Derby scheme which wants a boat lift to rival that in Scotland, totally missing the point that the original canal has been built over in the middle.

[@MorrisPV]

The Huddersfield Narrow Canal had been built over in multiple locations along its length, before seeing complete restoration along its original course...

[@royhenderson4085]

Very interesting. The last video started a mile from where I live now and this one ended less than a mile from where I grew up.

[@davidbramley6730]

Now this was interesting just like your other blogs. Keep at it matey.

[@terryengland1880]

The piece of stone with the writing on it was an old way of protecting high voltage unground cables

[@paulharvey9149]

This is really interesting, Paul. I had no idea there were so many former canals around the Southern English countryside - especially in areas such as this, that are no longer accessible by rail. Thanks!

[@misterflibble9799]

I believe the UK figures are somewhere around 2000 miles of waterways in use, and another 2000 miles that are abandoned or under restoration.

[@robertdonaldson6584]

I'm Fiddling "Swinging on a Gate" on my violin.

[@antonioveritas]

Paul, I wouldn't produce shorts in that weather if I was you. Best stick to the over trousers! Did Rebecca see the forecast and decide to stay home?! Cosgrove was the first place we ever camped, back in 1977...one of the wettest summers! Best regards. 👍

[@Sim0nTrains]

Nice walk but a shame about the weather, also do need to sign up to Reedly

[@christopherspence6459]

the concrete block is similar to those that used to cover electric cables in many years past

[@islaws4589]

Hiya Paul & Rebecca, Thank you for making me aware of the Bradshaw's Guide. I didn't even know it existed until watching your video but now have a copy on my bookshelf! Have found four bridges missing though from my local canal (Lower Peak Forest) through Hyde. The bridges were def' there in 1904...one of them is the often photographed Captain Clarke's Bridge...another carries the A57, so not the easiest to miss! Am wondering if you are aware of any other inaccuracies or omissions in the book?

[@pwhitewick]

Hey Isla. Yup.new to us as well! That copy arrived the day of filmimg. I had been made aware of some inaccuracies including the names of some canals!

[@islaws4589]

@@pwhitewick Ah interesting...at least I'm not imagining things then! It's fascinating...watching the Portillo show I thought the Bradshaw's were tourist guides, but the canal book intro says it's more of a guide for commercial use of the canals. Am chuffed to bits with it ☺️👍

[@MercenaryPen]

you should have knocked out the Wolverton to Newport Pagnell disused branch line while you were near Milton Keynes

[@bsimpson6204]

I'd expect a high voltage cable under a DANGER stone 'Shorts' are to compete with Tiktok, KZbin must be feeling the heat - Well done Paul, an interesting video.

[@chrisflewers4307]

There’s a old canal bridge in stony Stratford by the shops to look at

[@Bowerprods2011]

Finally something from my neck of the woods

[@rogermorris6957]

Hi Paul very interesting vlog you cant beet a way down an old canal

[@ian6985]

At the junction of the Grand Union Canal and Buckingham / Stratford Canal Arm is an old warfe with remains of rails embedded into the tow path

[@1258-Eckhart]

It looks as if Buckingham might be reunited with the canal network before it gets a railway connection.

[@paulizz]

I hope you popped down the Grand Union a short work from Costgrove to see the iron trunk aquaduct and a beter catle tunnel under the canal?

[@DJ_K666]

Hornby Magazine is very good too. BRM runs RMWeb too

[@pauljones1350]

Looks like your walking through a key hole at beginning of film 😮nice sunny canal walk ,we have too many pets oh joy,btonly two grown up children so you in the best times of your life a full hose even if yo look like your in tiny nook it’s your space even if small 😅always dictaphone what the guy says directions info can be repeated at a press of a button or two or rewind replay etc

[@commander5640]

Awesome

[@russcorbett3923]

Awesome video !!!!

[@grahamjones5021]

Got my copy of Bradshaws about 9 months ago (Ebay), which is a facsimile version of the 1904 original. Have you got a copy of Priestley's Navigable Rivers and Canals, which dates from 1831?

[@matthews4159]

Paul ,, Gene Kelly , has done it,, morecambe and wise have done it,, maybe it's your turn? . Let the stormy clouds chase., Everyone from the place, Come on with the rain, I've a smile on my face I walk down the lane, With a happy refrain, Just singing,, Singing in the rain, Dancing in the rain, La ri la la ri la,

[@spudhughes3265]

When putting on your water proof trousers try putting a plastic bag over your boot, it will slide through ith ease.

[@simontye179]

Nice one. Thanks :)