Recreating the Thames backwaters

Restoration feature

A little-known set of backwaters off the River Thames have received some millions

Restoration Feature: the Maidenhead Waterways

Among the sites being planned for possible WRG Canal Camps in the future is the Maidenhead Waterways. And already our WRG BITM regional mobile group has made it one of their weekend working party sites. So what are the Maidenhead Waterways? Where did they go, what state are they in, and what progress has been made on restoring them and what are the plans to open them up to boating?

Well the answer to the first of those questions is that they are a set of connected backwaters off the River Thames, which between them once formed a route bypassing a stretch of the main river and passing through the town centre of Maidenhead. As for the state they’re in: well, mostly they’re still intact, they still hold water (some are nominally navigable), and they still fulfill a role as flood channels, carrying surplus water away after heavy rain. But at other times the waterways around the town centre have become almost dry, attracting rubbish and causing them to be seen as an eyesore, while the lengths downstream of the town have been getting more and more overgrown with overhanging trees and vegetation. Or rather, that was the case until around 15 years ago... The restoration back-story The story began in 2006, with a feeling among the people of Maidenhead that ‘something should be done’ about the state of the channels in the town, which were becoming an eyesore. But their flood relief role meant they couldn’t simply be abolished. So the Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group (MWRG) was founded, based on a belief that by restoring the water levels to navigable depth and opening up the waterways to boating, they could be turned from a problem into an asset, attracting boaters (who normally cruise straight past as the Thames skirts the edge of the town) to visit Maidenhead.

MWRG made a couple of important early decisions. Firstly they decided that breaking the route down into stages would make it more achievable. Although they had visions of eventually reopening a through loop off the Thames, all the way from where the Widbrook stream leaves the Thames near Cliveden to where The Cut rejoins it downstream of Bray, they would tackle the central and southern parts first. They then broke this down further, concentrating on the circuit of urban channels created by the York Stream and the Moor Cut (a parallel flood channel created to relieve the York Pictures by Martin Ludgate Stream) close to the New basin and development in progress at Chapel Arches page 14

Maidenhead Waterways

of public funding, and volunteer work is happening. We take a detailed look...

town centre. And initially they targeted the York Stream section of this circuit.

Secondly, they felt that rather than try to set a standard that attempts to accommodate all Thames craft (which would be tricky as some are really quite large), or even to specify a smaller maximum size (in the way that a typical canal restoration might aim for full-length narrow boats or whatever), they would initially aim for the largest dimensions that can be accommodated under most existing structures by setting the right water level, and open up sections to those craft which will fit. This wouldn’t preclude later enlargement, but it might mean, for example, that the lengths above the town could at some stage be open to Maidenhead Waterways

Length: town circuit 1¼ miles, route to Thames below Bray 2 miles Locks: none originally Date closed: not abandoned, last trade in 1920s The Maidenhead Waterways: Usually these ‘history’ pieces begin with a description of a canal being built, opened, prospering for a while, then suffering from competition from railways and other forms of transport, and falling into decline and dereliction pending the arrival on the scene of a restoration group. But the Maidenhead Waterways are rather different. They’re a system of backwaters off the Thames which between them once provided a through route descending from the Thames near Cookham to Maidenhead, through the town centre, and continuing beyond past Bray to rejoin the Thames. They weren’t specifically built as canals to satisfy a transport need, but nevertheless they have for a long time in the past been navigable and used by freight barges (at one time they even formed the main navigable route of the Thames navigation), and (unlike most canals, especially derelict ones) they still have a public right of navigation and are still used by small unpowered craft today. However the last barges used them in the 1920s, and since then they have silted up. Water levels have fallen, and the the only time they’re full is during flood conditions after heavy rainfall - in fact the Moor Cut section of the town centre circuit was built as a flood relief channal, although with the construction of the Jubilee River flood

To Reading

Cookham

Cookham Lock

Fleet Ditch (formerly navigable)

Widbrook (future navigable route?)River ThamesCliveden Town Moor Maidenhead

Boulters Lock

‘Town centre circuit’

York Stream Moor Cut

Braywick Park Hibbert Rd The Causeway New weir built, new lock planned

Bray Bray Lock

The Cut

To London channel on the far side of the Thames the Maidenhead Waterways have less of a flood relief function. Having lost their purpose and most of their water, and gained a certain tendency to attract rubbish, the waterways (particularly those in the town) had begun to be regarded by local people as eyesores, but one that they couldn’t get rid of because of their occasional use to carry flood water. Against this background, in 2006 the Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group was formed, with the aim of raising the water levels, reopening them to navigation, and turning them from eyesores into an attractive feature of the town, which would attract visitors by water.

small unpowered craft, the town centre circuit accessible by small narrowboats and cruisers, and the length downstream of Maidenhead to larger craft.

MWRG organised some initial volunteer clearance of the channels, while starting the planning for more major work. Fortunately the potential to improve the appearance of the town has meant that local authority the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (RBWM) has been supportive of the scheme - and its plans to redevelop parts of the Overgrown channel (in flood conditions) south of Maidenhead town centre fitted in well with restoring the waterways. Following the usual years of detailed plans, environmental impact assessments, planning applications and so on, in 2015 work could begin on dredging, deepening and piling the banks of the centre section of the York Stream to rebuild it to navigable standard, thanks to RBWM and MWRT jointly putting in a successful application for £1.6m of funding from the government’s Growing Places fund towards the £2.1m cost.

The initial quarter-mile centre section complete, in 2016 work shifted to the lengths north and south of there with further Council funding. Meanwhile a commercial development on a site known as Chapel Arches paid for the reconstruction of a further section of the York Stream (and the creation of new basins), which completed the rebuilding of the York Stream through the town centre.

The next stage of work was to create a new weir to the south of the town, just below where the York Stream and Moor Cut join, to maintain the water level of the entire town centre circuit at navigable level. This was completed, including fish pass and a set of boat

rollers for small craft (with provision for a lock in the future), by early 2020.

Where are we at? The

York Stream is now rebuilt to navigable standard through Maidenhead town centre, and water level of the whole circuit of town centre waterways is maintained at navigable level. However the Moor Cut is too shallow for boats as yet.

So what next? The next

project is to deepen the Moor Cut to the same standard as the York Stream, remove a (now redundant) old weir near Town Moor, and remove a couple of remaining obstructions to allow the town centre circuit to be opened to navigation in small craft. This currently awaits funding.

At the same time, MWRG - now under the new name of Friends of Maidenhead Waterways - is also looking for opportunities to open up the southern channel which links the town centre to the Thames at Bray Marina, downstream of Bray Lock. Although enlarged in the 1960s for flood defence reasons, it has since silted up and become heavily overgrown.

And then what? We’ve

already mentioned aspirations to build a lock by the new weir, but opening the town centre circuit to larger craft off the Thames would need some major clearance, tree removal and possibly channel construction work on the length from there to Bray and this would need a sensitive approach from an environmental angle.

And then perhaps look at the length above Maidenhead, looping back to the river opposite Cliveden? Martin Ludgate The state of the York Stream in 2007 before work began...

... under reconstruction in 2016, and (below) complete in 2020