fact file Chelmer & Blackwater

Length: 14 miles

Locks: 13 Date closed: never - but it came close! (see below)

The Canal Camp project: Taking down and rebuilding deteriorated brickwork on the wing walls around the weir which carries the main flow of the River Chelmer alongside Stonham’s Lock.

Why? Because if not kept in good repair the walls would eventually collapse, and the weir would no longer be able to fulfil its function of retaining the river’s water at a suitable level for boats to navigate the waterway.

The wider picture: This is not a derelict waterway under restoration, it is a navigable waterway undergoing a long process of gradual improvement by its owners Essex Waterways Ltd (a subsidiary of WRG’s parent body The Inland Waterways Association) who took over to save it from closing down when the original company went bankrupt over 15 years ago. It had been allowed to fall into a poor condition, and EWL has been working hard to put things right. But as a body with no regular public funding (unlike the Canal & River Trust and some other navigation authorities), EWL needs to rely on volunteer support otherwise it would struggle to keep the navigation open - let alone to improve it. Hence the use of Canal Camps to do the work.

Chelmsford