Melksham Food & River festival, September 2018
A series of walks, runs, canoeing and boating activities, art and music events… a festival of canal related events to be held over the first weekend in September 2018.
Boat trips, raft races, food & real ales see the event website.
A fantastic celebration of our canal, our towpath, our volunteers … and our place in our communities!
Keep an eye on this web site, facebook and twitter for more details as announcements are made during the summer. And don’t forget to book the dates: 1st and 2nd September 2018.
Heathcoat 200 Walk, July 2016
Over a long weekend at the beginning of July, long distance walkers used canal towpaths and rights of way to retrace the journey of 500 men, women and children who walked from Loughborough to Tiverton in 1816, to save their jobs.Lacemakers in Leicestershire were caught up in industrial unrest when Luddites burnt down John Heathcoat’s factory in Loughborough. Heathcoat set up a new factory in Devon, and the lacemakers and their families made the long trek to the West Country using the canal towpaths.The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust were pleased to welcome the long distance walkers to our patch over the weekend of July 2nd to 4th.Tim Pyatt who organised our Towpath Challenge in 2013, joined them and guided them through our area.
Towpath Challenge Easter 2013
The Trust and its volunteers organised a long distance walk in 2013 to allow members and the public a chance to walk once again the length of our wonderful canal, to appreciate its beauty and tranquillity, to absorb its historical importance and to understand the amount and type of restoration that had already been completed. As far as possible, the walk route followed the towpath but where necessary diversions using mainly Public Rights of Way (PRoWs) were followed.From organiser and leader, Tim Pyatt in 2013:“Well the walk is over for this year… I'd just like to say how appreciative we all were of your support: with transporting the weary walkers back to the start, the back up and the photography, to the fantastic efforts by the work parties in clearing over 4km of new towpath for this year’s walk and the special permissions for another 10km+. Absolutely brilliant.
Hopefully we've raised about £3,000, and it would definitely not have been possible without your support and hard work.
Many, many thanks Tim Pyatt".
Oxford to Bath via Wilts & Berks Canal
Canals, with their towpaths, are a special feature of this long distance walk. Although man-made and built for early transport needs, the canal and its banks are becoming linear nature reserves of increasing importance. In places, the towpath already provides an excellent public amenity and enormous potential for so much more to benefit both the community and the environment.
Linking the historic cities of Bath and Oxford, the route passes through beautiful countryside, following where possible, the towpath of the Wilts & Berks Canal. Starting at Semington bridge on the Kennet & Avon canal, the route follows the upper River Avon valley from Melksham via Lacock towards Swindon and then runs through the Vale of the White Horse, finishing just south of Abingdon where it joins the Thames Path National Trail. Passing close to prehistoric monuments, historic towns and picturesque villages, this gentle journey uses a mix of public and permissive rights of way plus reinstated towpath and offers plenty of interest for canal, history and wildlife lovers alike. Waymarked in places, the route is never more than 1km from the line of the historic canal. Long Distance Walkers Association - Wilts & Berks Canal Towpath