Droitwich Canals

History

The Droitwich Barge Canal was built to carry salt from Droitwich to the River Severn. Salt output had soared after deep brine borings in 1727, and in 1767 the town council appointed James Brindley to survey a route; the Droitwich Barge Canal Act followed in 1768 and the canal opened in 1771. It was built wide, to take the barges known as wich boats. The Droitwich Junction Canal, a narrow canal linking the Barge Canal to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at Hanbury, was built in 1854 to win back trade from the railways, and was one of the last canals built in England.

The last commercial barge used the Barge Canal in 1916, salt production in Droitwich had stopped by 1922, and an Act of 1939 abandoned both canals.

Max Sinclair of the Inland Waterways Association began a campaign of letters to the local press and the councils for restoration in 1959, and the Droitwich Canals Trust was formed in 1973. Work to restore both canals began in 2005 and cost about £11 million, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Advantage West Midlands, the district and county councils and others. Canal & River Trust says the Barge Canal and Junction Canal were reopened in 2011, after years of work by the Droitwich Canal Trust, local volunteers and British Waterways, creating the Mid-Worcestershire cruising ring through Droitwich, Worcester and the River Severn.