Leven Canal Walk

History

The Leven Canal runs about three miles from the River Hull to the village of Leven. Charlotte Bethell promoted it, and it was made between 1801 and 1805; Historic England dates the aqueduct that carries it over a land drain at Sandholme Farm to 1802, built for Mrs Bethell of Rise Park. It carried coal, lime, corn, bricks and tiles until the 1930s, when competition from road transport forced its closure, and the lock at the river end was later sealed.

The canal was offered at auction in Hull in July 1963 and sold for £1,950 to a motor dealer who, the Inland Waterways Association reported, had never seen it. East Riding of Yorkshire Council's leaflet for the 1-mile walk says the canal is no longer open to the river and has no boats, and that centuries of drainage have lowered the surrounding carr land so that the canal and path stand well above the fields. The walk starts by the pub in Leven, passes through the grounds of a house to the canal head and joins the towpath about 200 yards on; the towpath continues three miles to the River Hull, so the walker chooses how far to go.