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KENNET & AVON CANAL
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| The broad beam canal joins
Reading and the River Thames in the east ,with Bristol on the River Avon
in the west .
Built in three sections , the first a river navigation , the Kennet from Reading to Newbury . 1718-1723 with 20 locks . The second was the Bristol Avon navigation , from Bristol to Bath . 1725-1727 with 6 locks . And finally the canal from Newbury to Bath , completed in 1810 with 79 locks .A total of 93 miles and 105 locks .( Now 104 , as 8 and 9 have been combined ) . At the summit at Savernake , near Wooton Rivers , it is 452 feet above sea level , and the Bruce Tunnel at Savernake is 502 yards long . West of Devizes there are 29 locks within 2 miles , in part a straight flight of 16 locks at Caen Hill . The canal closed in the 1950's
after years of neglect and decline . The Kennet
& Avon Canal Trust , was formed by volunteers in 1962 , and after
a lot of hard work with other interested parties , the canal was officially
re-opened by the Queen in 1990 . The work has been ongoing , and with a
recent large Lottery grant , improvements continue .
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