Synopsis: A walk along the full length of the Grand Western Canal. Well, almost, as the footpath is redirected from the towpath around the breach that occurred in November. Full-on glorious sunshine.
This seemed the ideal walk for the extremely wet conditions we’re currently experiencing. Most of the route is along the Grand Western Canal towpath which is a gravel track largely free of mud. The connecting stretch, from the drop-off bus stop to the northern end of the canal, was along lanes. The only time I experienced any serious mud was when I chose to divert to the canal breach viewing point, and therefore the mud was just deserts for being so nosey.
This walk starts with a 4.8 mile trek from the bus stop to the northern most tip of the Grand Western Canal, which took me 2 hours to complete. The walk from here to the southern most tip of the canal at the canal basin in Tiverton, including the deviation to view the canal breach, was a distance of 13.4 miles, which took me a little over 6 hours to complete.
Bus stop, Ayshford, Waterloo Cross - The Waterloo Cross
On being dropped off at my bus stop I followed lanes and tracks that took me to the motorway which I crossed over a minor bridge. I then reached a railway line that had to be crossed, carefully, watching closely for high speed trains. I then walked through the quite un-noteworthy village of Westleigh, reached the canal towpath, and walked the 1.3 miles north to the northernmost point.
The Waytown Limekilns
On my way north I came across a series of lime kilns on the banks of the canal. An information board nearby gave the name of these kilns as the Waytown Limekilns. A brief history is given of their use and artist illustrations show how the lime kilns would have looked during their working life, through most of the 19th century. Barges could of course be loaded directly from the base of the kilns, and the quick lime then shipped to various farms along the length of the canal.
Northern end of the 'wet section' of the Grand Western Canal.
I actually chose to go no further than where the water is damned at Burnthill Farm. This location is often referred to as Lowdwells, for instance at the Tiverton Canal web site, because the lock at this point is named Lowdwell’s Lock, but please note it is not a place name, and therefore is not to be found on maps. The nearest village is Holcombe Rogus, about 1.5 Kms west of Lowdwell’s Lock. There is a short section of Grand Western Canal north of this point which is dry, but which I believe can be walked following a designated footpath.
The Great Western Canal at one time connected with the Taunton and Bridgewater Canal at Taunton. The original plan had been to connect The Grand Western Canal with the Exeter Canal, and thus form a navigable route between the Bristol Channel and the English Channel, but this never came about. The two reasons thought to have contributed to this were: (1) with the beginnings of the industrial revolution the south west was fast losing commercial trade to the northern counties, and (2) the advent of the railways which were set to supplant canals as the preferred method of goods transport.
The Waytown Limekilns - information board
From here I backtracked the short section of the Grand Western Canal I’d walked, stopping only momentarily to read the information board for the Waytown Limekilns. I then continued my journey onwards along the towpath in the direction of Tiverton. By this time I was getting quite hungry, so it wasn’t long before I sought out a nice bench in the sun on which to eat my picnic lunch.
Nine mile milestone
One of the things that impressed me was the fact that the milestones indicating the distance from Tiverton I found to be extremely accurate. The first of these milestones that I noticed was indicating nine miles, and when I checked my GPS route I found that this indicated 8.98 miles. From that point on I decided to make a point of searching out other milestones and found each was remarkably accurate in its positioning. I’ve a collection of geo-tagged photos of each milestone I came upon, which you can view from these links: nine mile, eight mile, six mile, three mile, two mile, and one mile. It might make an interesting geo-caching treasure hunt for children to pursue these.
The stretch from Rock Bridge into Halberton, which is not the advised detour, was rather an uncomfortable experience, since it’s along a busy road that has no verge, and therefore very careful vigilance was required to remain safe. This route would definitely not be recommended for a family with small children.
Grand old house, Halberton - Priory
Halberton is a pretty village, although rather busy with through traffic, but then, that’s not uncommon these days. I’d have liked to have visited the Parish Church of St Andrew (grade I listed), but I hadn’t the time, and had to settle on a brief glimpse down the lane. I did pass a superb old house in Halberton named The Priory (grade II* listed). There’s a sign on the house which reads, ‘Priory’.
Breach in Grand Western Canal near Halberton
I climbed the lane leading over the canal to a point where there is temporary access across muddy fields to a ‘safe viewing point’, from where it is possible to view the breach in the canal that occurred in November. It was, in that “once more unto the breach dear friends” tradition, worth the detour to view this deep gouge in the canal bank, and I wasn’t the only one taking a peep at it. I don’t know what was the cause of the breach, but I understand a statement has been made signifying the breach will be repaired. Gazing at the embankment I reflected on the feat of engineering required, in pre-mechanical-digger days, to have created this short but impressive section of the canal.
Grand Western Canal negotiates steep sided valley
Back on the canal towpath again, I made a point of stepping in as many puddles as I could, in an effort to clean some of the mud from my boots that I’d acquired on my brief diversion. The sun was shining, the day warm, and there were many walkers, and the occasional cyclist, out on the canal towpath. Several kingfishers were to be seen skimming the water, taking a plunge once in a while, to spike their next meal.
The last of the evening sun
I approached the basin at Tiverton as evening came on and a beautiful sunset descended on my walk, and a typical evening stillness set in. The ducks were quacking away like mad making an incredible din, to the point where I questioned whether I’d ever want to live right on the canal, as charming as it seems on first appearance. A quick dash across Tiverton town, passing the venerable Old Blundell’s School (now in the care of the National Trust), Grade I Listed, in 1604 the second largest grammar school in the country (presumably to Eton), and I was soon in the bus station awaiting by bus home.
A truly superb day’s walk, especially for this early in the year. It was quite long as can be seen from the statistics, leaving me feeling nicely tired but refreshed from my exercise come the end of my walk. Definitely a good ‘after the rains’ walk.
I completed a previous walk along the Grand Western Canal in March 2009, that included a detour to Knightshayes Court (National Trust), which it is possible to read about in my post 14 March 2009 – Grand Western Canal & Knightshayes from my blog.
Note: the Stagecoach No.1 bus crosses Rock Bridge near Halberton, which potentially would provide an alternative (and shorter) walk start point out of Exeter.
Walk Statistics:
Total Distance: 18.6 miles
Moving Time: 6hrs 51min
Stopped Time: 57min
Total Ascent: 451 metres
Maximum Elevation: 124 metres
Buses: 1, 55, D
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