rural setting of much of the route of this canal. this of route the of much of setting rural walls. It then passes under the tunnel-like West Street Street West tunnel-like the under passes then It walls. is located here. This length is peaceful and typical of the of typical and peaceful is length This here. located is narrows and squeezes through a cutting with sheer stone sheer with cutting a through squeezes and narrows next to Fordgate Farm and a small car park for fisherman for park car small a and Farm Fordgate to next extended in 1931, and then, after Wembdon Road Bridge, Road Wembdon after then, and 1931, in extended to carry heavy traffic, gives access to Fordgate swing bridge swing Fordgate to access gives traffic, heavy carry to h aa assudrVcoi odBig,considerably Bridge, Road Victoria under passes canal The 3. Albert Street Cutting Street Albert 3. utot odBig sa ntrciesrcue rebuilt structure, unattractive an is Bridge Road Huntworth is known as widewater and here smaller craft could turn. could craft smaller here and widewater as known is shallow cutting, around the western side of Bridgwater. of side western the around cutting, shallow The wide section of canal north of the Huntworth Bridge Huntworth the of north canal of section wide The opt wnsaa rmtera n nesit a into enters and road the from away swings towpath There is a small car park adjacent to the Meads Bridge. Meads the to adjacent park car small a is There canal the behind, Lock the Leaving water. replenishment (alongside the Mead’s swing bridge) offers refreshment. offers bridge) swing Mead’s the (alongside h okt h aa,tecnlbigtedc’ oreof source dock’s the being canal the canal, the to dock the scene. After this, the Boat and Anchor public house public Anchor and Boat the this, After scene. lock, which is crossed by a swing footbridge connects footbridge swing a by crossed is which lock, this point and the M5 motorway viaduct dominates the dominates viaduct motorway M5 the and point this is a reminder of the dock’s industrial past. The restored The past. industrial dock’s the of reminder a is of craft. The towpath crosses to the other canal bank at bank canal other the to crosses towpath The craft. of but the old Bowerings Mill, which produces animal feed, animal produces which Mill, Bowerings old the but It is operated manually by boat crews to allow the passage the allow to crews boat by manually operated is It RPT basin, has now been redeveloped with modern housing modern with redeveloped been now has basin, replicate the original design of such bridges on this canal. this on bridges such of design original the replicate The once derelict area, towards the western end of the of end western the towards area, derelict once The next few miles of canal which have been rebuilt to rebuilt been have which canal of miles few next 2. Newtown Lock Newtown 2. Crossways Bridge is the first of three swing bridges in the in bridges swing three of first the is Bridge Crossways 6. Swing Bridges Swing 6. material dug out to form the docks. the form to out dug material to be a large mound called The Mump formed from the from formed Mump The called mound large a be to in 1904 to replace an earlier unsuccessful Brunel design. Brunel unsuccessful earlier an replace to 1904 in the north bank, where housing now stands, there used there stands, now housing where bank, north the carrying the railway over the River Parrett and constructed and Parrett River the over railway the carrying fteoiia adoeae rns hltopst,on opposite, whilst cranes, operated hand original the of filled in, but a short detour leads to Somerset Bridge, Somerset to leads detour short a but in, filled toilets for boaters. Near the Bascule Bridge stands one stands Bridge Bascule the Near boaters. for toilets construction of Bridgwater Dock. The old basin has been has basin old The Dock. Bridgwater of construction oacmoaersdnilfas u n etuat and restaurant, and pub flats, residential accommodate to straight for the Parrett at Huntworth before the before Huntworth at Parrett the for straight derelict until the early 1990s and has now been restored been now has and 1990s early the until derelict where the original (1827-1841) line of the canal headed canal the of line (1827-1841) original the where side stands Ware’s Warehouse; dating from 1841, it was it 1841, from dating Warehouse; Ware’s stands side concrete pill-box on the far side stands close to the point the to close stands side far the on pill-box concrete The inner basin is now used as a marina. On its south its On marina. a as used now is basin inner The The canal gradually enters more rural surroundings and a and surroundings rural more enters gradually canal The 5. Factory Arm Arm Factory 5. 2005 the bridge was further overhauled. further was bridge the 2005 bridge was extensively restored in 1907, 1984 and in and 1984 1907, in restored extensively was bridge brick and tile industry. tile and brick across the dock between the two basins. The original The basins. two the between dock the across is one of many reminders of Bridgwater’s once flourishing once Bridgwater’s of reminders many of one is A bascule bridge carries the road to Chilton Trinity Chilton to road the carries bridge bascule A spill into the river. A flooded clay pit on the towpath side towpath the on pit clay flooded A river. the into spill used to flush silt out of the dock and into the river. the into and dock the of out silt flush to used thin strip of land and Hamp Weir allows canal water to water canal allows Weir Hamp and land of strip thin Around the basin are bollards and the sluices which were which sluices the and bollards are basin the Around River Parrett. The two waterways are separated by only a only by separated are waterways two The Parrett. River now sealed off but the smaller, barge lock has been restored. been has lock barge smaller, the but off sealed now rebuilt) across the canal, which soon draws alongside the alongside draws soon which canal, the across rebuilt) tidal basin, two locks lead to the river; the ship lock is lock ship the river; the to lead locks two basin, tidal n ucsino rc rde sm rgnl some original, (some bridges brick of succession a and dock is known as a ‘floating harbour’. From the outer or outer the From harbour’. ‘floating a as known is dock canal emerges to give views of the Quantocks to the west the to Quantocks the of views give to emerges canal being retained behind the large lock gates. This type of type This gates. lock large the behind retained being fe asn erteYC tAbr tetBig,the Bridge, Street Albert at YMCA the near passing After were used to maintain high water in the dock, the water the dock, the in water high maintain to used were 4. Hamp 4. via the two basins you see today. High tides in the Parrett the in tides High today. see you basins two the via and Taunton canal was extended to join the River Parrett River the join to extended was canal Taunton and to the canal towpath from West Street. West from towpath canal the to The Docks were opened in 1841, when the Bridgwater the when 1841, in opened were Docks The the high retaining walls. A pedestrian ramp allows access allows ramp pedestrian A walls. retaining high the 1. Bridgwater Docks Bridgwater 1. River Parrett Trail (RPT) Trail Parrett River Bridge, beyond which massive wooden buttresses support buttresses wooden massive which beyond Bridge, Waterside wildlife Further reading West Country Waterway Guide 7 Walking or boating along a canal is an ideal way of ● The Canals of South West England seeing nature at close quarters. Common birds on this (Charles Hadfield) The canal are the moorhen and coot. Moorhens have nearly- ● Bridgwater Docks and the River Parrett Bridgwater Taunton black plumage and a red forehead, whereas the similar (Brian J Murless) coot can be distinguished by its distinctive white ● The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal Canal forehead and bill. Both have large families of up to a (C A Buchanan) Somerset County Council dozen chicks. The much larger heron is a stately bird ● The Chard Canal – Selected Highlights & and the which often stands motionless in shallow water watching (Inland Waterways Association) Inland Waterways Association for fish or frogs. When disturbed, it takes to the air with ● By Waterway to Taunton,A history of the Bridgwater slow beats of its grey wings. & Taunton Canal, and River Tone (Tony Haskell) Insect life flourishes in summer. ● The Grand Western Canal You can often see the colourful (Helen Harris) bodies of dragonflies and damselflies River Parrett Trail sparkling in the A 50 mile walking Trail which can be enjoyed as a hike over sun while, on the 4 or 5 days or a series of shorter walks. For further water’s surface, information visit the River Parrett Trail website: whirligig beetles and pond skaters dart www.riverparrett-trail.org.uk about. Feeding on insects are small animals such as water Refreshments voles, their presence often given away by a sudden “plop” in the water. Bridgwater Many pubs and cafes Huntworth Boat and Anchor public house The clean water of the canal supports abundant plant life.