The Basingstoke Canal Society has made fantastic progress since it was set up in 1966. It kicked off the restoration of the canal with a huge mobilisation of volunteers working closely with Surrey and Hampshire County Councils who bought the land. Since then the Society has actively worked with the council owners to help maintain […]
If you leave the canal towpath and walk over the old road bridge at Fleet’s Pondtail you will come across a large plaque mounted on the bridge’s railing which is dedicated to the steam dredger ‘Perseverance’ and its volunteer crews who completed the dredging of the canal at the bridge in 1993. So what was […]
Go to AGM Documentation Dear Member As you are aware, regrettably the Society’s Annual General Meeting scheduled for 16th May 2020 had to be cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the government’s resulting lockdown arrangements. Whilst measures are evolving, they still make large gatherings difficult to organise, so the Society’s AGM will therefore for […]
To support Volunteers’ Week we wanted to say thanks to all our 250 volunteers for the fantastic work they are doing to help ‘Keep our Canal Alive’. Indeed if you fancy doing some volunteering, why not contact us as there are lots of opportunities to help and be involved with the Canal. Going forward the […]
It is very sad to have to report the passing of Denise Smith. Until quite recently she handled the Society’s mail order sales and with her sister Verna was the “face” of the Society presiding over the Sales Stand at many local events for most of the last 15 years. What many people may not […]
Samuel Cowdery was born in 1867 in Iowa. In his youth he worked as a cowboy and in 1888 he started touring with the Wild West act in a circus. He came to Europe eight years later and changed his name to Cody in order to associate himself with the already famous “Buffalo Bill” Cody. […]
Given the current restrictions resulting from the pandemic, I wanted to write to you, as one of our volunteers, to let you know what is going on along the canal. Firstly, I want to take the opportunity to express our sincere thanks for all the work that you and your fellow volunteers are doing along […]
Here is an update from the Canal Management team: Under present conditions we are encouraging people to limit their use of the towpath. The Basingstoke Canal remains open and available for walkers – it’s a form of access land, which like rights of way the Government is not giving us powers to close. With hundreds […]