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Golden Valley Picture Gallery Back to T&S Canal Index

Daneway marks the western limit of the summit level of the T&S Canal and from this point westwards, the canal descends rapidly towards Stroud.

There are 7 locks in quick succession, the first being under the Daneway Arms car park and the following six in the woods below Daneway Bridge. Photos survive of this length of canal in the years leading to the abandonment of this part of the canal but water is usually absent even though the gates were still in place.

The young River Frome runs parallel and sometimes under the canal works as both descend towards Chalford. The two were interconnected at many points with small feeder culverts and overflow weirs but these structures, which would have kept the canal in water for at least some of the year, have been neglected and in some cases deliberately blocked.

Some of the locks in the upper Golden Valley go by a number of different names in groups of two or three although really this is a more or less continuous flight of 7 locks.

Between Daneway Upper Lock (sometimes called Daneway Bridge or Summit Lock) and Daneway Lower Lock (sometimes called Daneway Basin Lock) is the concrete lined Daneway Basin. This was built as a temporary terminus while the tunnel was being finished. A few years ago, the then owner decided to infill the basin with builders rubble without planning consent. On discovering he needed it, he increased the speed at which he was filling in the basin in the expectation of getting retrospective planning permission - big mistake! Cotswold District Council, with full backing of the Cotswold Canals Trust made him remove all but a thin layer to cover the floor of the basin and it therefore remains visible (in spite of attempts to screen it off) as an important heritage feature of the canal.

The Sickeridge Wood and Bathurst Meadow Locks are difficult to photograph due to overgrowth but a walk along the towpath here is very rewarding as lock after lock is passed.

Whitehall Lower Lock marks the bottom of the initial flight of 7 locks and it is a significant distance to Whitehall Lower Lock. On the way, Whitehall Bridge is passed with its 1784 date stone on the west side of the arch. This was the point dividing the eastern section of the canal which was abandoned in 1927 and the western part which remained open until 1933. Why here? - we don't really know. It might have been to secure water supplies entering the canal just east of the bridge or perhaps something to do with potential timber carriage from the adjacent woods.

A narrow section of canal leads eventually to Whitehall Lower Lock and it is not then far to the two Puck Mill Locks. There was once a substantial mill nearby of a size common further down the valley but no obvious trace of it remains. The floor of the valley upstream of here once formed a substantial mill pond, but even so, there must have been long periods when there was insufficient water for milling.

Puck Mill Upper lock has a bridge over its tail and an aqueduct carrying the Frome underneath the whole structure - it, the lower lock and a significant length of canal here is owned by the Cotswold Canals Trust following a land swap of a former lock keeper's cottage.

The pound between the two Puck Mill Locks was completely relined with clay in the early 1900s but today it leaks like a sieve and only holds water after exceptionally wet periods.

The pound below Puck Mill Lower Lock often has some water in it as it is linked to the adjacent Bakers Mill reservoir which was once owned by the T&S Canal company.

Bakers Mill Upper Lock has been allowed to fall into a poor condition with substantial trees growing out of the structure and the road bridge below has been strengthened with concrete. The section between the two Bakers Mill Locks was concreted about a 100 years ago and would, if it were not for a hole broken through the dam at the head of Bakers Mill Lower Lock, be full of water.

A long pound follows which passes the old Chalford waterworks and a restored milestone with replica plate. This leads to Golden Valley (or Valley) Lock which has received considerable restoration work at its top end by the CCT. The bridge at the tail of this lock may prove to be the one providing the lowest headroom of any along the canal.

The pound leading from Golden Valley Lock to Clowes (or Red Lion) Lock runs adjacent to the river with the railway clinging to the hill side on the offside.

Clowes Lock itself is of stone construction with a stone in the bridge at its tail noting that Josiah Clowes was the Engineer responsible for the canal.

The canal carries on within the narrow confines of the valley before reaching the Bell Lock and the A419 at the bottom of Cowcombe Hill. Only the head of Bell Lock is visible today as the rest has been infilled and culverted but a series of mason's marks can be seen in the visible stonework. The lock is probably intact under the fill and Bell Bridge under the A419 most certainly is as it is possible get inside and see the arch and walls.

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