Progress on Buckingham restoration

THE Big Dig of the volunteers of the Buckingham Canal Society (BCS) combined with corporate volunteer groups from Home Retail Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) makes the  re-watering at Cosgrove on the Grand Union Canal a reality.

The task was to construct a bund across the canal bed to prepare it for re-watering at a later date and thus return it to its former navigable state, writes Ian Matson.

Fun and hard work

Home Retail Group, based in Milton Keynes, supplied 16 volunteers on day one, all in high spirits and prepared for some fun but hard work! The following day saw PwC take part in an international volunteer event for their company, returning for the second year running to help BCS, with a record breaking total for the Society of 39 volunteers.

This was similar to the way in which the workmen of 1801 first built the canal with no machinery to help, the volunteers from both companies were provided with spades and hard hats to get the job done! From 1800 to 1801 it took 500 men nine months to dig the 10.75 miles of Buckingham Canal, and the work completed by the end of our two days could be judged as no less impressive.

Siphoning water

The progress made was sufficient enough to begin siphoning water from the Cosgrove Lock side of Bridge No1 to the barren remainder of this Old Stratford Cut on the opposite side. It went so well that a depth of approximately two feet of water was obtained in under 36 hours!

This was made possible by using two 30 metre long, three inch diameter pipes passed through protective ducts laid in a backfilled trench across the top of the Bridge.

Attract more volunteers

The Society hopes to attract more volunteers, either as groups or individuals, to continue helping with its restoration projects. The group of 39 PwC employees was the largest group to work on a BCS site, and the progress made in such a short space of time highlighted the impact that more large volunteer groups could have on meeting or exceeding restoration targets.

Do you dig canals? We Do! Work parties are held every other Thursday and the second Sunday of each month and are always friendly, welcoming and very rewarding. For further details on the work parties please visit

www.buckinghamcanal.org.uk/events-and-news/work-parties/