The Thames and Medway Canal

The Thames and Medway Canal. . Where you now stand used to be the entrance to the Thames and Medway Canal. Nothing remains of this end of the canal now except a memorial in the name of the road - Canal Road. In its time, it was an engineering wonder which used the latest technology to cut a tunnel through the chalk of Broomhill, but despite this it didn't achieve commercial success. Read on to find out why., Why a canal? , In 1788, during the Napoleonic Wars, a canal from Gravesend to Strood was proposed as a route safe from French attack for military ordnance and commercial barges. It would also reduce the journey from the Thames to the Medway from 47 miles (74 km) to 7 miles (11 km)., Building the Canal , Building started in 1799 and engineer Ralph Dodd completed the Gravesend to Higham cut by 1801. Despite rising costs it was eventually decided to build a tunnel from Higham to Strood. At that time, it was an amazing feat of engineering. The tunnel was 2½ miles (4 km) long, all hand-dug through the chalk of Broomhill. It was so straight that light at each extremity was clearly visible from the opposite end. It was left unlined so the white chalk reflected enough daylight that it did not need lighting., To accommodate spritsail barges it was 35ft (10.6m) high and had a curved base (as did the lock basins). It was 30ft (9.1m) wide with 7ft (2.1m) of water., The canal was finally opened on 14 October 1824 with a grand procession of barges and a formal dinner at the Crown Hotel in Rochester., Problems , The canal was a great tourist attraction with boat trips through the tunnel but it was finished too late to be a long term commercial success. The tolls were expensive and although it took longer to round the Hoo Peninsula there was no toll. The war with France was over and the canal was tidal so barges had to wait to turn round. Another problem was leaking which meant that expensive pumping machinery had to be installed. After a few years, railways were quickly replacing canals as the favored form of commercial transport., Changes in use , To combat the competition, in 1844 the Thames and Medway Canal Company built single track railway parallel to the canal through the tunnel. This was so successful that the company sold out to the South Eastern Railway. In 1846 they filled in the canal, had two rail tracks laid through the tunnel and converted the canal towing contractor's house into Higham Station., The Gravesend to Higham section remained operating until 1914. It was mainly used for transporting farming produce and manure. Higham was known as 'Dung Wharf'., During the Second World War, it was used to season thousand of Canadian logs needed to build Mosquito aircraft and also suffered bomb damage., Preservation , The Thames and Medway Canal Association was formed in 1976 to voluntarily work on restoration and maintenance on the remaining canal. The Strood canal basin was back-filled in 1986 and built on, leaving only the lock gates as a reminder of this once remarkable feat of engineering. The Gravesend basin is now a pleasure marina.