Hampshire Avon in 1903

[Richard Carter]

Just reading the biography of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams written by his second wife Ursula and came across this curious passage:

 

"In July [1903] they took Mrs. Fisher to Salisbury for a holiday and, having settled her in lodgings, they joined Randolph for a boating trip down the Avon from Salisbury to Christchurch. Their only adventures were when one or other of them forgot the lock keys and they tossed for who should walk upstream to retrieve them."

 

Ursula Vaughan Williams was born in 1911, she first met R. V. W. in 1938, and they married in 1953 after both their respective first spouses had died, so this passage is either based on contemporary letters, or on his later verbal recollection.

 

There will be forum members who know more - the reason for posting! - but so far as I can see, this Avon never had locks, so presumably this is a prosaic conflation of memories of more than one boating trip on more than one River Avon.

[David Mack]

According to Wikipedia, an Act to make the Hampshire Avon navigable from Christchurch to New Sarum was passed in 1664, but the works were never carried out. So I am inclined to agree that the recollections may have confused the Hampshire Avon with another river. Which isn't to say that there wasn't some limited (lock free) boating available on the river in Salisbury in 1903.

[booke23]

I have researched this in the past, and there was quite a bit of commercial traffic on the Avon between Christchurch and Salisbury up to about 1730. It was navigable by 25 ton barges. There were believed to be 10 navigation cuts made and three locks dating from the early 1700's. Only one or two of these cuts are visible today. Essentially, as the navigation was abandoned in 1730 it's doubtful these locks would still be in operation in the early 1900's.

After 1730 the course of the river was altered by man made water meadows, but small pleasure boats continued operating along it's length up to at least 1907. There was even an annual regatta in Fordingbridge that ran from 1889 to 1928.  After 1907 fishing rights and landowners stopped boats operating in the lower part of the river at Ringwood. 

 

Today much of the river is 'reserved' by fishing clubs, however the original 1664 act of navigation has never been repealed. So in theory you are allowed to navigate it. Occasionally a local kayaker/canoeist will paddle it's length. A number of portages are required due to weirs, and usually much abuse is received by local landowners and fishermen with threats to call the police etc!

Edited May 5, 2021 by booke23

[matty40s]

There are at least 3 stretches which look like the old lock cuts, one still bears resemblance to a lock.

[Richard Carter]

10 hours ago, booke23 said:

I have researched this in the past, and there was quite a bit of commercial traffic on the Avon between Christchurch and Salisbury up to about 1730. It was navigable by 25 ton barges. There were believed to be 10 navigation cuts made and three locks dating from the early 1700's. Only one or two of these cuts are visible today. Essentially, as the navigation was abandoned in 1730 it's doubtful these locks would still be in operation in the early 1900's.

After 1730 the course of the river was altered by man made water meadows, but small pleasure boats continued operating along it's length up to at least 1907. There was even an annual regatta in Fordingbridge that ran from 1889 to 1928.  After 1907 fishing rights and landowners stopped boats operating in the lower part of the river at Ringwood. 

 

Today much of the river is 'reserved' by fishing clubs, however the original 1664 act of navigation has never been repealed. So in theory you are allowed to navigate it. Occasionally a local kayaker/canoeist will paddle it's length. A number of portages are required due to weirs, and usually much abuse is received by local landowners and fishermen with threats to call the police etc!

This is especially interesting, thanks - certainly a lot of the river course now looks thoroughly man made when "navigating" it with Google Earth, and there are stretches which look just like one-time lock cuts. But as you say, the likelihood of there being useable locks in 1903 is remote, without them being documented elsewhere. Shame this info is not in the Wikipedia entry.

 

The RVW biography also describes an earlier waterways holiday, equally frustratingly short on detail:

 

"About the turn of the century Ralph and Adeline had a summer holiday in Yorkshire with Ralph Wedgewood. They hired a boat which the men took it in turns to row, they picknicked at midday and stayed at inns for the night. It was lovely weather and they took their time idling between the flowery banks of blue cranesbill and meadow-sweet."

 

All very "Three Men in a Boat", of course, but it would be fascinating to know which waterway(s) they were on. River or canal? presumably not the Aire and Calder ....

[Pluto]

It could just be keys for security locks, or for a car, tgough they may just have said 'keys' in that case.

[Richard Carter]

14 minutes ago, Pluto said:

It could just be keys for security locks, or for a car, tgough they may just have said 'keys' in that case.

Maybe the anecdote about the lock keys properly belongs to the earlier Yorkshire holiday, where they are more likely to have encountered locks. Just thinking about where they might have been: conditions suitable for one person to row the boat, no great commercial activity, suitable waterside inns for overnighting, flowery banks, etc. I can think of plenty of places which do not seem appropriate!

[booke23]

1 hour ago, Richard Carter said:

This is especially interesting, thanks - certainly a lot of the river course now looks thoroughly man made when "navigating" it with Google Earth, and there are stretches which look just like one-time lock cuts. But as you say, the likelihood of there being useable locks in 1903 is remote, without them being documented elsewhere. Shame this info is not in the Wikipedia entry.

 

Yes the Wikipedia entry is a bit short on detail on the history of the navigation. However there are some useful articles scattered around the internet.

 

Southampton canal society has an interesting article here: https://sotoncs.org.uk/avon/avon.htm

 

Salisbury canoe club has published further research here: https://www.salisburycanoeclub.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/saccess.pdf

 

[Richard Carter]

7 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

Yes the Wikipedia entry is a bit short on detail on the history of the navigation. However there are some useful articles scattered around the internet.

 

Southampton canal society has an interesting article here: https://sotoncs.org.uk/avon/avon.htm

 

Salisbury canoe club has published further research here: https://www.salisburycanoeclub.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/saccess.pdf

 

Thanks for these links - especially the really informative Southampton CS one which did not come up on my search. That bit about the absence of a towpath also rather gives the lie to the notion of "walking back upstream" to fetch the forgotten lock keys, from the original quote.

[magpie patrick]

On 06/05/2021 at 10:00, Richard Carter said:

Maybe the anecdote about the lock keys properly belongs to the earlier Yorkshire holiday, where they are more likely to have encountered locks. Just thinking about where they might have been: conditions suitable for one person to row the boat, no great commercial activity, suitable waterside inns for overnighting, flowery banks, etc. I can think of plenty of places which do not seem appropriate!

My immediate thoughts on the Yorkshire Holiday was the Derwent, at the start of the 20th century it was mainly used by leisure craft and it was (and is) very beautiful. The Derewent had locks although quite well spaced out - would have been quite a walk back. 

[Richard Carter]

24 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

My immediate thoughts on the Yorkshire Holiday was the Derwent, at the start of the 20th century it was mainly used by leisure craft and it was (and is) very beautiful. The Derewent had locks although quite well spaced out - would have been quite a walk back. 

Derwent sounds like a good shout - oddly enough my first thought was the Pocklington Canal, but the river is far more likely than a semiderelict canal with frequent locks and swing bridges. There are no good supplementary clues from the context in the book, just an anecdote about playing the piano in an inn for dancing, which earned them their overnight stay.

[booke23]

I have been doing more research on the Hampshire Avon, and the 1901 OS map shows a lock just south of Britford (2 miles SE of Salisbury). It is not shown on modern OS maps and it is obscured by vegetation on modern satellite views. I have looked down the rest of the river on the 1876 map but can't see any other locks marked. Of course that just means no other locks survived 'til 1876, not that they didn't exist. 

The remains of the Britford lock is very close to a road, so I might visit and take a few photos and report back.  

[Richard Carter]

1 hour ago, booke23 said:

I have been doing more research on the Hampshire Avon, and the 1901 OS map shows a lock just south of Britford (2 miles SE of Salisbury). It is not shown on modern OS maps and it is obscured by vegetation on modern satellite views. I have looked down the rest of the river on the 1876 map but can't see any other locks marked. Of course that just means no other locks survived 'til 1876, not that they didn't exist. 

The remains of the Britford lock is very close to a road, so I might visit and take a few photos and report back.  

Good spot - I've been sculling around the OS maps online recently and somehow didn't think to look at this. Interesting that it is still marked as a "Lock", and the cut as a "Navigation" on the 1924 OS map (whereas the cut was marked "Old Canal" on 1875 survey).

[mark99]

I used to fish on the LAA river Avon at Britford. Stuart the long time bailiff used to refer to the Navigation water on the estate. The whole water was circa 12 miles long but there was a canal bit I never visited as the natural river was better angling.

[mark99]

Frith collection. Lock at Britford.

 

 

[Richard Carter]

2 hours ago, mark99 said:

Frith collection. Lock at Britford.

 

 

Hard to argue with that being a lock chamber! Is there a date for this? Frustratingly I can't get the little Street View man to stand in the middle of the bridge for a recent view.

 

There are countless Boat Houses marked on the old OS maps between Salisbury and Christchurch, but I guess it was mainly very local use. With so many weirs and sluices, sidestreams, millstreams and flood channels etc you'd have surely needed no end of local guidance to make the through passage.

[mark99]

1995.

Being a supreme private angling water in the main the riparians may thwart you. 

Edited May 8, 2021 by mark99

[booke23]

Very good find  @mark99

That's looking downstream, so I guess were looking at the bottom gate end of the lock. I wonder if that bridge original? Obviously the pound would have had a much lower water level when the lock had gates, giving the necessary air draft under that bridge, but the brickwork looks a bit new in the picture. The lock chamber looks in very good condition considering it had been abandoned 265 years by the time that photo was taken!

[Richard Carter]

4 hours ago, mark99 said:

1995.

Being a supreme private angling water in the main the riparians may thwart you. 

I was thinking of how likely it is that the 1903 trip mentioned in my first post actually happened in the way described - the various contributions to this thread are pretty much confirming my suspicions, but not always in the way I'd thought. Given the nature of the river, it is very hard to imagine three Londoners turning up in Salisbury, hiring a rowing boat and boating down to Christchurch with the only problem being forgetting the lock keys which they did not need ...

 

There is a view nowadays that the public right of navigation remains in force - obviously a view not shared by the riparians. See the Salisbury Canoe Club link posted upthread by booke23

4 hours ago, booke23 said:

Very good find  @mark99

That's looking downstream, so I guess were looking at the bottom gate end of the lock. I wonder if that bridge original? Obviously the pound would have had a much lower water level when the lock had gates, giving the necessary air draft under that bridge, but the brickwork looks a bit new in the picture. The lock chamber looks in very good condition considering it had been abandoned 265 years by the time that photo was taken!

Do you still plan to visit? I'm too far away ?

Edited May 8, 2021 by Richard Carter
text correction

[mark99]

Richard,

 

I saw that historical ref to nav rights. Let's assume it's legal. If anyone traversed down the Avon in the fishing season I guarantee they  would never do it again, legal or not!  ?

Edited May 8, 2021 by mark99

[booke23]

15 minutes ago, Richard Carter said:

There is a view nowadays that the public right of navigation remains in force - obviously a view not shared by the riparians.

Yes the odd canoeist does it from time to time, sometimes without incident but often with tales of angry encounters with landowners or fishermen. 

 

22 minutes ago, Richard Carter said:

Do you still plan to visit? I'm too far away ?

  

Most definitely! It'll be a few days before I get a chance, but I will do so and report back!

[Richard Carter]

34 minutes ago, mark99 said:

Richard,

 

I saw that historical ref to nav rights. Let's assume it's legal. If anyone traversed down the Avon in the fishing season I guarantee they  would never do it again, legal or not!  ?

Happy to believe that, it's all too easy to imagine the "encounters"

[booke23]

@Richard Carter I have visited the lock at Britford and posted my photos on a new post here: https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/111064-britford-lock-on-the-river-avon/

 

It seems unlikely this lock was in operation in 1903......it is in very good condition however the lock and navigation is heavily silted up. There must be many feet of silt in the lower channel when you see the lack of air draft under the bridge. The water is only about 18 inches deep. I'm not an expert on river silting but it seems to be more than 100 years of silting, but I could be wrong!

 

The bridge seems original in it's basic structure.....there are coping stones on the downstream side that look just like they have been there since 1675. But the upper brickwork has been replaced multiple times.....no doubt due to vehicles clouting the railings (which are not original) and demolishing it. Hardly any of the brickwork from the 1995 photo has survived!!

 

[Richard Carter]

2 hours ago, booke23 said:

@Richard Carter I have visited the lock at Britford and posted my photos on a new post here: https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/111064-britford-lock-on-the-river-avon/

 

It seems unlikely this lock was in operation in 1903......it is in very good condition however the lock and navigation is heavily silted up. There must be many feet of silt in the lower channel when you see the lack of air draft under the bridge. The water is only about 18 inches deep. I'm not an expert on river silting but it seems to be more than 100 years of silting, but I could be wrong!

 

The bridge seems original in it's basic structure.....there are coping stones on the downstream side that look just like they have been there since 1675. But the upper brickwork has been replaced multiple times.....no doubt due to vehicles clouting the railings (which are not original) and demolishing it. Hardly any of the brickwork from the 1995 photo has survived!!

 

Thanks for all this effort! Even on the earliest OS maps the cut below the lock ends with a narrows (not a lock chamber) and a "sluice" which was obviously not navigable.

 

So I'm still not much clearer on how the rowing trip described in the first post might really have worked ... but it's been illuminating nonetheless, thanks to all who contributed.