The Wilts & Berks Canal is a canal in the historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon. The North Wilts Canal merged with it to become a branch to the Thames and Severn Canal at Latton near Cricklade. Among professional trades boatmen, the canal was nicknamed the Ippey Cut, possibly short for Chippenham.
The canal near Rushey Platt, Swindon
Overgrown section of the canal, west of Wantage, in 2006
The new link to the Thames under construction
The canal near Grove frozen in December 2010
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of 87 miles (140 km), made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section. From Bristol to Bath the waterway follows the natural course of the River Avon before the canal links it to the River Kennet at Newbury, and from there to Reading on the River Thames. In all, the waterway incorporates 105 locks.
The canal at Bathampton, near Bath
Surveyor John Rennie by Henry Raeburn, 1810
Kennet and Avon Canal Navigation share (ticket), issued 2 April 1808
A Second World War pillbox near Kintbury