The Hereford and Gloucester Canal
Construction of the canal commenced at Over in 1793, and it took until 1845 for the canal to be completed to Hereford. Canal traffic peaked in 1860, but by then the railways were all dominant, and the canal closed in 1881 to allow construction of the Gloucester-Ledbury railway.

 

Inauguration of the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Society
In 1982 an ‘informal steering group’ came together on a number of occasions in Hereford to discuss the potential to form a proposed Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Society. Public interest in the revival of the long-forgotton Canal began in April, 1983, when the Society was inaugurated at a public meeting.

 

Launch of the Trust
In 1992 when the Society was reconstructed into the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust with the stated aim of complete restoration. The Trust became a registered charity and as interest and membership of the Trust grew, two lengths of the Canal were partially restored at Monkhide and Oxenhall. Slowly the vision began to reveal that one day, Hereford and Gloucester might once again be joined by a navigable Canal!