Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Pulteney Weir upstream of the canal junction with the Avon
.
The canal feeds out on to the River Avon, already quite broad, heavily piled and potentially
muddy. The River Avon and the south Wales rivers may have originally been dip slope head-
waters of the River Kennet, accounting for the canal's route. There were legal powers to
make the river navigable for large craft from 1619, although the work was not completed un-
til 1723. There were plans to carry the canal on downstream but concerns that it might inter-
fere with Bath's hot spring water meant the idea was not pursued. In fact, the river remained
profitable with traffic between Bristol and Bath until 1967 as the canal itself declined. The
river has a 6.4km/h speed limit and downstream craft have priority.
The first bridge over the river is the lattice Widcombe Footbridge, a footbridge also known
as Halfpenny Bridge because of its toll. In 1877, during the Bath & West Agricultural Show,
it collapsed, resulting in the deaths of 10 people and injury to 40-50 others as they queued on
the bridge to pay the toll following the arrival of a train in the station opposite. The station
was built by Brunel in a Jacobean-country-house-style, with curved gables and a castellated
entrance to the viaduct at the west end of the station. It originally had a hammerbeam roof.
His GWR Paddington to Temple Meads railway crosses the river on St James' Bridge and
then runs on to the 550m St James' Viaduct, which has 73 arches, decorated with castellated
octagonal turrets, typical Brunel ostentation. Adjoining the station is the Graze restaurant
with the Bath Ales microbrewery.
