Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Dredging in 2003 turned up the remains of a Canberra bomber that had crashed into the
canal in 1961 on a training flight from Germany, during which it suffered engine failure at
low level. The two crew were killed after turning it away from Tiverton to more open ground.
Crown Hill aqueduct carried the canal over the railway connecting Tiverton with Tiverton
Junction, used by the Tivvy Bumper. Unusually, the canal has outlived the railway.
After the bridge carrying what is now a minor road, the arch of which stands directly in
front of an oak tree, the canal doubles back to the left. It then goes round three sides of a
square to reach Halberton, its contour route taking it past a golf course and steep hillsides to
the north of the village. The opening Dudley Weatherley Jubilee Bridge allows foot access
across the canal. An embankment crossing a valley that divides three ways gives amazing
views towards Noble Hindrance but suffered a major collapse in 2012.
Weed in the canal is water fern, a brown carpet that collects on the bows and can be a prob-
lem, despite its beautiful appearance when examined closely.
A pair of horse chestnut trees in the towpath hedgerow outside Sampford Peverell are in
memory of a couple of two-year-old children. The good-quality towpath is well used by run-
ners and commuting cyclists.
Weed removal is carried out from a weed-cutting boat. Some of the growth is yellow iris,
enhancing the canal in the spring, with a backing of lovely green weeping willow trees. The
Merriemeade and the Globe Inn are near the canal in the village.
A slipway has been added by the A361 bridge. The M5 passes within 700m of the canal
but is not noticed, the only obvious heavy traffic being over the bridge carrying a minor road.
Aircraft noise is another matter with naval jets on low-level flights.
Indicative of quieter days is the distinctive old chapel at Ayshford, which stands at the
start of the first of the two long straight reaches on the canal. The Exeter to London railway
sweeps past the second of the two bends connecting the straights, overlooked by the village
of Burlescombe with its prominent church tower. In turn, it overlooks the meadows on the in-
side of the bend. Instead of flowing northwards to the Tone, excess water weiring over from
the canal is carried underneath the channel and flows southwards as Spratford Stream to join
the River Culm.
A bridge that once carried a railway spur to the quarries at Westleigh is now unused. Sur-
prisingly, the bridge's girders are supported on a wooden crossbeam, which is now showing
the passage of time.
Powerlines cross over and back and an electricity substation is located in the meadows.
