Tavistock Canal, Devon, England

This site is copyright of Bill Chambers Photographic, no images may be used without prior written permission

The Tavistock canal runs from the River Tavy to the Navigable River Tamar at Morwellham Quay, its engineer was John Taylor, a mining engineer, the canal was completed in 1817 and is over 7 km long with an undergound section of 2.4 km. through a tunnel that took 14 years to build, its exit from the tunnel is 72 meters above Morwellham, it was joined to the quay by incline planes worked by water wheels.

The River Tavy is so fast and steep they have put in ladders to help the fish travel upstream, you can imagine a river like this is useless for a transport system. That is why a canal was needed, the rivers saving grace is the amount of water that comes down from Dartmoor. You will see on this photograph (indicated by the white arrow) the sluice controls for the canal, this means that the River Tavy has some of its waters diverted into the Tamar.

These fine old buildings have been converted into the Towns Community Theatre, it also contains a very pleasant cafe. The canal proper started hehind these wearhouses, tub boats would carry the ore from local mines to Morwellham and return with coal and lime etc.

From the river to this point the feeder channel has been too narrow for navigation, but from this point on it is widened to its working width.

The canal today is an asset to the town making for a gentle walk the whole length of the Meadows, the towns name for its park, it is boardered on the other side by the River Tavy.

It took 14 years to build this tunnel, it brings the canal to within a short walk of the navigations end above Morwellham Quay. From this point the canals water is today channelled through a large pipe to the hydro power station at Morwellham, so the canal even today makes a profit for someone. I wonder who?
The date above the portal is when the act of Parliment was passed to build the canal.

This water wheel reconstructed at Morwellham Quay is the type of wheel that would have been used to power most of the machinery and work the incline planes during its working time, it is interesting to think that the same water supply is still being used to provide power via the power station. The wheel makes an attractive exhibit at the Morwellham Quay Museum.

Although this photo is not very clear, as it was photographed through glass, it does show how the water wheel was supplied with water and the path of the incline planes. (the water wheel is in the bottom right hand corner).

The larger of the two boats is the restored Ketch 'Garlandstone' restrored in 1993. This is the type of boat which would have been used for transport when the port was a working entity.