IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Little Tring, TRING, HP23 4NR

A little post box labelled as for "letters only" set into a wall in Little Tring. It dates from the reign of King Edward VII (1901-1910)

The main cause of the closure of the Wendover Arm in 1904 was the excessive leakage of water through the banks, with the consequence that water was being drained out of the Tring summit level of the main Grand Union Canal. This stop lock was built at the time that the arm was closed to isolate the leaky section of the arm from the rest of the canal, with a view to reopening the canal should finances allow. That never happened, but the arm has now been made navigable by the Wendover Arm Trust for some 400 metres beyond the lock up to Image where it has been formally blocked. The stop lock is therefore now permanently open. As can be seen, and unlike usual locks, this one never served to change the water level.

This bridge at Little Tring was officially opened on May 27th, 2001, marking a major landmark in the restoration of the Wendover Arm. It's built to the design of the original 1797 bridge, which was demolished in 1973, to create a road embankment across the disused canal, effectively cutting the Wendover Arm in two. The bridge is also said to be haunted by the ghost of a postman, or at least his lamp. The postman was last seen as he was approaching the bridge but he never got across it. He was never seen again and his bike and mail bag were never found. All that is now seen occasionally is his lamp approaching the bridge.

A stop lock is like a pound lock in having two sets of lock gates, but if open the canal is at the same level both sides. Until 2004 the lock gates were closed and the section beyond this point was dry. There are towpaths both sides of the canal, but cycling would have been easier on the side away from the photographer.

The Tringford Pumping station opened in 1818, its purpose (together with other pumping stations) being to maintain the water-level in the Grand Union Canal at its summit in the Chiltern Hills. Water was channelled through underground tunnels to wells situated directly beneath the pumping station, from where a large steam-powered Boulton & Watt beam pump raised it into the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal (currently, up to 4 million gallons daily are pumped). The water then flowed by gravity to the Tring Summit section of the Grand Union Canal at Bulborne Junction. The original beam pump remained in operation for over a century before it was replaced by modern equipment, the pumping station (sadly) being altered including demolition of its chimney. Today it looks very shabby.

Bridge Number 3 takes Little Tring Road over the canal and is a new bridge based on the design of the original from the 1790s. Please see Gerald's Image for a comprehensive description and history.

A bridge built to replace the bridge demolished in 1973. It was opened in 2001.

The eastern section of the Wendover Arm comes to an abrupt end at this basin, marking the limit of restoration work carried out in 2004.

This plaque erected by the Wendover Arm Trust and Inland Waterways Association marks the limit of the 2004 restoration project.

Completion in 1797, the Wendover Arm links the Grand Union Canal at Bulborne to Wendover. Due to persistent and severe leakage, the Arm was closed to navigation beyond Little Tring in 1897. The aim of the Wendover Arm Trust is to restore the Arm to full navigation, and to that end they have re-opened a short section beyond Little Tring; another isolated section adjacent to the A41 has also been restored. But the first phase of re-opening involved bridge-building. Little Tring Road crossed the course of the canal on an embankment that blocked the canal when its original bridge was demolished in 1973. The embankment was replaced by a new bridge - No. 3, shown here - built to a traditional design and faced with bricks to give it an authentic appearance. The project was funded by the Wendover Arm Trust and completed by British Waterways in 2000/1 at a cost of £223,055.