It’s going to be a long wait for the canal to be fully restored, but well worth it according to Gerald Box. Apart from the environmental benefits and the regeneration of a derelict area he says an increase in tourism will bring economic prosperity to the region once again, albeit from a source unimagined by Joseph Wilkes and his backers over 200 years ago.
“Once the canal is opened and complete, London people, who know all too little of the Forest, will be able to get in a boat and come all the way up to the heart of The National Forest, that’s why its important… and I’m absolutely certain they will because they’ll realise what a wonderful stretch of water this is and it planks them right in the heart of 6 million new trees and a lot of very important features in this district.
This was an important area industrially years ago. In the second half of the 18th century, a whole industrial complex centred on Measham; a cotton mill, a brick works, many of the bricks for this canal came from there, there was one of the first banks in the district, a result of tremendous success from local enterprises. Essentially this was all down to one man, a very ordinary lad by the name of Joseph Wilkes, born in Overseal with the heart of his industrial empire in Measham.”
One day information about Wilkes might illuminate the canal side. Would Joseph Wilkes approve of the Association's aim to re-open the canal? Gerald is confident he would.
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