CANAL BRIDGES: RELICS OF THE TURNPIKE DAYS.
Page 24
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
T"canal bridge at North "Warnborough, crossing the Basingstoke and Woking Canal, which shortly after the start of the war was shored up, cannot be relied upon much longer to carry the traffic upon the main road safely.
This canal was constructed by a company, constituted by an Act passed in 1777, for the purpose of making a canal from Basingstoke to Chertsey. The canal was made, and the business of navigation was carried on with more or less success for 80 or 90 years, but in 1866 an order was made for winding up the company, and the liquidator, with the consent of the court, sold the canal to Mr. St. Aubyn in 1874. In 1878, the company was dissolved by an order of court.
There have been many changes of ownership of the canal since.
A num,ber of the bridges crossing the canal in the Woking Urban District having become unsafe, that district council in 1911 promoted a bill, which ultimately became the Woking Urban District Counc:1 (Bas;ngstoke Canal) Act. 1911, and this Act authorized the 820
district council, in default of the canal undertaking, to maintain. -the bridges, and purported to charge the cost of its so doing upon the undertaking. It was held by the Court of Appeal in 1913, in an action arising under the Act of 1911, that the company had no power to assign their undertaking to Mr. St. Auloyn in 1874; that on the dissolution of the company, the land reverted to the original grantors; that as they had made no claim to it, their right of entry had been barred by the statutes of limitations; that Mr. St. Auhyn had thus acquired the property in the canal free from any of the obligations or rights of the company; that, accordingly, the owners of the Canal, at the time of the action, were not bound to keep it up, 'nor to do repairs, and that the Act of 1911 had not imposed upon them any fresh obligations.
Reporting on the subject of the derelict bridge, the Main Roads and Bridges Committee of the Hampshire County Council says that the bridge in question is necessary for carrying the traffic on the main road, and there appears to be no alternative but for the county council to undertake its reconstruction, and the only point for the committee to consider appeared to be whether it would be of advantage, in reconstructing the bridge, to reduce its height, which would add to the convenience of persons using the highway, and to some extent reduce the cost of reconstruction.
It is, admittedly, unfortunate that the public have now to undertake the liability which should have been undertaken by the owners of the canal. It has, however, been represented to the committee that the canal, at the time it was being worked, was of considerable advantage to traders in the district; that there would be advantages to the neighbourhood if it could be resuscitated, and the committee does not think that it would be desirable, even if it should be clear that it has the power, to reconstruct the bridges with less headway than they have at the present time, as this would render the re-opening of the canal more difficult, if not altogether impracticable.
Plans and estimates for the reconstruction of the bridge are being prepared.