We farm alongside the river at Ringwood, and I have always suspected that many of the navigation works were lost or altered for the construction of the water meadows in the 18th /19th centuries. The Norden map of Ringwood from 1580 shows water meadow systems in action, but they really took off over the next 250 years before falling into disuse due to mechanization and the requirement for intensive labour. A flooded meadow could produce much earlier spring grass and give a commercial edge to the livestock farmers in the valley in the days before chemical fertilizers. However the works involved in the construction of channels and runnels was enormous and needed a serious investment from the landowners although the rent could be doubled. I always suspected they used the King Stream above Ringwood for navigation as it bypasses the mill streams and re-enters the river further up. It was certainly shown on the 1580 map with a "water gate" half way down its length.

The chapel you walked past has a bit of history. The estate it is part of is Trafalgar House, which was gifted to the brother of Horatio Nelson for service his brother gave to the country. Horatio's brother assumed the title of Viscount Nelson and the graveyard if full of his decedents

Hi Both, New subscriber here. One of the best things about KZfaq is finding gems like your channel. Love the content ,your enthusiasm and photography skills , so much so that I binge watched almost your entire previous videos the other day....Great Find.....

Another beautifully made film. Thank you for the care and trouble you take producing these very interesting short films. They are all of great quality. The photography is excellent and the incidental music always matches the images. Superb editing! Also, thanks for all the informative research that you undertake. Above all, however, I enjoy your genuine, natural and humourous personalities.

The Hampshire Avon only ends in Dorset because someone nicked Bournemouth from Hampshire

Love your channel! I'm so envious of the walkways of the UK. Until I can try them out for myself, I'll just tune in and "walk" with you. Cheers from Ohio U.S.

seeing Paul enjoying stiles is fun, he must enjoy the different kinds of things that protect the animals from leaving while giving public access.

Rebecca clearly knows that cows are female! Paul should listen to her more!

my sunday is now complete........my thanks ......

I think y'all need to bring a marked plumb line for measuring river/cut depths. :) But that would lead to Paul and/or Rebecca gathering an entire kit of vintage surveying tools...

Thanks Paul and Rebecca, I did enjoy that!

Good call with the cows Rebecca!! Any animal in the field with young needs a wide berth. As a country man myself, I've dodged may cows, sheep and sometimes horses, although that is very rare. Thanks both for another interesting and informative vid 😁

Sure, you wanted to give us more information, but don’t worry. As usual it was a fun, enjoyable, informative, professional video. Keep up the good work folks. Your fans want more, more, more!😌

Not living in England anymore, I now find myself fascinated by the history you discover and that I never knew existed. An example is in a video you did of the railway track between Yelverton and Tavistock on the edge of Dartmoor. Never knew it existed and i spent the first 30 years of my life there! Asked my father who lives on Yelverton roundabout and from Halfway House at Grenofen, even he didnt know it existed. Well Done You Guys!!!

That bridge over the weir looks great.

Very idyllic bits of countryside, with not a human in sight. Cool dress, Rebecca! 👌

Back in early sixties we were told that a lot of inland rivers were used to shift stuff before canals came along. (Colne, Stour for eg).

Another interesting and enjoyable video, thank you. I look forward to seeing next week's installment.

Thank you! Love these explorations of historical traces in the countryside. Can really see how dry it is ithough.

Come to the John Clare house near Peterborough sometime Paul and Rebecca. A real eye-opener to the time before the railways - John Clare himself never travelled on a train until he died! It gives you some idea of the scale of changes over the last two centuries.

Yes love your videos you put so much work into these thanks. Chris

Great scenery none-the-less. Thanks to you both for putting out content that is always interesting.

My family are from Charlton All Saints and I hve spent many good times visiting my gran there in the summer and used to swim in the Avon before the waterfalls and the mill. The old chapple is part of the Trafalgar Park estate and the chapple was abandonded and we used to be able to go in to it and expore. Many good times. The church in Charlton is our family church and many family members are in the graveyard

You mentioned the River Ebble, also known as the Ebbesbourne ... and the source (where it wakes up) is in the village of Ebbesbourne Wake in Wiltshire, which was where my family came from for hundreds of years!

Loved this one. Beautiful countryside and a very worthy effort to make sense of the attempts to make the Avon navigable. On a nostalgic note I used to go to that boathouse as a young sea scout and Britford village hall was the scene of many a wild night!

The river and canal mix reminded me that I happened across the Torrington/Rolle river/canal recently. I was cycling the Tarka Trail when inclines, aquaducts and a derelict sea lock appeared. Fascinating mix of industrial herirtage. Another great vlog from you two.

Very interesting. Thank you.

brilliant

This was,a really interesting video...Thank you. The countryside looked lovely if very dry and I envied Rebecca walking through that corn! Your interest and enthusiam is infectious both of you. Thank you

Another extremely interesting video. I am trying to look up to see if a pound lock is different from hat I know as a lock. The quality of your work is excellent. Something to look forward to on Sunday afternoons.

Never seen a pitch fork used a gate before myself but reminds me of a portcullis from a castle and cannot think of a corny joke when Rebecca was going through the corn but still a lovely good video.

Appreciated this. I’ve been suggesting restoring the navigation to bcp council. Due to lack of sustainable housing options. There supposed to be a pound lock a sopley mill. Reputably an archeological study was done on it. In the last 20 years.I believe i was a combined effort from a number of universities from across Dorset. It was complete as far as im aware. There was 7 or 9 locks in total from what I looked up. There a website that does give the location of all off them. I’d be hard pressed to remember the exact website. If I recall correctly? Sopley and ringwood had the first two. Remember reading they had issues with maintaining the water level in the summer months. Was one of the reasons it didn’t last long. The pound lock at sopley was brick lined. From what I recall. It been years since I was able to find a photo. Must of been in my 20s the last time I found it. So don’t fret or be disheartened. Might need a little more research. It did however mention on the website that many of the lost lock were located near mills. 3 were destroyed completely due to the mills being remodelled. Those were north of ringwood. The ringwood lock if I recall? was somewhere near the motorway. Memory alittle hazy but should give you a little more information to get to grips with. I’d see if any of the local councils hold records. Even see if there some old land registry documents. Happy hunting.

The novel 'Sarum' by Edward Rutherfurd and also Ken Follett's mighty series 'Pillars of the Earth' make many references to boat traffic on the Avon. Maybe in olden days there was more water in it (more rainfall and less abstraction by water companies?). Well researched books, if you have the time to read them.

Thanks for sharing.

'The First Cut Won't Hurt At All', keeps singing in my mind. 😄

The old scooter is definitely proof of a ' navigation ' . In a document written by Charles 1( a keen archer ) to Prince Rupert in the British Library ,he states ' we must use the navigation to scoot the musketeers in barques ( barges ) south toward Portsmouth to protect the arms shipment arriving from the Low Countries '......... No not really , but nice dress , Paul should wear a matching one !

Another interesting video. Come to Scotland to see the Antonine Wall. No gates or signs with barbed wire either.

Very interesting...

The visual jokes like Paul running off in the wrong direction are so... hearty! Watching as it's carefully shown throughout several camera switches is so much fun!

Don’t forget, an ideal “navigation” has very little engineering as it is simply the river as it is, perhaps with some dredging and maybe a bit of straightening. Man-made “cuts” (canals) are limited only to where absolutely necessary, particularly to get around weirs. Check out the Bristol Avon navigation west of Bath and you will see that 95% of it is just the natural river; little to see. However, some navigations had more than their fair share of canal sections to get around awkward bits (such as immediately south of Salisbury), but that is not the ideal solution. Therefore, one possible reason that you didn’t see anything is because there is nothing to see; the river itself forming the major part of the “navigation”.

hello again Paul and Rebecca , thank you for another very interesting video guys , really well done 😊

Lots & Lots of water ways!!! 😉🚂🚂🚂

Great stuff as usual and still very interesting. I've walked through fields of cows in the past (Melbury Beacon last time) but I don't think I'd take the chance again.

Hi P & R. If you ever want to explore the Arun navigation (South to the sea from the end of the end of the Wey and Arun canal) can I suggest hiring a canoe / kayak in Pulborough; there's a couple of places there and may may a slightly different video.

Who cares that you couldn’t quite find what you were looking for. With the research that you do and an OS map on your phone you both still produce an interesting video. Thanks. Looking forward to next weeks.

Loved that thanks guys. What a gorgeous area. Looking at water is always good. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe and take care

👍👍👍👍thank you.😁😇

The private sign has barbed wire on it to stop animals rubbing/knocking it over as they will want to scratch/rub themselves on it. Normally signs are on firm fencing etc but for some reason not in this case. I doubt the wire wrapped around the top of the gate is to avoid similar issues though.

I do enjoy your docu-films, thanks ever so much for making them 🙂

Very enjoyable video, which demonstrates that even if you do not entirely achieve your objective, you can still discover much of interest along the way. i wonder if the various water/river authorities keep records, e.g. for water management purposes.

It was a lovely video, dont be too dissapointed in not finding more parts of the canal. Some great comments explaning the history of the chapel and other parts of the navigation. Good luck from Spain!!

Great explore. Beautiful scenery. Loved the waters and mill waters. Thank you for all your research on the Avon. Very interesting. Ps I’m sure barbed wire is banned up here.

Great work Paul & Rebecca, thanks & best wishes passed.

I like your clear and understandable explanations of history and its context in today's world. Academia can keep its reliance on exact dates and the need for corroborating evidence, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it ain't there.

I thought they were on proper holiday! 😉 Happy Bank Holiday Whitewick audience! M 'Adgy' D =

Loved it

P&R - Good idea to keep away from those cows chums ! I feel for you re the Privacy signs Paul, come up to Scotland for far less nonsense exploring, with Right to roam. Thanks again for another great film ! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Some you win as they say. Interesting story none the less and great to see the relics you did find. Thanks.

Great video, top job! Oh, and I definitely also would have walked down those corn rows, too. 😊

Just seen this. When you were saying that channel looked too long and wide, even though it seemed straight, I was thinking "for what?". If you compared it to (say) the River Lee it does not look that big. OK I'm not sure how wide the River Lee was at that point compared to now, but you get the idea. Similarly the Wey, although not sure if that was a little later. Key thing to know, if it were documented, would be the type of boats they would expect to handle / the dimensions of any locks. That would give you a clue as to what to look for. I think it would be somewhat wider than standard "narrow" canals.

Rebecca walking through a field of corn, that's almost as naughty as Theresa May in a field of wheat! 😆

There is a book about salisbury called "Endless St by John chandler" Amazing book that tells about efforts to build a canal etc and railways

Another enjoyable video, thank you.

Let Rebecca and Paul take you by the hand and show you sites you have never seen before, beautiful video. Regards. Ron in Philippines.

I’m way up on the north end of that route…near Devizes.

How long before we see videos on unusual stiles??? Loving the ones in this video, especially the dog one!

Love you guys...

Rebecca😀😀😀😀😀

Great video as ever. Have you investigated the Itchen Navigation? It’s a beautiful walk, deserted locks, vanished mills, Iron Age hill forts and a mystery worthy of the Whitewick super sleuths. Nobody knows who owns the rights to navigate the navigation. It was bought by a South African shell company that has long vanished. Is there an opportunity for a community lead Compulsory Purchase?

Great video - as a couple of the other locals have responded, I suspect that most of what you’ve found was repurposed for the extensive system of watermeadows. The Victorian metalwork on the sluices certainly looks like that left around my meadows just west of Salisbury. Keep up the great work.

Your videos are always fantastic

Yes.

Have to say Rebecca you are looking smoking in that dress

@ 6.50, well called Rebecca. cows are mostly peaceful creatures, but when they have their calves with them they can be VERY protective/vicious.

If you come to Lewes I will show you where the river Ouse at one point became a canal.. Then back again..

Amazing.

Brilliant video as always. :)

1677, yes... well the 1660's were the height of the Black Death in England so it stands to reason that labour, and particularly travelling labour, may have been in short supply? There were several outbreaks after that so it would be interesting to see if the dates where things 'fell out of use' also coincided with those...

You gave yourselves a difficult task in this one, but congratulations on the bits you did put together.

Rebecca, unless you are with a dog, cows will just stand there and watch you walk past. I've never been bothered by cattle whenever I've encountered them. If I've got too close they've just moved away.

Interesting walk and I noticed the dry conditions and I'm thinking without a steady supply of water the canal would have had problems in dry spells. The chalk underlayment would have allowed ground water to drain downward rather then run off into streams. The other problem is the lack of connection to large population centers, and the traffic of goods and people that would make it profitable. The same problem is what made so many English railroads fail> the lack of traffic versus the rail and canal lines that connected London to the other big cities.

The railway from Denton outside of Gravesend to Strood was once a canal that was filled in and repurposed as the railway we know today. What they didn't factor in is the constant attack by water the line suffers especially the Higham tunnels where trains are literally reduced to a crawl lest they bring the whole lot caving in as its all very soft chalk. Network Rail are looking at solutions where the canal tunnels are relined with thick concrete, massive drains to empty into the Medway and even running a new bridge to the left of Strood station across the Medway to splice into the Chatham main line to remove the second snarl up on the climb from Strood station to Rochester.

Near Fordingbridge there is an old house which incorporates ship timbers. The story goes that the vessel was taken upstream and dismantled to salvage materials.

Navigations fascinate me - there are so many of them - in Southern England anyway. The first few miles of the River Leven in Kinross-shire/Fife is also canalised for reasons I've never quite managed to determine, as it has Loch Leven at one end and then becomes ordinary river at Auchmuirbridge, which is basically in the middle of nowhere! Maybe you guys could take a look next time you're in Scotland - perhaps with a drive along the bulk of what was the Monklands Canal and a train ride over the Paisley and Aberdeenshire Canals? Well, assuming the railways are still open once the electricity prices go up, that is...

Ah-ha! This explains the land near where I used to live that Dad referred to as "the cut fields" - it took you to the River Lea Navigation (1771) (Dad's not that old though). [insert obligatory "when are you going to explore there?" plea here].

Bike or scooter in water, definitely a canal then.

When you were first talking about the canal you said "Or" and I automatically though "Cut" instead of navigation. However I was thinking of the street market by Waterloo Station. Any connection there with a canal? If so have you done a video about that I have missed.

In East Sussex the River Ouse that runs through Lewes to Newhaven was turn into a canal many years ago or so I'm was told and so small ship could sale up the river, but how did they turn round to go back?

Apparently it's been discovered that Roman concrete is still hardening today!

Scooter in the water @ 5:01

Very interesting - could some of the navigation been flooded over the years and destroyed by the river in full spate?

You say it's to big to be a cut, but you've seen the new cut (Avon) in Bristol? It's huge and man made.

Have to be careful not to let go of that gate at the wrong time

The barbed wire did or does seem a bit agressive/extreme but saying that, very interesting video - learning a lot of new things with your videos. Shame people or companies have to fill in rivers, canals, bridges and other places of interest.

Very interesting. Your comments near the end about the introduction of tolls leaves me wondering whether the introduction of tolls caused the demise of the canal or whether it just came naturally through traffic declining anyway?

Cows and chickens, are best friends. Watch some of the cartoons. You will see, Rebeca. It’s alright.

Paul seems to revel in getting his leg over a good stile. For really obscure features I've often found the old Bing Maps bird's -eye views from the 4 angles can show up stuff. Be it from grass colour or grazing low angle light there's often some useful stuff to be gleaned. The geo-referenced 6" and 25" stuff on NLS is a boon but I always manage to find that the point is in a sheet edge or just off! Now, if NLS added a LIDAR layer...

Will we see you making a canoe trip?

Shame it fell out of use so fast and no chance of it being reopened as I’d love a canal down this way! 😊

Wow, that field of corn is wilted at a nearly full loss. I was curious as to what you called the new world grain