Canal Walk: Bude Canal

We parked in the big pay and display car park by the beach in Bude. It was a very hot and sunny day. The beach was busy with tourists, the sea full of swimmers and surfers, and the sea lock was surrounded by people fishing for crabs and enjoying one of our unpredictable days of sunshine.

We walked up to Falcon Bridge and went to the Canal Information Centre. I bought a walking guide there for £2.99. It has walks along the canal and around the surrounding area. The centre has displays about the canal and is worth a quick visit.

We then went back to the towpath and walked up to the locks. Both locks on the barge canal have been refurbished in the last year. The stone work has been repaired and replaced. New gates have been put on and new winding gear added. Its great to see such an acheivement but what use is it without at least one boat to use them?

Just before Rodds Bridge there is a one mile cast iron mile post. Its nice to see it still in place, the 2 mile post also survives.

Past the bridges we soon arrived at Hele Bridge which unsurprisingly has some bridges. After a short stretch of canal, which has some surviving canal buildings along side it, we reached the end of the the line. This is the end of the barge canal. From here only the trains of small tub boats would continue. They went from the canal up to Marhamchurch via an incline plane.

There is a short section of the plane that has been cleared to give you an idea of what it looked like. Maybe it can be restored at some point. We walked up the hill to Marhamchurch and visited the church. St. Morwenna's is a very nice 14th or 15th century church with a distinctive floor. After the church we went to the pub and had a pint and a packet of crisps.

After the pub we went back down to the canal and headed back to Bude. We detoured from the towpath and took a path through the community woodland to the coast path. Unfortunately it is more of a insect infested swamp than woodland and we were eaten alive by huge flies. At the coast you get great views along the cliffs and of the geology down on the beach.

Back at Bude we had just enough time to get back to the car before the time was up.

More photos of the Bude canal

Canal Walk: Bude Canal

The weather forecast for today was bad but we decided to drive to Bude anyway. We parked near the beach in a pay and display car park. The rain never stopped but did ease off enough to tempt us out of the car. There are what look like WW2 concrete defences around the edge of the carpark along the sand dunes. We walked over the sandy beach to the River Neet and the canal's Sea Lock. There were people surfing in the sea, the bay is sheltered by a break water, part of the original canal plan. Bude has some of the worst sea water quality in the UK.The lock gates on the sea lock are huge. Despite this one had become dislodged during a storm recently and had to be rehung. A shotgun was one of the items recovered while the canal was drained to do this. The locks stonework is very solid. The mooring rings look like they have been gven steroids too. Everything looks like a regular canal lock but on a larger scale. Along side the lock is a slope down to the beach via a small bridge over the River Neet. On the slope are the remains of a railway. Sand was brought up from the beach on the railway on horse drawn wagons. It was then tipped into barges to be taken inland by canal to be used as manure on the fields.

There are quite a few boats in the lower wharf including some rowboats and pedalos for hire. Pleasure boating on the Bude Canal has been popular for over 100 years. Maybe next time we will explore the canal by boat, weather permitting.The first bridge we came to was Falcon Bridge next to the Falcon Inn. The bridge replaces a large swing bridge. There isnt much headroom under the bridge which stops most boats entering the upper wharf and using the barge canal beyond. Next to Falcon Bridge is the old lifeboat house, now a private home. Nearby is a converted canal warehouse, now apartments.There were lots of dogs walkers braving the rain on the towpath. We had decided to just walk the first mile of the barge canal but we didnt even make it that far. The towpath was closed off and there was no way around. Defeated by the Bude Canal we walked back through the nature reserve which borders the canal. There were some ducks, a heron and a cormorant drying its wings on a rooftop. At the lower wharf there is a heritage centre which has some expenisve books and guides to the Bude Canal. Back at the sea lock the rain was getting worse so we went back to the car.Hopefully next time the sun will be shining and the towpath open.