An official turf cutting was held at the Grand Western Canal on Monday (8 July) to mark the start of restoration work.
The Canal suffered a serious breach of its northern bank near the Swing Bridge at Halberton on 21 November last year, after water spilled over the top of the embankment during torrential downpours and flooding.
It is estimated that more than 16 million litres of water (the equivalent of more than 100,000 bathtubs or 6.5 Olympic swimming pools) flowed through the 23-metre wide breach onto neighbouring farmland. Emergency services spent days pumping water...
An informal evening 'Exe-pedition’ (pun intended) River Exe and canal, exploring wildlife between the DWT Headquarters at Cricklepit Mill to the amazing wetland at the Old Sludge Beds DWT nature reserve further down the river.
The whole round trip is six miles long so please bring torches and bat detectors for the dusk return leg and binoculars if you have them.
Temporary dams stemming the escape of water from the breached Grand Western Canal have been successful, after engineers worked overnight to regain control.
Approximately two miles of the canal drained through a breach in its embankment late yesterday afternoon, caused, it's suspected, by excessive rain fall.
The breach at Halberton near Tiverton is where the canal's embankment rises nearly 60 feet from surrounding fields.
Water overtopping the canal is thought to have eroded the embankment as it cascaded down, weakening its sides to an...
