The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust was formed in 1962 to save the Kennet and Avon Canal which was on the verge of closure. The Trust started with campaigning and rallying of boats, and moved swiftly to physically restoring the canal. Locks were restored or rebuilt and bridges repaired. The canal was dredged, repuddled, and eventually refilled with water. In 1990, the canal was officially reopened by the Queen amid much celebration.
The Trust continues today, working to improve and enhance the green arm that stretches from Reading to Bristol. The waterway has 106 locks, six aqueducts, three tunnels, and hundreds of bridges, as well as miles of beautiful countryside and historic cities, towns and villages in between. The Trust is formed by bringing together six branches that are spread along the length of the canal, each with their own specific welcomes. These are based in Bath and Bristol, Bradford on Avon, Devizes, Crofton, Great Bedwyn, Hungerford, Newbury, and Reading. We have boat trips, a museum and pumping station – as well as numerous cafés serving breakfasts, lunches, hot drinks, and cakes – so folk can enjoy the Kennet and Avon Canal from the towpath or from the water.
Bruce Boats is our specialist fleet of hire boats that are fully accessible and wheelchair-friendly and designed for families and groups with mobility or other issues. Alongside this fleet in Great Bedwyn we have a narrowboat that is dedicated to community groups.
If you are interested in a boat trip, you can book online using our online booking system, or email bookings@katrust.org.uk. We are following the Government’s recommendations, and as a result our trip boats are running schedules that are slightly reduced from the norm, and the cafés are all taking similar appropriate precautions to keep visitors safe.
If you are interested in steam, Crofton Pumping Station has the world’s oldest working steam engine still in its original location and capable of performing its original task. You can visit on non-steaming days and get a good look at all the workings of a Georgian pumping station, or come on one of our special streaming days to see all the action.
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Crofton Beam Engines, KennetCrofton Pumping Station was built in 1807-9 to supply water to the highest point of the Kennet & Avon canal which links London and Bristol.
Bruce Accessible Boats, DevizesThe Bruce Branch of the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust offers canal holidays to disabled, disadvantaged or older people – along with their family, friends or carers. Our wheel-chair-accessible boats are based at Great Bedwyn, near Hungerford.
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