English Canals - Slough Canal Arm

The Slough Canal Arm in England.

Photo Guide to the Slough Arm of the Grand Union Canal in England and Walking or Cycling the Towpath.

The 5 mile long Slough Canal Arm travels in a fairly straight line from the Grand Union Canal Main Line at Cowley Peachey Junction into Slough terminating at the Stoke Poges Road. As building increased rapidly in London there was an insatiable requirement for bricks so a new brick works was built in Slough and the Arm was used to get these bricks onto the Grand Union Canal Main line and then on into London. Packet Boat Marina on the Slough Canal The Slough Arm of the Grand Union Canal The canal was also used to carry sand and gravel until these supplies were exhausted in the early 1940s.
Construction of the Arm started in 1880 and was completed right at the end of 1882 - the Arm then enjoyed continued commerical operation right up to 1960 when British Waterways took it over. They considered the canal not to be worth saving and of course along came Slough Council who wanted to do what they and so many of our councils do best - shove concrete everywhere and destroy a bit more of our English Heritage. Fortunately The Slough Canal Group was created and they fought a vigorous campaign along with the help of the Slough Observer Newspaper to keep the canal alive - this campaign was successful and the canal was re-opened in 1975.
It is interesting that the big thing these days in England is to get people out and about for some healthy exercise etc. - canals are ideal for this be it walking or cycling. You only have to see how many families and people are out on the canals on a nice Sunday afternoon to see that if the enviornment is safe, clean and accessible then areas get used. Grand Union Canal - The Slough Arm Canal Boats moored on the Slough Arm However in the case of canals the amount of money to upkeep them is in effect being reduced by this double standard Scottish Government we are blessed with in England. The result is that canal banks and towpaths are often not kept in good condition and the canal starts leaking - paths and towpaths get more and more unpassable - therefore the canals stop being used. The whole situation is quite pathetic- our old canal systems should have more money spent on them not less. But then these well payed politicians with their huge pensions, expense payed everythings and so on are quite obviously not actually interested in ENGLAND - much better to spend money on a "fact finding" 5 star trip to the Bahamas or whatever they do when they are not on holiday.

Anyway - this canal towpath is fortunately in really good condition for cyclists and walkers - there are several bridges and three very interesting aqueducts which are used to cross Fray's River, the River Colne and Colne Brook - there are no locks on the Arm apart from a barely visible sight of the original stop lock at the Grand Union end of the arm. (see the bottom left of the first picture shown below).

The canal is quite wide and did seem to have a reasonable depth of water although we have read elsewhere that it is quite silted in places. We walked the Slough Canal Arm at the end of February 2008 and it was evident that some work has been done especially on the sides where many trees has been lopped etc. Although of course in our winter the canal looked quite bare there are plenty of trees and shrubs and reeds around and one imagines it is a very green area to walk or cycle along/around once Spring arrives.

The Pictures show the route from The Main Line at Cowley Peachey Junction to the Arm's end at Slough.

Old Stoplock + Cowley Peachey Jc. Footbridge to the Marina on the Slough Canal Aqueduct over Frays River Frays River-Aqueduct Frays River with the Slough Arm crossing above
Old Stoplock + Cowley Peachey Jc. Footbridge to the Marina Frays River Aqueduct Aqueduct over Frays River Frays River with the Arm crossing above
Footbridge no.1 Slough Arm - Footbridge 1 River Colne Aqueduct The River Colne seen from the Slough Arm The River Colne with the Slough Arm crossing above it
Footbridge - 1 Footbridge - 1 River Colne Aqueduct River Colne Aqueduct The River Colne and the Arm above
Colne Brook aqueduct Slough Canal - Colne Brook Aqueduct Overflow/sluice on the Slough Canal Arm Conveyor Bridge no.2 with pipe bridges in foreground Slough Arms Conveyor Bridge no.2
Colne Brook Aqueduct Colne Brook Aqueduct Sluice by Colne Brook Conveyor Bridge 2 with Pipes Conveyor Bridge - 2
Pipe Bridges on the Slough Arm - Grand Union Canal M25 crosses the canal - no bridge design just masses of concrete M25 bridge makes its ugly way across the canal Slough Canal Bridge no 3 Canal Bridge no.3 Slough Canal
Great set of Pipe Bridges M25 ugly concrete bridge M25 bridge Canal Bridge - 3 Canal Bridge - 3
Meads Bridge no.4 Slough Arm - Meads Bridge no.4 Dismantled canal bridge no.5 Bridge no.5 (dismantled) on the Slough Arm Market Lane Bridge no.6 - Slough Canal
Meads Bridge - 4 Meads Bridge - 4 Dismantled Bridge - 5 Dismantled Bridge - 5 Market Lane Bridge - 6
Market Lane Bridge no.6 Langley Park Road Bridge no.7 Slough Canal Langley Park Road Bridge no.7 Trenches Bridge no.8 Trenches - Slough Canal - Bridge no.8
Market Lane Bridge - 6 Langley Park Roadbridge - 7 Langley Park Roadbridge - 7 Trenches Bridge - 8 Trenches Bridge - 8  
St Mary's Roadbridge no.9 Slough Canal - St Mary's Roadbridge no.9 Middle Green Roadbridge no.10 Slough Canal Arm - Middle Green Roadbridge no.10 Uxbridge Roadbridge no.11
St Mary's Roadbridge - 9 St Mary's Roadbridge - 9 Middle Green Roadbridge - 10 Middle Green Roadbridge - 10 Uxbridge Roadbridge - 11
Uxbridge Roadbridge no.11 Slough Canal - Wexham Roadbridge no.12 Wexham Roadbridge no.12 Slough Canal Arm - basin The Slough end of the Canal Arm
Uxbridge Roadbridge - 11 Wexham Roadbridge - 12 Wexham Roadbridge - 12 Slough Canal Basin End of the Slough Arm

The Slough Arm ends in Slough by the B416 Stoke Road and sadly this area in a bit of a dismal state - the small basin is scruffy and littered with rubbish and the the basin itself appears quite silted and weedy with grotty stained water. Surrounding the basin there are simply parking slots and a builders yard - when you consider for instance how the basin at Market Harborough looks then maybe the authorities at Slough have missed a trick or two in appreciating the benefits of a canal on their doorstep.

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