DOOMED CANALS
SIR,—As I read Mr. John Betjeman's obituary list each week I sometimes wonder if the depression he must suffer can only be borne because so many of us share it.
In February. last, under 'Doomed Canals,' he referred to the destruction of an elegant hump-backed affair being replaced by a con- crete atrocity. Alas! That was not all; the authorities, to ensure the loss of pleasure and usefulness of the Stroudwater Canal, attacked in the three vital places simultaneously. Start- , ing at the British Transport end, they effec- tively blocked the entrance by replacing the
• functional swing bridge by a low concrete slab, next the hump-backed bridge at Stone- house by a low 'carriageway,' and the final crucifixion commenced in Holy Week. I watched armies of lorries smashing for ever the mirror that had for so long reflected the charming Georgian building, for they were rapidly filling in the wide water basin and canal at Wallbridge Stroud.
It is difficult to discover what the final 'lay- out' will he, as the offices of the County Plan- ning Officer have been ignored, but it is rumoured that when the proprietors of the Stroudwater Navigation Company have con- solidated their refuse tip, they will sell off this valuable site for the erection of garages and a builder's yard.
There is one ray of hope; through this chaos a ring road is planned to enable people to get away from the Stroud valleys as quickly as possible.—Yours faithfully,
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