Maidenhead is a mid sized town in east Berkshire, UK. It grew up on the riverside, its crossing over the River Thames becoming a focus of trade and travel from the middle ages. Changes over the years led to the main stream of the river shifting to the east of the town. The older channels that ran from the Thames at Bourne End, through Maidenhead town centre and on to rejoin the river at Bray have over the years became silted up, overgrown and in summer months dry up completely in parts, creating an eyesore and becoming a target for litter and vandalism.
The Maidenhead Waterways Restoration Group (MWRG) was established in 2006 with the aim of restoring the original waterways through the town centre to a navigable standard, bringing boats and water related amenities back into the centre of Maidenhead and stimulating much needed regeneration in that part of the town.
We are a voluntary group and registered charity, committed to working in partnership with the council, the Environment Agency and other local and national groups to progress the scheme. We have been supported to date by local sponsors such as Summerleaze Ltd and the Louis Baylis (Maidenhead Advertiser) Charitable Trust, whose help and support we greatly appreciate. Implementation of the full project is dependant on achieving grant funding from sources such as the Lottery Heritage Fund and we are also seeking further commercial sponsorship and co-funding to help make the project a reality.
The present channel from York Road south is in an extremely poor condition, overgrown and neglected, with at best a stream depth of 9-12". In summer months even this often disappears altogether and the bed simply becomes a mess of overgrown reeds, nettles and accumulated debris. The neglected stream attracts litter and vandalism, the attention of local drunks and worse. Ramblers and cyclists following the designated Green Way route through the town are discouraged from lingering and residents could not picnic on the streamside banks if they wanted, because of the nettles and brambles that dominate much of the area.
Our vision is that the restoration of the waterway will resolve once and for all the problems of York Stream drying up, with a raised and stable water level of navigable depth, achieved by a combination of dredging and the installation of at least one lock and weir. The restoration of the waterways through the town centre would we believe act as a catalyst for other much needed improvements in the area. The area near Chapel Arches below Bridge Street could easily accomodate day moorings for smaller boats to visit, with sufficient open space there to create family friendly gardens and boating related facilities right in the heart of the town.
Redevelopment of the adjoining derelict former cinema site would be encouraged by the waterways scheme and would ideally complement the water based amenities we hope to attract.
The flood plain area between Maidenhead and Bourne End contains the remains of many former waterways, each with its own history. In Regency times the channel that ran through Maidenhead was known as "The Canal" and used for commercial navigation. The use of The Canal for transporting timber and other materials continued right up to the 1940s.
The existing channel runs around Marsh Mead, Cookham, passing under Pre Bridge on The Causeway at Cookham Moor where the stream becomes The Fleet River, flowing into Strand Water. Today Maidenhead Ditch takes some water south to the region of Spencers Farm earthworks (by North Maidenhead Cricket Field), though the old canal went down the east side of West Mead and past the field called Dry Wells or "Dre Gwelli", meaning "The Unloading or Wharf House". The old timbers of a wharf were discovered there by Summerleaze during gravel extraction and it was this that led to Peter Prior first considering the possibility of restoring the former waterways.
Above Town Moor the streams meet then split again into the two channels that run through Maidenhead town centre. The western channel, York Stream, flows under the Collonade and Chapel Arches near the Bear Hotel. The eastern channel was developed in the 1960s into a flood relief ditch which in non-flood conditions remains a shallow dry grassy ditch. It passes under St Cloud Way and the ballustraded Moor Arches bridge, then runs behind Waitrose and under the railway line until the two channels rejoin near Green Lane. The waterway continues southwards as The Cut and passes under The Causeway bridge at Bray, rejoining The Thames by Bray Marina.
Widbrook was an essential part of the original flash lock system, as it took "flashes" from Strand Water back to the river Thames. It also let in water to fill the reach through North Town when the weir by Cordwallis Farm had been opened and closed again. The creation of the Jubilee River by the Environment Agency to the East of the main River Thames (to remove flood risks to the town) has rendered the flood relief ditch largely redundant. Our favoured option is for the flood relief ditch to be incorporated into the restored waterways, creating a circular route around the centre of the town.
Restoring the complete waterway will be a major undertaking and it is planned to split the work into two phases. Phase 1 will involve upgrading the channel from Bray Marina up to Town Moor, just behind the Police Station where a substantial terminus, mooring and turning point could easily be accommodated. This stage of the works will have the biggest impact on and benefit to Maidenhead, bringing boats and water based facilities right into the heart of the town. As we are planning to restore an existing channel (albeit neglected and silted up) the works will mainly involve dredging to deepen the waterway to navigable standard, plus the installation of at least one permanent lock and weir to raise and stabilise water levels. Depending on the final navigation standard adopted, some bridge adaptations will be needed where headroom is insufficient to allow boats to pass freely.
Phase 2 of the scheme would extend the waterway through the North of Maidenhead to join the River Thames near Cliveden Reach. The original canal started at Bourne End Reach, but by taking the restored channel along Widbrook to Cliveden Reach, we hope to avoid the need for a further lock. It will still be necessary to increase the flow of water from Bourne End Reach across Cookham Moor and down Strand Water, to offset recent losses from pumping and blockage of ground water flows, so that the new lock or locks can operate properly. This part of the project will be more costly due to the amount of bridge works involved, as some of the more modern structures there were built over the channel only after it had become disused for navigation.
Most of what you need to know about MWRG and the Maidenhead River Project will hopefully be found here on the web site and its related links. If you share our vision of restoring the waterways through Maidenhead town centre, and resolving once and for all the problems with York Stream, please join us now so that we can keep you informed.
We are also looking for further sponsors of the group, who might be able to help with our running costs or provide volunteer labour to help progress the scheme through the public grant and implementation stages. If you work for or know any local companies who might be willing to help with sponsorship, or if you have any other query about the waterways project, please let us know via the 'Contact Us' page.
TURNING AN EYESORE 
HISTORY
