VOLUNTEERS are continuing their work to restore and preserve a historic canal route which once connected Hereford and Gloucester.

The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust has spent years working to bring sections of the 34-mile waterway back to life, including around Newent and Oxenhall.

The canal was developed more than 200 years ago as an ambitious transport route between the two cathedral cities, carrying goods through the area before the arrival of the railways contributed to the end of its working life.

Today, volunteers are working to protect what remains and gradually restore sections of the former route for future generations.

At Oxenhall, just outside Newent, visitors can still see traces of the old waterway and its infrastructure.

These include Oxenhall House Lock, the only surviving lock structure on the former canal, while the canal corridor can still be followed through the surrounding countryside.

The trust regularly holds volunteer work parties as part of the wider restoration project, with work ranging from vegetation clearance and maintenance to larger projects along different sections of the route.

Restoration around Newent has also helped preserve another chapter of the area's transport history.

The southern section of the canal was eventually acquired for railway development, with parts of the route later incorporated into the line between Gloucester and Ledbury.

Newent had its own railway station until passenger services ended in 1964, and although its buildings have disappeared, remains of the platforms survive.

The trust's long-term ambition is to restore a navigable canal between Hereford and Gloucester, while protecting its heritage and creating a wildlife corridor.

Its continuing work means features which could otherwise have disappeared into the landscape are being preserved, giving visitors the chance to discover Newent's largely forgotten canal history.

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