An ambitious scheme could one day put the wharf back into Old Wharf Road and regenerate a depressed part of Grantham.
Development of the former Grantham Canal Basin is part of the Three Shires Project that aims to reopen the canal throughout its length, from the Trent to the centre of town near the district council rubbish tip on Alexandra Road.
The canal taken from the bridge at Trent Road.
Owned and maintained by British Waterways, the 200-year-old Grantham Canal is capable of carrying large cruisers on its pretty route through the Vale of Belvoir.
It closed to navigation in 1929 when the railway became established between Grantham and Nottingham, but since 1990 a quarter of its 33 miles has been restored, at a cost of £5 million.
Now Government strategy to improve rivers and restore canals has encouraged the Grantham Navigation Association to increase its profile and lobby bodies such as the East Midlands Development Agency and the EU for funds.
The major challenges are:
At the Nottingham end, the loss of the link to the Trent by the 1970s roadworks at Lady Bay.
The replacement of 18 road bridges.
The severance of the final mile to Grantham by the A1 bypass embankment and the infilling of the basin.
The Straddle warehouse at the top of the Grantham Canal basin at the turn of the last century.
Problems at the Nottingham end could be solved by developing the water sports area at Holme Pierrepont to link the canal to the Trent, while most of the road bridges could be raised with a tunnel.
The idea is to tunnel through where the canal has been filled in at the A1 embankment near Swingbridge Road.
If that is achieved, the opportunity to develop the 20-acre brown field site around the former Grantham Canal Basin – within a mile of the town centre and the station – becomes a realistic proposition.
The canal itself is recognised as a national waterways priority but the added benefits of developing the basin are:
Generation of employment, economic and social returns from prime-located but semi-derelict land.
Pressure taken off green belt land for housing.
Boost to employment.
Grantham put on the map as a centre for tourism and leisure.
Help to establish the town as a sub-regional centre.
South Kesteven District Council is identifying and entering into initial talks with the 10 other landowners who would be affected by reopening the final mile and the basin.
Restoration of the canal would cost about £30 million – a feasibility study alone would cost £1 million – but the Grantham Canal Restoration Society, now chaired by Tony Wilkinson of Wilkinsons stores, says the time is right to press for support.
Navigation Association chairman David Lyneham-Brown said: "One by one the lights are turning green but a major injection of resources is required to enable full restoration of navigation.
"The Three Shires Project is a wake-up call to all in the East Midlands to demand the resources and attention that the region deserves and that could revolutionise its wealth, facilities and status.
"The potential for the Grantham Basin is enormous and the rest of the canal does not have to be navigable to make it happen. It seems Grantham may not fully appreciate just what a jewel it has there."
