WALKERS in Melksham can now step back in time and follow the fascinating trail of Melksham’s former waterway.

The Wilts and Berks Canal Trust has just reproduced a popular guide showing where the local stretch once passed through the town.

Complete with illustrations based on archive images from more than a century ago, it uses public rights of way to retrace much of the original route and highlights remaining evidence such as bridge parapets and culverts.

More than 3,000 leaflets have been produced and are available from Melksham Tourist Information Centre in Church Street thanks to a £250 grant from Melksham Town Council.

The Trust hopes it will encourage residents to learn more about local history and how they can support the current restoration campaign.

Canal Trust branch chairman Rob Jones said: “When it was first published many years ago there were very few people who were aware of the canal’s existence – and even fewer who thought it would ever be restored.

“Today, however, we are steadily bringing many miles of the waterway back to life and creating new wildlife corridors, footpaths and cycle routes through the local countryside.

“A new Wilts & Berks Canal from Semington would have to take a different route through the town, most likely across open fields and then up the River Avon towards the recently restored sections near Lacock, but it would still transform Melksham’s future prospects by generating increased tourism and employment.

“Until then, we hope local people will take the time to explore some of the history of the original route.

“We are sincerely grateful for the generous support of Melksham Town Council in helping to reproduce this popular guide.”

The one-hour walk begins at the southern end of Melksham opposite the West End Inn and follows part of the old towpath behind houses and around to the site of the Spa Road Bridge, lowered in 1924, which once carried the Devizes road over the canal. Melksham Wharf was on the left and the former Maggs rope factory on the right.

It continues along alleyways to Pembroke Road and the site of the old Gallows footbridge, possibly so-called as a place of execution for sheep-stealers in the 1800s, past the Brookside residential home built directly on the line of the canal and across the embankment which carried the waterway above Clackers Brook.

The walk continues north to the junction of Sandridge Road and Forest Road where a bridge parapet is still clearly visible, and ends just beyond Methuen Avenue and the site of Melksham Forest Lock.

Further information on how to join the Melksham, Chippenham & Calne branch of the Wilts & Berks Canal Trust is available at www.melkshamwaterway.org.uk.