We are the Guardians of the Basingstoke Canal.

The Basingstoke Canal Society

3 days ago

With the long hot summer and low rainfall horse chestnut trees have ripened their seeds early. These seeds are called conkers. Conkers are the shiny brown seeds of the horse chestnut tree, and offer a variety of autumnal games for children and adults ranging from traditional combat to creative crafts. You will find lots of trees along the towpath and in surrounding woodlands and fields , just look up.

The Traditional Conker Tournament:The classic game involves two players threading a conker onto a string and taking turns swinging it to crack the opponent’s conker. Players can accumulate "scores" (e.g., a "two-er" breaks a conker that has already broken one other), with the winner being the last conker standing.Send us your messages of how many conkers you've found recently. ... See MoreSee Less

The Basingstoke Canal Society

5 days ago

The Basingstoke Canal is such a wonderful place to walk and enjoy the tranquility of being beside the water.

There is 32 miles of towpath to enjoy from Byfleet at the eastern end to Greywell Tunnel at the western end as well as a short section on the other side of the tunnel.

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The Basingstoke Canal Society

5 days ago

🎶Hi ho, hi ho its off to work they go 🎶

The Tuesday Volunteer group are so happy to be heading off to another section of the towpath & completing the summer cut.

This is not just a tidy up of the towpath but also checking for animal habitats and making sure they disturb as little as possible whilst cutting back plants and trees in specific, controlled ways which lets more sunlight in and creates diverse micro-habitats that boost local wildlife.

By piling up clippings and logs & adding a base of leaves it can attract hedgehogs, frogs, and toads looking for food and cover.
Ragged pruning of tree branches mimics storm damage on selected older trees by creating jagged, broken branch ends that naturally encourage fungal decay and then safer nesting hollows.
Creating woodland scallops by cutting wavy, D-shaped indentations along the sunny edges of the towpath creates sheltered thickets and warm micro-climates for insects.

The Waterways Rangers attend each session with the volunteers to ensure that this active management is done responsibly & making sure they conserve the special features of the canal & its SSSi status.

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The Basingstoke Canal Society is with John Pinkerton Canal Cruises.

7 days ago

Did you know that these colourful objects are traditionally known as canal boat art or folk art, and is sometimes referred to as 'Roses & Castles'.

The title is somewhat misleading; although both roses and castles feature in the designs, so too do a number of other flowers (sometimes real, sometimes imaginary), cottages, churches, rivers and lakes - anything in fact that could be part of a romantic landscape.

This vibrant English folk art began appearing on working narrowboats & barges in the 19th century.

Bargees or Boaters ( the owners of the vessel) painted almost every surface, including the cabin doors, the horse harnesses, kitchenware, and everyday utility items like buckets, teapots, jugs and seats.

Using bright enamel paint colours such as red, chrome yellow, French blue, green, and black & white hand painting the design meant lots of variety and styles

Here are some of our very own versions on the John Pinkerton canal barge, aren't they colourful?

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