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THE BASINGSTOKE CANAL - BEYOND GREYWELL

M3 MOTORWAY SECTION

The M3 - Greywell Road Bridge

Above: Greywell Road, at its crossing over the M3, parallels the canal's route, as the former route also turned to the M3. The trees on the right indicate the canal's route. The view below of the traffic thundering along the M3 illustrates clearly the alignment as explained above. The lorry on the right indicates the canal's route as it came out of the trees, and the van on the left (car overtaking it) is on the canal's alignment where it then began to curve towards the photographer. The centre of the eastbound carriageway is approximately where the canal's southern boundary lay as it progressed towards the footbridge.

View looking east to Greywell Road bridge

Another view of the M3, again from Greywell Road Bridge - the Basingstoke Canal ran along the right side of the motorway - the flat land where the two fences lie being part of the former canal route, although the M3 took up a larger part of the canal's alignment. The footbridge in the distance gives a good view of the canal's alignment as it passed along here and back across the M3 towards the trees on the far left, before making a great sweep round to the right and back across the M3, passing behind the buildings seen amongst the trees near the top right of the picture. The smaller picture on the left shows for comparision roughly where the towpath was, the canal itself being to the left and so its centre is more or less akin to the motorway's boundary as marked by the fence alongside it.

    

This view, below, shows the former canal route, tell tale signs being the flatter part of the fields immediately adjacent to the motorway, although the M3 at this point encroached on part of the canal's alignment. The pole indicates roughly the centre of the canal's alignment and in the distance is Greywell Road Bridge.

The north end of the footbridge stands on the canal's alignment, as seen here in the view below. The photographer is standing on what was the northern side of the canal's boundary, and the slight, but detectable footpath, as it curves gently to the left towards the larger tree in the middle of the photograph, indicates the former canal's route, marking approximately the former towpath.

From the footbridge itself, the canal came from the bottom right hand corner, and about where the centre of the picture was, there was a footbridge carrying a local path across the canal. The present M3 footbridge is a replacement for that obliterated crossing over the canal. As previously mentioned, the Basingstoke Canal went across the route of the M3 to the large trees on the left, making a large sweep round thence back across the motorway and back across as it twisted and turned towards Basingstoke. Out of the picture, on the right, is The Hatch and Basing village. The smaller picture, of a slightly different perspective, is an attempt to indicate how the canal's alignment ran as it swept round from this viewpoint towards Basing (which is out of sight to the right.) It proved difficult to make the best representation possible without creating great distortion. Following the red dotted line into the distance, the canal formed a loop whose southernmost point was the clump of trees on the far side of the M3 It then swept round behind the buildings and caravans visible in the larger picture. This series of pictures show clearly how the canal's course was cut through, not once but three times and the eastbound carriageway uses as substantial part of the canal's alignment between the footbridge and Greywell Road bridge.

    

THE LOST ROUTE FROM GREYWELL TO BASINGSTOKE:
Lost Section - Introduction    Over Greywell Hill    Greywell - Brickworks Arm    Brickworks Arm - Penny Br    Penny Bridge - Little Tunnel    Frog Lane - M3    M3 Motorway Section    M3 - Church Lane (Basing)    Church Lane - Crown Lane    Basing House    Redbridge La - Swing Br Cottages    The Loop - Ringway East    Eastrop Way - Basingstoke