Route and Itinerary Decker Hill Barbridge Warehouse Bunbury School The Old Rectory and Beeston Station Haughton Hall Green Cottage The Canal Related Posts
Part of a series of posts in which I explore some of the fascinating travel journals which have lain previously unread in the archives as well as my own travel journals which reflect those of my fellow travellers of times gone by. Come with me as I travel beyond the stores and out into the wilds...
Having read through The Log of the Gnat I am keen to try and find out more about any specific places mentioned in it. I want to find out more about these places at the time of their journey but I am also keen to find out what might remain of these places now.
I can't help but feel a swell of excitement to discover that a particular property or structure mentioned might still be identifiable today. The possibility of being able to strip away the veil of time and almost physically reach out and touch my fellow canoeists, dissolving the hundred and fifty six years which lay between us, brings a real sense of anticipation and excitement!
Robin has been keen from the start to recreate the journey of our nineteenth-century canoeists. This would be much easier and more appealing than trying to retrace the Great Malvern to Crewe Tramp that also took place in 1867 (see Journeys past and present: musings of an archivist). For that journey they walked along roads, and whilst that may have been fine back in 1867 with only the occasional passing carriage, the experience would certainly be a wholly different one today, with most of the roads they went on now being busy highways.
Whilst the Shropshire Union Canal may well be rather busy with tourist traffic at peak times, that in itself underlines the fact that the route our canoeists took back in 1867 is still likely to be a very agreeable journey to undertake. It would certainly be no problem at all to follow. Robin had it in mind for me to provide support by being the pick-up driver to help avoid the logistical challenges which inevitably accompany canoes trips. I was happy to help out that way for his recent expedition canoeing along the Llangollen canal, dropping off at Llangollen and collecting from Whitchurch a couple of days' later. I have made it clear however that that role, undertaken no doubt by the servants of the house back in 1867, is not the one for me this time!
There is no way I am going to miss the opportunity to recreate the journey recounted in the Log of the Gnat. I am the archivist after all, and the Log of the Gnat is my discovery! Robin seems to have a bit of an aversion to return journeys, which I can understand to some extent but, as stated in the Log "The difference in going one way & then the other was very marked" and for that very reason, as well as the fact that they themselves did the journey both ways, I have no real problem with this. It is a canal and not a river after all, so not necessarily the one way journey often imposed by the strength of the flow.
We had the same dilemma recently when contemplating canoeing the Caledonian Canal from one side of Scotland to the other. Although we would still like to undertake this sometime, the fact that it is a one way journey is no doubt one of the reasons we did the Loch Sheil Loop instead, although it is also more remote which was certainly part of its appeal.
It would definitely make it easier if we recreated the full journey as described in the log, going both out and back again along the canal. We didn't necessarily feel the need to undertake a day trip to Rhyl by train at the far end like they did though! Hmm, well, we'll have to see...
Of course, we don't have the connections they did, enabling them to store their canoes in warehouses along the way and stay with family at Haughton Hall. Our accommodation of choice is usually camping, especially for expeditions such as this, so even the prospect of taking lodgings in Market Drayton as they did is not particularly appealing to us. Well, maybe I should at least check out the options there, but then where would we leave our canoe?
Anyway, before we get down to working out the logistics of recreating their journey, let's see what we can find out about the places William remarked upon along the way.
Route and Itinerary
The canoes were launched into the Shropshire Union Canal at Gnosall which they were to follow all the way to Haughton, about thirty miles away, and on to Bunbury. First they had to get themselves and the canoes to Gnosall from the family home at Decker Hill which is recorded in the log as being “6-7 miles by carriage”.
I found it useful to create a brief summary or timeline of the six days they spent on their trip, which took place between the 19th and the 24th August 1867:
MONDAY
Decker Hill: canoes and crew taken by carriage to Gnosall Bridge
Gnosall Bridge: launched and waved off from bridge Lunch on bank
Victoria Wharf: took canoes out Market Drayton: found food and lodgings
TUESDAY Left early after breakfast
[Adderley locks]: two sets of locks [Audlem locks]: made 20 locks total [Hack Green locks]: two locks with glimpse of Nantwich Church (about noon)
Lunch: ate pies bought at Market Drayton Nantwich Aqueduct then warehouse and town (for shopping and sodas)
Hulstone reservoir: continued past (former fishing excursions) Barbridge warehouse: stored canoes on cheeses
Haughton Hall: walked over fields to get there
Green Cottage: William and Alfred stayed there
WEDNESDAY
Bunbury Locks: by canoe (stores left at warehouse)
Bunbury School: drove there from canal
Haughton: returned there for the night
THURSDAY Day trip to Rhyl by train
Old Rectory: called on way to station
Beeston station: caught train to Rhyl Haughton wasps nests
FRIDAY
Haughton: walked to warehouse and launched canoes Aqueduct: farewells from Haughton party Pair of locks Lunch Victoria Wharf: canoes stored Market Drayton: food and lodgings
SATURDAY
Market Drayton Locks: half mile portage Clear course rest of way Cutting: collected ferns and oak sapling Lunch: Market Drayton pies Gnosall Bridge: arrived at about five Tunnel further on: Gnat, Bee and Gadfly went to examine
Carriage back to Decker Hill
Although Decker Hill is in Shropshire, the place they launched their canoes into the canal was Gnosall in Staffordshire. From there they followed the canal north-westwards as it cuts back into Shropshire at Market Drayton and then up into Cheshire for the final stage of their journey to Haughton Hall. Not to be confused with Haughton Hall in Shifnal, which lies just the other side of Gnosall and which also appears to have been part of the Botfield family estate. That did catch me out at first.
Talking of counties, I was rather surprised, if not somewhat affronted, to read the comment William made as they crossed the border into Cheshire. He writes "the deep green of the Cheshire county was a contrast to the more greyish tint of Shropshire". I wonder what he meant by that. Surely the rural landscape around the canal would have been just as verdant and green in Shropshire as in neighbouring Cheshire, or maybe pollution from the many iron and coal works active at that time caused the outlook to be smeared with a "greyish tint".
Anyway, let's have a look at some of the places mentioned in the Log of the Gnat.
Decker Hill
Decker Hill is given as the location of the family home where they set off from, being taken by carriage to the canal at Gnosall Bridge. Some quick research has revealed that our Victorian canoeists had only acquired Decker Hill relatively recently. Reverend William Garnett succeeded to the estate around the time he adopted the surname of Botfield, in 1863. It turns out that prior to that he had been living at Haughton Hall in Cheshire. This was in fact the destination of the canoe trip, so I will come back to that shortly.
Decker Hill first come into the Botfield family back in 1810 when it was bought by another William Botfield, whose significant family wealth was drawn largely from coalmining as well as the iron and paper manufacturing industries. During his time there, William apparently remodelled the main house, including the front entrance and most of the rooms, . When he died in 1840, the estate passed to his nephew, Beriah Botfield and later to the Marquis of Bath of Longleat. It came back into the family when our Reverend William inherited it in 1863. He stayed at Decker Hill until around 1910, when it was sold to a member of the Forester family.
The house does in fact still stand today, probably looking much as it did during the time our family of canoeists lived there. Since 1963, Decker Hill has been owned by Shifnal Golf Club and it is from their website that I found out about the history of the house, taken from Gareth William's work on "The Country Houses of Shropshire".
We can see who was living at "Decker Hill Hall" in 1871 from the census of that year. William B G Botfield is listed as head of the household, by then a widower aged 54. He is described as "Justice of Peace of Salop & Montgomery, clergyman of Church of England". Next come his three daughters, Lucy and Grace aged 17 and Annie aged 14, who were all at school. Alfred, aged 20, is listed as being an undergraduate at "BNC" [Brasenose College] Oxford.
We can also see that Anne Dutton, the Reverend William's sister-in-law, is living with them. Then come the servants, no less than sixteen in total! This is pretty impressive, even by the standards of the day, especially for a clergyman such as Reverend William. Ten years earlier, when he was still a preacher at Bunbury parish church, the 1861 census shows that a housekeeper, two maids and a nurse lived in the family home. So they were living a fairly comfortable life. However, it seems that the inheritance that Revered William came into in the intervening years had catapulted the family into another league in terms of wealth and comfort.
The inheritance came about as Reverend William's cousin, Beriah Botfield, died without offspring in 1863. It was a condition of the will of his uncle, William Botfield, that should this occur the estate at Decker Hill would pass to Reverend William. It was at this point that he also adopted the Botfield family name. The Botfield estate apparently yielded an income of about £8,000 a year. [Geneagraphie.com: William Bishton Garnett Botfield].
The income from the inheritance and estate supported the family in a luxurious style of life. The servants listed at Decker Hill House in the 1871 census include a governess, housekeeper, cook, laundry maid, housemaid, ladies maid, under housemaid, kitchen maid, butler, footman, coachman, two gardeners, groom, garden labourer and a game keeper. Assuming most if not all of these people would have been in service to the family by 1867, there would have been plenty of people to call upon to support their little canoe expedition, by making the canoes ready and taking them to their launch point.
Barbridge warehouse
Passing this [Hulstone Reservoir] we soon came to Barbridge Wharehouse where the canoes were cleaned & piled on some fine cheeses.
Barbridge warehouse is where the canoes were stored at the end of the second day, and from where they walked over the fields to Haughton Hall. According to Midway Boats website, there has been a wharf and boatyard there since 1833. Apparently a "transhipment warehouse" stood by Wardle Bridge but has since been demolished. It was a major cheese producing area and I love the fact that the canoes were piled on top of "some fine cheeses".
Bunbury School
After a quick passage we reached Bunbury Locks amid the cheers of over a hundred Bunbury Boys who had come to have a look at the craft.
I had already discovered that the family had been living in Bunbury from 1854, as Walter, Anna and Charles had all been born there whilst the twins, Grace and Lucy, had been born in Findon, Sussex the previous year. born there,. So William would have been four years old when they moved to Bunbury, where they spent the next ten years.
It soon became apparent from his account of their visit to Bunbury that he had himself been a "Bunbury Boy" and gone to school there. He recounts in a fair amount of detail the visit they make to the school during their canoe trip, which must have caused a fair amount of excitement for the present day Bunbury Boys.
So what was the school, where was it and is it still there?
It has turned out a bit tricky to track down. I found out that he existing Bunbury Aldersey Church of England primary school dates back to 1594 when it was a boys’ grammar school. However, the building it occupies was not erected until 1874, built to replace an earlier building which was nearer the church. I have as yet been unable to locate the original building, the one which William would have attended and where he returned in 1867 with the other canoeists. They paddled their canoes to Bunbury from Barbridge warehouse during their stay at Haughton Hall. [Note: I think we've got this wrong as it was there was a boys grammar school Aldresey school
It took me by surprise when I first read in the Log that they were met on their journey by "over a hundred Bunbury Boys" but it soon became clear that they must have arranged a visit to the school as part of their trip. It no doubt provided quite a bit of excitement for the school boys who were keen to have a go on the canoes. I think it was quite brave to indulge them and apparently they "were paddling up and down the canal in high glee" for about an hour.
I was also interested to learn that Reverend William apparently played an important role in transforming Bunbury Grammar School and ensuring that a full time certified teacher was hired. Together they "originated a novel scheme by which the children of families in any sphere of life could receive an excellent education at the school by paying tuition fees based according to the family's means." [Geneagraphie: William Bishton Garnett-Botfield]
The school building was later converted into a private home so is no doubt quite different inside, but the stone inscription at the front bears witness to its earlier incarnation.
The Old Rectory and Beeston Station
Whilst staying at Haughton our crew took a day trip to the coast at Rhyl. William records that they started out "soon after breakfast & calling at the Old Rectory left Beeston station by the train."
I managed to locate Bunbury Parsonage on the First Edition 25inch Ordnance Survey map, on what is now known as Vicarage Lane. Presumably they were just visiting an old haunt, Reverend William having previously been the parish preacher for Bunbury.
Beeston Castle and Tarporley station was closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching Cuts. There was in fact a campaign to reopen it a couple of years' ago but the bid for funds was turned down by the local authority (although this decision was criticised by the then Transport Secretary, Grant Schapps). I did manage to find an early photograph of the station, busy with people, horses and carriages. Apparently parts of both platforms still remain today.
Haughton Hall
We had a pleasant walk over the fields to Haughton Hall where we found all well & dinner ready
Our Decker Hill canoeists stayed over at Haughton Hall for three nights. I was keen to find out who lived there and what their relationship was. Unlike Decker Hill and Bunbury School, I found out that the Haughton Hall they visited back in 1867 no longer stands. It was demolished and rebuilt in the 1890s, Reverend William still owned the house in 1889 when he sold the whole estate. I also discovered that resident at Haughton Hall at that time was Alfred Ingilby Garnett. Alfred died in 1889, prompting the sale of the former family home. The Monuments of Bunbury Church also record the fact that Alfred is buried in a railed altar tomb in Bunbury Church. So although Reverend William no longer lived at Haughton Hall, he still owned the house and estate there. But what was his relationship to the tenants?
The 1871 census tells us that Alfred lived at Haughton Hall with Catherine his wife, their five young children and four servants. When our party of canoeists visited them in 1867, only their first two children would have been born, Fanny would have been two and Jane only a few months. It turns out that Alfred was Reverend William's younger brother. He started renting Haughton Hall to him when he returned to England after serving with the 8th King's Regiment in India. He had apparently gained a reputation as a good tiger shot there [Geneagraphie: William Garnett].
Whilst researching Reverend William's family I discovered that he also had three sisters who all died at a young age (5, 13 and 23), before Alfred reached his twenty seventh birthday, leaving just him and Alfred. It seems like they stayed close. Not only did William rent Haughton Hall to his only remaining sibling but he was also happy to go with his boys to stay over a few days during the holidays and the general impression is that they all got along very well.
Green Cottage
Any disappointment arising from the fact the Haughton Hall they visited in 1867 no longer stands was soon compensated by the exciting discovery that the "green cottage" that William and his younger brother Alfred stayed in does in fact survive. It turns out that its proper name was Green Cottage. It features on maps of the time and is still known by this name today. It is a substantial property, a Grade II listed building in fact. It stands on Hall Lane, just a bit further along from the main house.
The Canal
And finally, a look at the places mentioned in the Log wouldn't be complete without saying at least something about the canal itself, the thread which connects our narrative.
The Shropshire Union Canal had been hewn out of the landscape only thirty to forty years before they made their trip along it. It was constructed between 1827 and 1835 and was apparently the last major work undertaken by Thomas Telford, marking the end of major canal development in Britain. By this time, canals were competing with railways and had adopted many of their engineering techniques, featuring straight lines, high embankments, deep cuttings and flights of locks to help improve efficiency and speed, all of which feature in the "Log of the Gnat".
I'm assuming the stretch of canal they travelled along is unlikely to have changed much since they were there. It is only a matter of time before we give in to the lure of travelling in their wake and seeing some of the same sights they saw when they made their journey back in 1867.
Related posts from the adventures of an archivist:
Log of the Gnat - full transcript: travel back in time and read first hand the account of eighteen year old William as he records his excitement at undertaking his first canoe trip, back in the summer of 1867.
Log of the Gnat - who, when, why and how: find out more about William and the rest of the crew, the type of canoes they might have had and what might have spurred them on to undertake their expedition back in the summer of 1867
Journeys past and present: musings of an archivist: find out about how I came to discover the "Log of the Gnat", as well as other travel journals, and how they have intertwined with my own travel adventures.
Loch Shiel Loop by Canoe: read about my own highland expedition in our Old Town Discovery Canoe that inspired me to research the "Log of the Gnat".
Canoe Voyage - take two: find out about my surprise discovery which opened up a whole new perspective on the canoe trip of 1867.
Discovery Log - where it all began: join me as I travel back to 2006 when our canoeing adventures began - and we had five to a boat!
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