How would you feel if you were to read about a completely new form of transport: faster than anything we have today, using the same method of propulsion and the same fuel, but so incredibly smooth that even very delicate goods will arrive completely unblemished.

Would you be interested in it?

Imagine you were a businessman looking to invest some money: you'd be told that the initial costs would be quite high, about on a par with building a new road, but once it was done, you could charge a toll for every vehicle using it, and you would soon recoup your costs as the speed and smoothness of the journeys would make it irrestibly attractive to every manufacturer of delicate goods.

From the viewpoint of those manufacturers, their goods would need barely any packaging, but would be guaranteed to arrive unbroken.

Interesting, isn't it?

Well, back in the 1790s, horse and cart were the only form of transport, and the "roads" were what we today would describe as heavily rutted tracks - a bit like the Ridgeway on it's worst days. During wet periods, the roads were barely useable: when they dried, the ruts set like concrete: and carts had the most rudimentary of suspension. This set severe restrictions on what goods could be moved around, particularly for newly-expanding pottery and ceramics industries of the midlands.

The invention of the canals was like a miracle: it used the existing motive power of horses, but because the towpaths were smooth, level, and kept cleared, they were massively faster, could be used pretty much all year round, and of course the loads were floated along in the smoothest fashion, with virtually no breakages.

No wonder they were the "in thing" for so long!

Canal building started way, way back in the late 1700s - incredibly! - and raced ahead for 50 years or so, until there was a very strong network covering the entire centre of the country. Links were made to rivers and ports, and of course the main concentration of canals was in the industrialised midlands, where most of our manufacturing took place.

This happy state of affairs lasted for less than a hundred years, as the internal combustion engine was racing up in the wings. Pretty soon it took over, and once roads were properly surfaced, along with the invention of the Macpherson strut, wishbones, and suspension in general, well, the poor old canals just couldn't compete.

Suddenly journeys were made direct from factory to user, rather than to the nearest wharf or port, and it became evident that roads were just more flexible, and eventually, much faster.

Inevitably, the canal traffic began to decline, and by the late 1800s they were falling into disuse. Our own canal was formally abandoned (poor thing!) in 1914.

As in so many facets of modern life, maintenance is essential, and without maintenance, the canals began to fall from disuse into dereliction. It was a small step, then, to allow them to be filled in, and the owners tried to recoup some of their money by selling the land back to the various canal-side landowners.

However, 50 or more years on, the wheel turns once more, and in the 1970s, canals began to experience something of a revival, but this time for leisure purposes. First one or two, then more, became navigable once more, and pleasure boaters began to enjoy them. Word spread, and gradually the network is being restored and used once more.

Now, in the early part of the 2000s, we are in the fabulous position of having a large number of well-established and well-maintained canals to use and enjoy, and to give us the impetus to rescue the others.

Our particular canal, the Wilts and Berks (which could technically be renamed the Wilts and Oxon, but we don't think that sounds as good) will run from the Kennet & Avon below us, to the Thames at Abingdon, with a branch going up at Swindon to join the Cotswold Canal. This will provide some much-needed cruising rings in the south-west of the country.