Sandra Ashenford reflects on the ups and downs of her week

I HAVE been privileged to live on the side of the Gloucester-Sharpness canal for more than two decades now, yet first thing every morning when I take the dogs for a walk along the tow path I am reminded just how beautiful a place it is.

At this time of year, the birds in the trees are tweeting madly (their own form of social media, I guess), and the ducks and swans on the canal are pairing up.

But it isn’t just the wildlife that makes the canal so fabulous – to me, the very existence of this 16-mile canal is an enduring tribute to the people who created it.

It was in 1793 that a group of industrialists from the Midlands came up with the idea of building a canal to bypass a treacherous stretch of the River Severn.

By the end of the century only about five miles had been completed, because of problems with funding, issues with landowners and dissatisfaction with the chief engineer.

Our house is sited where the canal was “stanked” – temporarily stopped up – and the lane boasts the un-fragrant sounding name of Stank Lane.

But eventually the problems were overcome, and the canal opened in 1827 – a true shipping canal and the biggest in England.

Not only is it an impressive piece of design and engineering, what I find truly inspirational is the fact that it was largely dug out by men with shovels. I’m not advocating a return to the days when labour was cheap and health and safety non-existent, but I have huge respect for the men who toiled in the heavy clay and got the job done.

Over the Easter holidays we walked along the stretch of the canal at Purton, where in the 1960s, concrete barges were driven into the banks of the Severn to prevent it breaching the canal. It is known as the boat graveyard, and it is eerily beautiful.

The dogs weren’t impressed by any of the history but thoroughly enjoyed rooting around the tow path hedgerows, and making canine friends and enemies along the way.

They are little dogs, but don’t seem to realise that they are small in stature, like the canal builders, they are prepared to take on challenges which other people might think are beyond their capabilities.