The first proposal was put forward at a meeting of the
Kennet and Avon Canal Company on 7 February 1794 by Mr Best of
Basingstoke, who proposed a junction on the Kennet and Avon near
Hamstead Marshall, linking to the Basingstoke Canal at
Old Basing. A later suggestion for connecting the waterways was made by
Ralph Dodd in the early 1800s, who suggested a link to Basingstoke from the
Andover Canal near
Fullerton, with a divergent canal at
Whitchurch to Hamstead Marshall. A third proposal was made by the Kennet and Avon Canal Company in the 1810s, the route for which was surveyed by
John Rennie. He recommended a canal from Hamstead Marshall to Old Basing, via
Brimpton and
Tadley. A short
flight of locks would have brought the canal southward out of the
Kennet valley before crossing the
River Enborne near Shalford Bridge. This long pound would have had a tunnel traversing the north side of Browning Hill near
Baughurst; the tunnel portals would have been near the Baughurst turnpike (at
Axmansford) to the west and near St Peter's Church, Tadley, to the east. This proposal was opposed by the
Thames authorities, A meeting at The Hind's Head in
Aldermaston was held in January 1825 to rally opposition to the canal. When the bill reached
parliamentary sessions, it was rejected by in committee. Giles made an amendment the following year to provide a pumping station by the River Enborne at
Ashford Hill, although this resubmitted bill was rejected in 1826. == References ==