History of the Basingstoke Canal
The Basingstoke Canal is in the south east of England and flows
through the counties of Hampshire and Surrey. It originally ran
from the Hampshire town of Basingstoke to its junction with the
River Wey Navigation in Surrey, 37 miles away.
Today, 32 miles of the original navigation have been restored, from
the Wey Navigation as far as North Warnborough in Hampshire, as a
public amenity catering for boaters, walkers, canoeists, anglers
and naturalists.
It has 29 locks, all but one in Surrey, which together raise the
canal 204ft from the River Wey. You can find more about the
Basingstoke Canal here.
Swing Bridge
This cache is beside the Crookham swing bridge, also known as
Zebon Copse Swing Bridge, which was rebuilt in 1954 after several
collapses, and was reconstructed again in 1992-3 to bring it up to
modern requirements. The swing bridge, which carries a bridleway,
provides access from the towpath to Zebon Copse. It is 8ft wide and
replaced an earlier footbridge of steel and timber. It is
counter-balanced, which makes it fairly easy to move (if you have
the key to the padlock). It pivots on a circular plate supported by
twenty-four 3" diameter steel ball bearings and is one of only two
swing bridges on the canal. (The other is at the Canal Centre in
Mytchett, Surrey).