Stroudwater's missing mile

The Stroudwater canal in Gloucestershire was built in the 1770s. It brought coal to the mills along the Stroud valleys, which had become an important centre for the manufacture of woollen cloth, but the arrival of the railways in the mid 19th century led to the canal's decline and eventual abandonment. A mile-long section of it was filled in when the M5 motorway was built in the 1960s, cutting the canal off from the rest of the inland waterways network. Now ambitious multi-million plans are underway to restore and re-open the "missing mile" and reconnect the canal. Martha Kearney visits the Stroudwater canal to see how the work is going. She talks to volunteers, and finds out what difference the work will make to the canal - as a local amenity, as a tourist attraction and as a wildlife corridor. Producer: Emma Campbell

You can listen to Stroudwater's missing mile online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Stroudwater's missing mile is an episode from Open Country by BBC.

This episode is 24:10 long.

This episode was published on Mar 19, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Open Country when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.