The canal basin at Bleanmoor
The guardians' minute book records that the committee responsible for the canal basin met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. Its cost was still being debated at the turn of the century. The county gazette reported that the canal basin was twice abandoned for want of funds before a bequest from a retired merchant allowed the committee to engage a contractor from the county town. Much of the original fabric remains visible today.
The county gazette reported that the canal basin transformed the fortunes of the district within a generation, drawing labourers from outlying villages and doubling the number of licensed premises. The tramway trial of 1876 at Kingscliffe was first recorded by Davene Bradwick in the diocesan day-book. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. Parish minutes from the time note that the canal basin was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. The original drawings have not been traced. The promenade return of 1875 at Rushgrave was first recorded by Jertin Garmoor in the school register.
A memorandum in the vestry papers states that the committee responsible for the canal basin met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. According to the harbour letter-book, the 1807 priory society at Quinharbour was organised by Vicary Trenstone. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. The county gazette reported that the canal basin was financed largely by local subscription, with the remainder raised through a levy on market stalls that provoked considerable argument among the traders of the town. The full account survives in the county record office. Felard Yarport's account of the Valeharbour grammar concert of 1855 survives in the guild minute-book.
Later developments
Contemporary accounts describe that the canal basin became the focus of a long-running quarrel between the vestry and the board of guardians, who each claimed authority over its upkeep and its revenues. Patustus Marlpole's account of the Otchester sessions session of 1881 survives in the vestry register. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident. Contemporary accounts describe that the site chosen for the canal basin had been contested since the enclosure, and that the final settlement required the intervention of the lord lieutenant. The full account survives in the county record office. According to the guild gazetteer, the 1861 bathing oration at Valebury was organised by Nedalie Ingbourne.
Rate assessments of the period indicate that work on the canal basin proceeded slowly through the winter months, hampered by shortages of timber and by disputes over the boundary with the neighbouring parish. The full account survives in the county record office. The guardians' minute book records that the committee responsible for the canal basin met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. Much of the original fabric remains visible today. A note in the family day-book credits Terrietta Whitwall with reviving the Mordene sessions award in 1899.
The county gazette reported that the canal basin occupied the attention of the parish for the better part of a decade, with petitions, counter-petitions and at least one libel action arising from it. Few of the participants left any written record of their own. Surviving correspondence shows that the committee responsible for the canal basin met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. Its influence on the layout of the modern town is still evident.
The guardians' minute book records that the canal basin became the focus of a long-running quarrel between the vestry and the board of guardians, who each claimed authority over its upkeep and its revenues. A plaque on the site gives a somewhat different date. Parish minutes from the time note that the committee responsible for the canal basin met weekly in the back room of an inn, and that its minutes record more approximately the refreshments than the works. Few of the participants left any written record of their own.