The Chichester Ship Canal celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2022. Go to www.chichestercanal.org.uk for more information, including details of the Trust trip boats and rowing boats for hire which provide access to the restored section of the canal.

Although not in the Arun valley, the waterway was part of the old route from London to Portsmouth which did pass through the Arun Valley, so here is a small selection of postcards in celebration of its continuing existence and use for boating over most of that time.

This postcard, from an unknown publisher in the early 1900s, shows Southgate canal basin and the old gas works in the background, and one of the abutments of Padwick swing bridge in the foreground. The card, dated 22nd June 1934, was sent to Master Bertie Hanack, White Croft, Rothley, Leics.. The writing on the back is difficult to decipher, although a fire bell is mentioned, possibly from a school?

Hunston

This card, possibly from the 1960s, shows the site of the junction with the Portsmouth and Arun Canal, just about where the Southdown bus is passing. From the style of the legend, it is possibly a Heron Carr postcard, and was not posted.

The Canal, Chichester

This card, posted in Chichester on 13th July 1920, shows the section above Birdham. The small sailing dinghy demonstrates the use of boats at this time, despite cargo traffic to Chichester having ceased in 1906. Embossed on bottom right is Kelf & Son, Marsh, Chichester. Walter Kelf took over Marsh's business in the 1920s.

Birdham

This section of the route has been used for moorings continuously over decades, and mostly for houseboats in recent times. Access to the Harbour via the lower Birdham lock has not been possible for some time. The publisher is unknown and the card was never posted, although some text on the back reads " Pumping out the water from ‘Bidoton’, Birdham Canal, Aug 8th 1938.”

Birdham Lock

This early 1900s postcard shows the bottom end of the lower lock out to Chichester Harbour and possibly one of the balance beams for the gates on the far bank. These gates were replaced in 1955 to enable use of the pounds above but have only been opened on rare occasions in recent years. The publisher is unknown and the card is unused.

Birdham 2004

This photo shows the Vere, one of the Dunkirk "Little Ships". She was originally built of wood for the Admiralty in 1905 as an Admiral's steam barge, a special version of a steam pinnace. She was assigned to HMS Dreadnought, the first battleship of the class that changed the way capital ships were designed prior to WW1.

Vere was later converted to a motor cruiser, prior to her involvement in WW2, and subsequently to a houseboat on the Chichester canal, occupying this mooring for some forty years. Sadly she sank in 2006 but was raised and moved to the Isle of Wight to be completely restored. Sadly, it was not to be as she was destroyed in a fire at the boatyard in 2016.