Calne Blue Plaques #8

Quite a few of these plaques are quite close together and references to places in the Calne Heritage notes have sometimes been seen in other blips either in this series or of Calne generally. Marden House, for example, appears in my shot of the Bath Road pump. I had taken pictures of the Wharf on the 15th (in the good old days before Blipfoto blew itself up) but ended up using something else.

This was taken on the iPad shortly after sunset. To put it into context, the Wharf is just behind the traffic light on the right in this picture taken from outside the Lansdowne Arms, also showing some of the Xmas decorations.

This is the point where the canalized River Marden disappears under the A4. It does a ninety degree turn to the right and reappears below the library (the round building in the picture).

The Wharf
The Calne branch of the Wilts and Berks Canal was completed in 1802 by canalizing the River Marden. It ran from Stanley up to the centre of Calne to the Town Mill, which was then on the site of the present Town Hall. This mill was demolished in 1806 and a new one built close to the same site.
A man known as the wharfinger was in charge of the traffic that came up to the wharf in barges and a building was erected to house the wharfinger and some warehousing. This is the house now known as Marden House- a substantial building made of sandstone.
The period when the canal flourished was very short, for business was soon lost to the developing railway system. Traffic ceased on the Calne stretch in 1906 and it was officially closed by Act of Parliament in 1914. - Calne Heritage

L.
20.12.2014 (1808 hr)

Blip #1449 (#1699 including archived blips)
Consecutive Blip #011
Day #1732
LOTD #684 (#804 including archived blips)

Alternatives:
The Wharf #1, 15 December 2014
The wharf #2, 15 December 2014


Lens (for alternatives): Pentax 12-24 mm

Calne series
Calne Blue Plaque series
Wilts and Berks Canal series
iPad series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
The War on Drugs - Under The Pressure (2014)
From Lost In The Dream, just voted no. 1 Album of 2014 by 6 Music.

One year ago: Coate Country Water Park