Editing Grand Union Canal (section)

==Current developments==

===Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway===
{{Infobox future infrastructure project
|property_name=Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway
|location = Bedfordshire
|proposer = Bedford and Milton Keynes Partnership<ref name="bmk">{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.bmkwaterway.org/ |website=Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Park}}</ref>
|estimated cost = £170&nbsp;million
}}
The Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway Consortium plans to build a {{convert|16|mi|km|adj=on}} canal connecting the Grand Union at [[Milton Keynes]] to the [[River Great Ouse]] at [[Bedford, Bedfordshire|Bedford]] at an estimated cost of £170&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 February 2003 |title=Route chosen for £150m link canal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2807153.stm |work=BBC News}}</ref> The project is supported by British Waterways (and its successor, the [[Canal & River Trust]]), the [[Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust]], other waterways campaign groups, and also local councils.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Paul |date=28 February 2003 |title=First British canal for 100 years announced |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/feb/28/transport.world |work=The Guardian}}</ref> The first element of the canal is an underpass under the A421, completed in 2009 and efforts are continuing to obtain funding to complete the scheme in 'bite-size chunks'.<ref name=bmk/> The new waterway would create a new cruising ring connecting through from the Grand Union to the waterways of [[East Anglia]] which are beneficial to leisure cruising as tourists are able to follow circular routes, as well as completing a missing link between the north and south of the UK for [[Widebeam|wide-beam boats]] - all current inland waterways have restrictive pinch points around the Midlands, only suited to [[narrowboat]]s, effectively dividing wide-beam cruising grounds into two disconnected halves.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cruising on a Wide Beam Inland |url=https://www.collidgeandpartners.co.uk/blog/cruising-on-a-wide-beam-inland/ |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=www.collidgeandpartners.co.uk |language=en}}</ref>

The history of the proposal is considerably older; the route was first discussed in 1810, when its promoters included [[Samuel Whitbread (1764–1815)|Samuel Whitbread]].<ref name=bmk/>

From Milton Keynes, the canal is planned to pass beneath the [[M1 motorway|M1]] utilising an existing [[cattle creep]], then cross over Brogborough Hill, and across the Marston Vale through to the River Great Ouse in Kempston.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Route &#124; B&MK Waterway Trust |url=http://www.b-mkwaterway.org.uk/the-waterway/route/ |access-date=16 June 2013 |website=B-mkwaterway.org.uk |archive-date=9 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131009220431/http://www.b-mkwaterway.org.uk/the-waterway/route/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Buckingham Arm restoration===
The [[Buckingham Arm]] once ran from [[Cosgrove, Northamptonshire]] to [[Buckingham]]. It was built as an arm of the Grand Junction Canal, in two separate phases, opening in 1800 and 1801. It was disused from 1932, but was not finally abandoned until 1964. It is now the subject of a restoration project.

===Slough-Eton canal===
The predecessor to the Canal and River Trust, British Waterways, received mild financial support indications from the two local authorities covering [[Slough]] and [[Eton, Berkshire]] to extend the [[Slough Arm]] to join the [[River Thames|Thames]], via any course i.e. covering a minimum {{convert|2|mi|km}}; the 2008-estimated cost was £30&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 November 2008 |title=Plan to link canal with Thames |url=http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/articles/1/6334 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927173436/http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/articles/1/6334 |archive-date=27 September 2013 |access-date=16 June 2013 |publisher=Sloughobserver.co.uk |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The trust confirmed in 2012 this remains a long-term objective, to be actioned when the economic conditions allow.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 November 2012 |title=Activists back canal link plan |url=http://www.sloughobserver.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2012/11/06/64099-activists-back-canal-link-plan/ |access-date=16 June 2013 |publisher=Sloughobserver.co.uk}}</ref>