Many of you enjoyed last week’s Mystery Photograph, taken of the Hucky Duck in Coleford.
Well done to the following readers for guessing correctly: Dave Seddon, Eddie Attwood, Colin Button and Katie Thayer.
Thank you to Mike Chant who said: “I believe that this week’s Mystery Photo is of the Hucky Duck in Old Coleford. Built to carry the Somerset and Dorset canal which was never finished.”
Thank you also goes to Jonathon Griffin who told The Journal: “Hi Folks, this week we’re in High Street, Coleford looking at the ‘Hucky Duck’, i.e. aqueduct which was built to carry the Dorset and Somerset Canal, which was built with the intention of providing a navigable waterway between the Bristol Channel and the English Channel without having to sail around the tip of Cornwall.
“To raise revenue for this project it was decided to build a spur that connected the Nettlebridge Valley collieries with the Kennet and Avon Canal in the same way the successful Somerset Coal Canal did with the Cam Valley collieries. Unfortunately, the cost of construction in the Coleford and Mells areas far exceeded expectations. Other factors like war, low investor confidence and the advent of the railways meant that by the early 19th Century the Dorset and Somerset Canal was dead in the water - no pun intended!
“Today the Hucky Duck still stands, although a bit more overgrown than in the photo. The name lives on as the name of a successful local carnival club.”
Do you recognise where this week’s Mystery Photograph was taken?
If you have a historic image of our area suitable for our Mystery Photograph feature, please email: [email protected] or bring them in to: The Journal, Paulton House, Old Mills, Paulton, Bristol, BS39 7SX.