Bombs stop maintenance

THERE was a quick halt to maintenance work on the Aylesbury Arm at Marsworth when  seven unexploded bombs were discovered in the canal.

Which means that for around 70 years boaters have been passing over unexploded bombs when cruising the Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union Canal, near Lock 5.

Bombs still 'live'

The bombs were exposed when the waterway was drained during lock gate replacement works. A bomb disposal team were quickly called to the scene and confirmed the bombs were 'live'. They were carefully taken from the canal to a nearby field. After a tense few hours, the bombs were safely deactivated, British Waterways Henrietta Ross tells us.

British Waterways' Waterways supervisor, Keith Gregory explained: "It was a shock to find not just one, but seven of these highly volatile devices in the canal. The Aylesbury Arm is being drained and dredged as part of our annual winter maintenance project, so this was completely unexpected. We're not sure how they got into the waterway, but the canal was used for transporting munitions during the Second World War so it's possible they were lost rather than dropped here."

Until they were interrupted by the bomb scare, British Waterways' team were working on Lock 5 on the Aylesbury Arm of the Grand Union Canal at Marsworth: replacing both its top and bottom lock gates.