With the demand for bricks for the buildings of London continuing to increase, a canal branch to Slough was first proposed in 1878 by Hubert Thomas.
Walker remained after the canal opened to oversee the construction of wharves and landing places, to sort out any problems resulting from settlement of the formation, and to ensure that traffic developed in a satisfactory way.
The pits were then used for landfill, which provided some traffic, and there was a trade in timber, which was delivered to Slough Wharf,[2] but the last commercial use of the canal was in March 1960.
[1] With no likelihood of the canal being used again, Slough Council proposed buying part of it and building an access road for a trading estate along its route.
The two routes pass along the northern edges of Slough, and then the canal diverges northwards, to end at Stoke Road.
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