New Road to Beam Bridge lock

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Dagenham New Road bridge (the Beam Bridge) over the Beam River, once a busy main road but nowadays most traffic goes via the new A13 Choats Manor Way futher south. Excavations in 1972 adjacent to this site revealed remains of the Romford Canal although what sort of ‘remains’ it is not known.

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The plot of land on which the canal would have run. One wonders whether the excavations were done here? The Beam River is just off picture to the right.

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View looking along the southern end of the Beam Valley Country Park. The flats to the rlght are on the Mardyke estate. Any traces of the canal that had existed here to the left have been obliterated by the adjacent school’s playing fields.

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The sluices at Beam Bridge. The location of this structure are a good indicator for finding the canal. The remains of the canal are just a few yards to the north west beyond a stream that comes in from the west.

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Looking north west from the sluice gate. The couple are standing on a bridge over a minor stream, and the start of the remains of the Romford Canal is by the large tree to the left.

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The pipe bridge just above the concrete weir structure marks the approximate alignment of the Romford Canal as it once passed from south to north (left to right) en route to Romford. It is assumed that a minor aqueduct would have been a neccessity, however it is not known if one was ever built. Just to the right out of the picture the canal proper begins.

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The start of the canal remains, looking towards the site of Beam Bridge lock, which was the second lock out of six planned (though I suspect one more may have been necessary to lift the canal up to Romford).

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A view of the same stretch of canal in 1937. Picture from Dagenham Libraries.

NEXT: North to Rainham Road

The Romford Canal pages:
Ford’s Works to New Road / River Beam to Beam Bridge lockThe lock to Rainham RoadRainham Road to Elm ParkTo the LTSR embankmentInto Romford