An exhibition celebrating 200 years of the Kennet & Avon Canal.

Staff and volunteers at the Museum in Newbury are busy preparing for their next special exhibition on West Berkshire waterways, which opens on Saturday 24th July and runs until Thursday 30th September. The exhibition is timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Kennet & Avon Canal, but will also make reference to the earlier Kennet Navigation and the River Thames.

The displays will include items from its own collections and material from the John Gould archive and loaned by the Kennet & Avon Canal Trust Museum. It is also hoped to feature objects from the National Waterways Museum. Topics covered will include building the canal, life on the boats, wildlife and the canals today. The exhibition will be held in part of the Corn Stores that were built as a warehouse to serve the Wharf that opened with the Kennet Navigation in 1723.

The Museum will open from 10.00am to 5.00pm on Sunday 25 July to coincide with the Newbury Waterways Festival opening times.

The Museum is normally open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10.30am to 5.00pm and on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from 11.00am to 4.00pm.