Shadows on the Towpath

Crickheath Tramway Wharf — Rosser1954, CC BY‑SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

The discovery renewed old tales of the ghost of a boatman called George Benbow. Stories swirl around sightings of him standing at lock landings he knew well and rekindled accounts of mysterious footfall on towpaths late into the night. Was old George haunting the Montgomery Canal?

The horrific tale of his demise wasn’t on the Montgomery, but the Trench Arm of the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal on the 26th of July 1887. He was at the helm of Usk when he made his way through the Hadley Park Lock. Unlike most canal locks, this one was a guillotine style, which used a counterweight mechanism.

A guillotine‑style canal lock basically works by sliding one big vertical gate up and down using chains, wheels, and a counterweight. The counterweight really does the heavy lifting, so the gate moves like a hot knife through butter, without needing any space to swing open.

The weight box sits up above the lock on its own platform or frame, and it lines up directly with the lock chamber because it has to travel straight up and down to counterbalance the gate. When the gate is raised or lowered, the weight box moves too, often right over the lock opening where a helmsman would normally stand or step across. So if someone’s on the cabin roof, on the lockside, or crossing the boat at the wrong moment, that descending weight box can end up right above them.

Hadley Park Lock (guillotine‑style) — Mark Evison, CC BY‑SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

And this is what happened to poor old George. He failed to duck as the guillotine gate was closing and the weight box struck him in the head. One of his crew, who was on the towpath working the lock, said he heard the helmsman cry out, ‘murder, murder’ before crumpling onto the cabin, and never spoke again, blood oozing from his ears; George never stood a chance.

After news spread along the Towpath Telegraph (the canal version of the grapevine), tales rolled throughout the network of George Benbow’s ghost, lingering, haunting the towpath.

When the alleged remains of the Usk were discovered, the old stories were stirred up and they again retold the awful events of that July day in 1887, the reason why George still wanders the towpaths on dark, foggy nights.

So, if you dare to moor up in a secluded spot on the Montgomery Canal and a mist rolls in from distant fields, mind yourself and keep watch out for old George Benbow, because he might just be waiting for you on the towpath.

Foggy Canal — David Dixon, CC BY‑SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)