A new book on Chippenham’s lost waterway has charted the course of one of the town’s most important historical features.

Chippenham and the Wilts and Berks Canal, by Pewsham author Ray Alder, originally started life as an A4-sized booklet before blossoming into a book.

All of the profits from its sale will go back to the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre, where Mr Alder volunteers.

The civil servant said he first became interested in the course of the canal when taking his now grown-up children on walks.

“When the children were little, they would ask questions about where the canal had gone, and of course in those days there were no answers,” said Mr Alder. So, he spent two-and-a-half years researching and writing the book.

He added: “As a museum volunteer, I had the chance to do a pamphlet, but the project grew into something much bigger. These very human stories started to emerge, including the tale about the families who lived on the canal boats. We tend to think they had an idyllic existence, but that really wasn’t the case.”

After a launch at the museum, Mr Alder has been leading three-mile-long walks along the old route of the canal to teach others of its significance.

“This has all come about as part of the archaeology week we’ve been having at the museum,” he said.

His book is now part of a new exhibition at the museum and heritage centre, entitled Wiltshire’s Lost Waterway.

Mr Alder said: “I enjoyed the research and then getting everything committed to paper.

“This was my first book but it has possibly fired my imagination for a second.”

For more information on Chippenham and the Wilts and Berks Canal or the exhibition, contact the museum on (01249) 705020.