An even shorter trip to Bradford upon Avon ( SNUFFY)

I'm 

Left our moorings to a grey day, but on the plus side it's al lot milder,again this canal is so pretty with open farmland and gentle rolling hills in the distance, we have one swing bridge to operate, then it's plain cruising through the Avon Valley.

At Hilperton wharf we stop and buy some coal and logs, the owner was very helpful in explaining where to moor one the river once we pass Bradford upon Avon,we carry on and it's not long before we reach Bradford upon Avon. At a very busy Bradford Wharf we stop and take on more water before going through the lock and mooring at the bottom of the lock.

http://www.bradfordonavon.co.uk/

Bradford on Avon is one of the beauty spots on this canal and is a lot like the city of Bath, it owes its existence to weaving and at one time it had about 30 water powered cloth factories, but a depression killed the industry and drove the workers away. Some of these buildings still survive today. the canal wharf is attractive as are parts of the town.

A Great tithe barn exists by the canal it was built in the 14-C by the Abbess of Shaftesbury.

Question:
Why did Bradford on Avon have the nickname 'Snuffy'

Answer:
This nickname seems to have first been used in the early 19th century and it is believed that it derives from the foggy and smoky atmosphere that was created in the town by the use of steam power in the cloth factories. At this time the central and lower parts of the town, especially around the river, were run down and little better than slums. The factories were along the river and the smoke laden atmosphere, barefoot and rickety children, waste tipped into the street, adults sitting outside their tenements and the general noise and smell would have greatly surprised the genteel residents of Bath who appear to have given the town its nickname. 

Snuff was made in the town for a short period in the 18th century when a disused cloth mill was used during one of the periodic depressions in the local cloth industry. It would not seem that this brief venture could have justified the nickname when nearby Devizes had a tobacco and snuff industry for a couple of centuries without attracting any appellation from it. Certainly the steam powered cloth factories were built swiftly in Bradford at the start of the 19th century, were fairly close together and the topography of Bradford probably meant that a miasma of smoky fog would hang over much of the town at certain seasons.

Bradfordians also had another nickname in the 19th century, and that was Gudgeons, from the fish on the weather vane on top of the blind house (lock up) on the bridge. Nearby Trowbridgians were called Knobs, from the stone decoration on top of their blind house and there were often fights and battles between the youths and young men of the two towns - the Bradford Gudgeons and the Trowbridge Knobs.

We have a wander around the town and buy some provisions before we go back to the boat and settle down for the night.