it could be used whatever the level of the river. Subsidence beneath it was a problem, as it had to be rebuilt in 1875/6 and 1903, the first time to raise it by and the second to raise it another . The main cargo on both canals was always salt. Decline With their financial position worsening, the Worcester and Birmingham Canal received an offer from three railway contractors to buy the canal and the Junction Canal, to convert them into railways. The canal company accepted the offer, but when a bill was submitted to Parliament in 1866, it was defeated, as was a second attempt the following year. In September 1873, the Worcester and Birmingham Canal received an offer from the Sharpness New Docks Company to take over the canal and both Droitwich Canals. An Act of Parliament was obtained to authorise the takeover in 1874, and the new company became the Sharpness New Docks & Gloucester & Birmingham Navigation Company. They set to work improving the Worcester and Birmingham route, but soon realised that the canal was not profitable. Despite this, they dredged 73,000 tons of mud from the Droitwich Canals in 1881, and altered the upper cills of the locks in 1888-9, to give a navigable depth of . The locks were then , and could accommodate boats of 115 tons. By 1906, the costs of maintenance on both canals exceeded the income, and they gradually decayed. Finally, an Act of Abandonment was obtained in July 1939. The last boat to use the barge canal had done so in 1916, while the Junction Canal had not seen any traffic since 1928. Restoration The problem of what to do with the canals was regularly debated by Droitwich Borough Council in 1963, and a campaign for their restoration was started by Max Sinclair, who suggested that restoration could be completed in under two years. The council realised the potential amenity value of the canal, and the concept was aired in the Worcester Evening News, which carried an illustrated article on 14 June 1966. A restoration group was formed in 1969, as part of a national drive by the Inland Waterways Association called Safeguarding Britain's Waterways, which led to the formation in 1973 of the Droitwich Canals Trust, a limited company with local authority support, which began to work towards the restoration of the canal. On 27–28 October 1973 The Droitwich