be deepened where necessary. The cost of buying the weirs would be raised by a tax on the county, and it was estimated that the river would be navigable for about 200 days per year. At the time there were weirs supplying six fulling mills and three corn mills at Hereford, and another nine elsewhere, at Fownhope, Hancox, Carey, Foy and Wilton. There were another nine derelict weirs above Monmouth, and five below the town. Lord Coningsby's proposals were enshrined in an Act of Parliament obtained in 1695, which authorised the County of Hereford to buy up and demolish the mills on the Wye and Lugg. All locks and weirs were to be removed, except that at New Weir forge below Goodrich, which survived until about 1815. By 1727, around £18,000 had been raised to carry out the work, and thirteen weirs in Herefordshire had been bought and removed. Some work had also been carried out on the Lugg, but much of it was damaged by flooding soon afterwards. One unexpected consequence of removing the weirs was that water levels dropped, resulting in there being a number of shoals that boats now had to negotiate. Another Act of Parliament was obtained in 1727, which appointed new trustees, and allowed them to authorise the construction of mills and weirs at locations which would assist navigation. In 1763, James Taylor proposed the construction of 22 weirs, each with an associated pound lock, to make the river fully navigable, but the scheme was not implemented. When it looked likely that the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal would not reach Hereford, there were calls to further improve the Wye. At the time, boats were hauled by gangs of ten or eleven men, but men were in short supply, and a towing path for horses was suggested. William Jessop carried out a survey, and the towing path was authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1809. A company was formed to build of path from Lydbrook to Hereford, and to maintain ferries at five points where the path crossed from one side of the river to the other. Evidence given in Parliament during the passage of the bill stated that some 10,000 tons of coal were moved along the river to Hereford each year, with 3,000 tons of other commodities. Another 4,000 tons of lime and other goods were delivered to various points along the