The Bude Canal was a canal built to serve the hilly hinterland in the Cornwall and Devon border territory in the United Kingdom, chiefly to bring lime-bearing sand for agricultural fertiliser. The Bude Canal system was one of the most unusual in Britain. It was remarkable in using inclined planes to haul tub boats on wheels to the upper levels. There were only two conventional locks, in the short broad canal section near the sea at Bude itself. It had a total extent of , and it rose from sea level to an altitude of . The design of the canal influenced the design of the Rolle Canal. Origins The coastal area at Bude has sand unusually rich in minerals, and the poor agricultural land of the locality was found to benefit considerably from application of the sand. In the pre-industrial age, actually transporting it was difficult, even to land relatively close to the coast. Several schemes were put forward for canals to bring the sand to the countryside, and these proposals did not lack ambition. One early scheme, conceived by Cornish engineer John Edyvean, aimed at distributing Welsh coal from the port as far inland as Calstock on the River Tamar. It gained parliamentary approval for construction in 1774, but financial problems and the Napoleonic Wars frustrated the proposal. In 1818, the West Country canal engineer James Green produced a report for canal's backers, and an Act of Parliament was obtained for this more moderate proposal in 1819. After some difficulties in the construction phase, the canal was completed, and opened on 8 July 1823. Its cost was £118,000. The canal system The project: improved the difficult exposed sea harbour at Bude; built a broad canal capable of taking barges for to Helebridge Basin; built the rest of the system for tub boats, long by wide; built a reservoir at Virworthy to feed water to the system. The main line of the canal ran south east from Bude to Druxton Wharf near Launceston, with an easterly branch to Blagdonmoor, beyond Holsworthy. There was a northerly feeder arm leading from a new reservoir at Virworthy, now called Lower Tamar Lake. There were two conventional locks in the short broad canal section, each with a vertical interval of . This section terminated at Helebridge, about from Bude, and ordinary coastal barges travelled this far up the canal. The tub boats were