Tamariz de Campos - The Canal of Castile

The Canal of Castile

in Tamariz de Campos

On its passing through the municipal term of Tamariz, the Canal of Castile (Branch of Campos) has very interesting buildings and constructions:

6th Sluice of the Canal, with buildings of the flours factory, house of the lock-keeper and other dependencies.
Aqueduct of the Sequillo river: Impressive work of engineering through which the Sequillo river passes under the Canal.
7th Sluice of the Canal, with the building of the flours factory and the house of the lock-keeper.

You shouldn´t forget to take the pleasant stroll (if there are not mosquitos), by the shady border of the Canal, that takes from the 6th to the 7th sluice, passing by the aqueduct, approximately 1 km long. This was the route that followed the mules who pushed the hulls used for the grain transport.

6th sluice

There are left the rest of the flour factory, building of stone and brick, with two highs, under which it passed a Canal that served to move the mill.

At the other side of the Canal it is the house of the lock-keeper and other dependencies.

As an anecdote we could remember in the difficult years of the postwar period, with the rationing, when the workers of the field preferred to receive part of their pay in species, as for example wheat. In order to be able to have flour and therefore bread for the family, they took the wheat to grind during the night, of clandestine form.

The life in these places was very hard. The children who lived there (children of the lock-keeper) had to walk several kilometers every day to go to the school in Tamariz.

The sluice opened with wood floodgates, driven by a pulley. Few years ago, when navigation by the Canal disappeared, they were replaced by a cement prey and an overflow was built.

Aqueduct of the Sequillo

Five stone arcs maintain the Canal over the Sequillo river.

It is a peculiar work of engineering, built in stone, that shows the care and interest that was put in its construction.

It is possible to arrive at it by walking from the town of Tamariz, by the border of the Sequillo. It is an pleasant stroll by the fertile valley of the river, in which it is easy to find ducks, herons, avutardas, rabbits, eaglets, and other examples of the fauna of Tierra de Campos. You should have the solely precaution to protect yourself of the sun and the mosquitos.

Also it is possible to arrive at the aqueduct walking by the border of the Canal, from 6ª or 7ª sluice, in this case protected of the sun by the big trees that grow in its borders.

When crossing with the river, the Canal is slightly higher, reason why it forms in certain way a prey in which the overflow is the aqueduct itself. This does not seem to have much importance, but about 60 years ago fell a very hard storm, with great amount of water in a short time, and was created a great lagoon that arrived from the Canal to the surroundings of the town of Tamariz, becouse the eyes (openings) of the aqueduct were incapable to give exit to all the fallen water.

In the first days of the civil war (1936), the vegetation of the Canal served as a hiding place for some people persecuted by his political ideas. These places were witnesses of many anecdotes that our grandparents could tell us.

7th sluice

This sluice is the last one of the branch of Campos, before arriving at its completion in the dock of Medina de Rioseco.

In spite of its progressive ruin, due to the carelessness of the competent authorities (Hydrographic Confederation of the Duero), still can be contemplated the great building of the flour factory. It has four plants, which it was possible to be raised until very few years ago

At the other side of the Canal, it is a small house of two plants, that served like house for the lock-keeper and its family. Next to it there is a picnic area, with tables and kitchens.

The sluice opened with wood floodgates, driven by a pulley. Years ago, when navigation by the Canal disappeared, they were replaced by a cement prey and an overflow was built.