A leat from this stretch was created at around the time of the construction of the canal to provide water for the Twyford Mead water meadows. Farming of the water meadows continued until around 1930, after the closure of the navigation itself. It was a labour-intensive method of land management, but the controlled flooding of the meadows, with the deposition of silt from the water, enabled the land to produce two crops of hay per year, as well as grazing for sheep and cattle. Demonstrations of the techniques used to flood the meadows are still carried out occasionally.