Originally called the Grand Junction, the canal was constructed in the late 18th century to provide a short cut from the Oxford Canal at Braunston to the Thames at Brentford. The canal was a busy commercial waterway until the coming of the railways. It became part of the Grand Union system of canals in 1929. The photographs of the canal in the Chilterns are divided into four sections and were taken by John Fitzgerald, Quiller Barrett, David and Lin Roberts, and Edna Sansom, mostly in 2011.