The Ivel was made navigable for some seven miles from Tempsford to Biggleswade in 1758 following the course of the river but with artificial cuts round the mill sites. An earlier plan to extend up to Baldock and Hitchin had met with little support but in 1823 a five-mile extension was opened from Biggleswade to Shefford, with much of the three-mile river Flit section being made up of long cuts; this section becoming known as the Shefford Canal.

The navigation was only moderately successful and soon succumbed to railway competition with the last barges finishing in1876.

Little happened over the next 100 years but in 1962 Michael Ewens, then a pupil at Bedford School and an enthusiastic member of the Great Ouse Restoration Society researched the history of the Ivel and his findings were published in the Society's journal - The Lock Gate. Subsequently Nicholas Hammond, a member of the Cambridge Branch of the Inland Waterways Association, revived interest in the river and Alan Faulkner, of the East Anglian Waterways Association, constructed a Distance Table, which is largely based on Michael Ewens work, and visited all the main sites on the former navigation.

The river is in surprisingly good condition with a fair flow of water. Tempsford Lock is reasonably well preserved with a guillotine flood gate installed at the upstream end holding the water up to its former navigation level. In contrast the next lock at Blunham is in a ruinous state and no level of water is held. The third lock at South Mills, Blunham, has been demolished but sluices still hold up the water level.

Sandy Lock has been converted into a spillway and a full head of water is held but Biggleswade North Lock has disappeared completely and no level is maintained. Biggleswade Lock has been converted into a sluice but a full head is maintained whilst Holme lock is probably the best preserved on the whole navigation with a guillotine gate installed at its head to hold up the water level. This lock is possibly unique as a pedestal bearing a weather-worn head stands beside the chamber; it is believed to have been put there by Italians prisoners of war.

On the Shefford Canal there is a mixture with the canal being filled-in in some places and the river in others. At Stanford the course of the river and the mill has largely disappeared and the water flows through Stanford Lock which is overgrown and in poor condition. At Clifton the canal has been filled in and the lock is on the dry section and is crumbling away. Likewise at Shefford where the canal is now largely dry and the site of the lock obliterated.
All in all an interesting mixture but the bridges over the river by and large all seem to retain their former navigational headroom. Is there a demand to see this attractive river restored?