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Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

The history of the Bridgewater Canal.

If you define a canal as a waterway constructed independent of any existing watercourse, then the first true canal in Britain was the Bridgewater, or the Duke's Cut.

In 1720 the Mersey & Irwel Navigation Company was set up to improve navigation from Liverpool to Manchester. In 1753 plans were made to create a water link from the coalfields of Wigan into Manchester but it was blocked by the Mersey & Irwel Navigation Company.

In the 1730's a channel had been dug out of the Worseley mines, to the N.W. of Manchester, to drain them. In 1759 the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, who owned the mines, enlarged the water channel to allow boats to carry out the coal. With his agent, John Gilbert they tried to find a cheaper way to get the coal to Manchester and came up with the idea of a canal. To enable him to do this he obtained an act of Parliament and engaged James Brindley as the engineer.

In 1760 the route was altered to go directly into Manchester when he failed to get agreement with the Mersey Navigation. Instead of the originally planed flight of locks they decided to build a 900 yard embankment and a masonry aqueduct over the River Irwell, an idea that was ridiculed by many but it was completed and the canal opened to the outskirts of Manchester in 1861. Finally reaching its eventual terminus at Castlefields in the heart of Manchester by 1765.

Around this time they also started to extend the canal back into the mine to bring out the coal in boats called "starvationers", 47 ft by 4 ft 6 inches wide.

In 1762 an extension south to Runcorn was authorised to bypass the Mersey and Irwel navigation. By 1765 the extension had reached Altrincham, including a small aqueduct over the river Mersey. Then in 1766 agreement was reached with the Trent and Mersey canal to join at Preston Book, and for their traffic to travel over the Bridgewater canal to Runcorn.

In 1772 the great flight of 10 broad locks, the only locks on the canal, were completed at Runcorn and the junction had been made with the Trent and Mersey, but connecting the junction at Preston Brook with the locks at Runcorn took until 1776 due to opposition from a local land owner. The canal now grew in prosperity and docks were established at Runcorn.

The Bridgewater canal was supplied with water from Worseley mines, the Trent & Mersey and at Castlefields. In the 1730's a water channel had been cut for drainage from the mines. This was enlarged into a navigation channel in 1759. By 1795 there were 15 miles of underground canals at Worsley, eventually this would reach 53 miles on 4 connected levels.

In 1776 the Mersey & Irwell Navigation offered to sell out to him, but he refused "he had set out to break a monopoly, not to create one."

By 1791 260,000 tons were carried. Except for that from the Trent & Mersey it was all in the Duke's own craft.

In 1799 an extension was opened west from Wordsey mines to the town of Leigh where it made a end on junction with the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

In 1800 the Ashton Canal, then in 1804 the Rochdale Canal were opened both connected to Castlefields and it became a major inland port. There were now 12 different carrying companies using the Wharfs. (By 1821 there were 21 companies here including a fly boat service to London.

Then in 1820 the Leeds and Liverpool joined to the Bridgewater at Leigh giving a direct route to Liverpool.

In 1825-7 a second flight of locks was built at Runcorn.

In 1833 the Bridgwater Canal carried 765,000 of traffic.

However in 1830 the first railway had been built between Liverpool and Manchester years of arguments and toll cutting followed between the Bridgewater and the Mersey and Irwell Navigation as they fought one another for what trade there was.

Finally in 1845 the Bridgewater bought out the Mersey and Irwel Navigation thus creating the monopoly that the Duke had warned against! Then in 1872 two railway companies, the Midland and the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire joined forces and then made a bid for the Bridgewater Company. The trustees decided it was an offer they could not refuse and both the canal and river navigation passed into railway ownership on July 3rd 1872 at a price of £1,115,000. The new operation was to be known as the Bridgewater Navigation Company. The railway owners did not close down the waterways; instead they brought them into the railway age by introducing steam tugs. These were able to pull three barges at once on the lock free stretch of the canal between Manchester and Runcorn. The company also improved the river navigation by upgrading its wharves and opening Fenton Dock in Runcorn.

Then in 1885 the act was passed for the Manchester Ship Canal and the new company bought the Bridgewater canal. To build the Manchester Ship canal they demolished the Barton aqueduct where the Bridgewater canal had crossed over the river Irwell and in its place built a swinging aqueduct. They also in 1887 closed down the underground canals at Worseley. The Ship canal was opened in 1894.

In the late 19th century the sides of the canal were walled to resist erosion and a depth of 7 foot throughout obtained. Bridges were also rebuilt to give greater width. This enabled the introduction of tugs towing 4 barges each carrying over 200 ntons.

Up until World War One the Bridgewater Canal continued to carry huge amounts of cargo, especially along its Leigh Branch where coal mines were still going strong. Following the war, when all canal boats were handed back to their private owners, many companies simply couldn't afford to make up the backlog of maintenance. Railways and the growing use of road haulage also quickened the canal's decline.

In 1963 the last locks leading from the Bridgewater Canal down to the Manchester Ship Canal at Runcorn Docks were closed. Within a few years they were demolished. In 1972 the last major commercial carrying came to an end on the Bridgewater Canal when Trafford Park power station stopped its water borne coal deliveries. Then in 1974 all commercial carrying on the Bridgewater Canal came to an

Because the Bridgewater Canal belongs to the Manchester Ship Canal Company it had not been nationalised in 1948 when the Government took over most of the country's other waterways. In 1952 pleasure craft were first allowed onto the canal and it is now a popular pleasure route, it has outlived many of the local railways and sees hundreds more vessels every year than the ship canal.

Sources.

Nicholson Guides to the Waterways.

Roots & Routes, Peter Hardcastle's Website
http://www.canals.btinternet.co.uk/index.htm

The Duke's Cut, by Cyril J. Wood, published 2002 by Tempus Publishing, Stroud. ISBN 0-7524-2371-1

Canal Companion, Cheshire Ring, J.M. Pearson. Published by Central Waterways Supplies of Rugby in 1992. ISBN 0-907864-60-0

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