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Our guide to the waterways of the UK in detail.

The history of the Trent & Mersey Canal.

In 1761 a 29 year old potter named Josiah Wedgwood began to look into the possibility of creating a canal to link his works to the coast. His business depended on smooth, safe, deliveries. The roads of the 1760's were hardly recognisable as roads and horse drawn carts were not the smoothest of vehicles.

In 1766 the Trent & Mersey Canal received its Act of Parliament on May 14th. (Called the Grand Trunk at first.) James Brindley was employed as engineer and work got under way. It was to be 93 miles long with 75 locks and two major tunnels at Harecastle and Preston Brook. It had a capital of £150,000.

At first it was to run from the River Trent to the river Weaver, but when the Bridgewater canal was re-planned to come to Preston Brook it was agreed to join it there.

A second canal, the Staffordshire & Worcestershire, also obtained an Act of Parliament on the same day as the Trent & Mersey. It was to make a junction with the Trent & Mersey at Great Haywood and would run south west to the River Severn. The final part of Brindleys' Grand Cross was a link to the Thames and this was also on the cards when the Coventry Canal and Oxford Canal were proposed in 1768.

In 1769 Wedgwood went into partnership with his old friend John Bentley and a new Wedgwood factory was opened on the banks of the new canal in the heart of the Potteries (now better known as Stoke-On-Trent). Close to the factory he created a village in which his workers were to live, he called the area Etruria. He also built a house (mansion) which he named Etruria Hall. This stood opposite the factory, looking down on the canal and his factory.

In 1770 the canal opened from the Trent at Derwent Mouth to Great Haywood where the Staffs & Worcester canal connected with it. In September the first boats used the route, travelling from Great Haywood to Weston-on-Trent, east of Burton. In 1771 the route was opened to Stone.

In 1772 Brindley carried out a survey on behalf of the Trent & Mersey company with a view to creating a branch line to Leek and Froghall. It is said that Brindley was caught up in a heavy rain storm, later in the day he slept in his still wet clothing and is said to have woken with a chill. Just a few days later, on September 27th, James Brindley died. However others carried on the canal and it was opened in 1779 from Froghall to its junction at Eturia with the Trent& Mersey canal. Tramways were then constructed at Froghall to bring down limestone from the Caldon Low quarries a couple of miles to the East. Froghall soon became very busy and traffic grew on the canal.

Despite Brindleys death the Trent & Mersey canal was going well, it had now reached the Potteries from the Trent, a distance of 48 miles. To the north however, there were great problems in constructing Harecastle Tunnel. Furthermore, north of the great tunnel was a long lock flight down into Cheshire and Cheshire itself was proving very difficult land to cut through. In the end two extra tunnels had to be built. In 1775 an isolated stretch of the route was completed north of Harecastle, down through 27 locks to Sandbach.

Finally in 1777 the whole line of the Trent & Mersey Canal opened at a cost of £296,600. The final route included over 70 locks and 5 tunnels, the longest being Harecastle at about 2 miles in length. When Brindley first began building the tunnel he had been ridiculed but people now came from miles around to see it, proclaiming it one of the wonders of the world.

In the years that followed the Trent & Mersey was a massive success. Its effect on the Potteries was huge. Goods were brought from all round the country to the Mersey and then south along the Trent & Mersey. Finished pottery could now enjoy a safe and smooth journey out to places all over the world. The canal was also of great benefit locally, especially for farms which had previously been remote.

The initial water supply was from Golden Hill Colliery, when that became inadequate in 1798 the Trent & Mersey canal, who owned the Caldon, built a new reservoir at Rudyard near Leek to feed their main line . The feeder from this, made navigable to bring in extra traffic from Leek, joined the summit level of the Caldon at Hazelhurst and thence down to the Trent & Mersey summit.

Latter another reservoir was constructed at Knipersely.

In 1820 there were criticisms of the state of the canal and John Rennie was called in to inspect it but nothing was done In the 1820's the company were being criticised for failing to keep up with the times. Their route was still much as it had been when it was built half a century earlier. There were major hold ups at the narrow lock flights and Harecastle Tunnel was in desperate need of modernisation. Competition was about to arrive in the form of the new Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal. In comparison to the Trent & Mersey this new route was to be much more direct, it would be straight, broad and fast.

So the company began a major upgrade. Locks on the notorious "heartbreak hill" from Kidsgrove to Sandbach were duplicated (two narrow locks side by side) and Thomas Telford was called in to improve Harecastle Tunnel. A brand new tunnel was built by 1827. For many years both tunnels were kept open with one way traffic in each (Brindleys' taking southbound traffic, Telford's taking northbound). Telford also wanted to upgrade the old tunnel but this was never carried out.

In 1831 the Macclesfield canal joined the Trent & Mersey at Hardings Wood Junction, only after the Trent & Mersey insisted on building a fly over and a mile of connecting canal and a double stop lock.

Ever since 1772 the Chester canal had wanted to build a line from near Nantwich to Middlewich, however the Trent & Mersey had fought against this fearing traffic would by pass the bottom end of their canal. In 1827, faced with the authorisation of the Birmingham & Liverpool in 1825, the Trent and Mersery allowed the construction of the link to Middlewich although, as in the original act the first 100 yards and lock had to be Trent & Mersey property. It was finally opened in 1833. Although the new route was in direct competition to the Trent & Mersey it did bring extra traffic to the northern most sections.

In 1845 after moderate success in fighting the railways over a period of about 7 years, the Trent & Mersey suddenly found themselves under a direct and purposely aimed attack. The North Staffordshire Railway Company were to build lines alongside all of the canal's main line and branches. It was instantly apparent to the canal company that they could not survive the railway onslaught. They agreed terms with NSR and an act was passed allowing the canal to sell out to the railway. The new owners immediately closed down the Uttoxeter Branch of the Trent & Mersey Canal but apart from this they kept the rest of the waterway in business. Despite this, trade gradually reduced over the next few decades.

From the 1846 the North Staffrdshire Railway owned the Trent & Mersey Canal.

In 1865 steam tugs were introduced to tow boats through the tunnel. Soon afterwards a tug driver & his stoker were overcome by the fumes, four ventilation shafts were installed.
While the shafts were being opened out traffic, including the tugs continued to use the tunnel. As a result two workmen were overcome by fumes, one falling in and drowning. The coroner ordered the tugs to stop operating until the shafts were completed!

In 1891 the North Staffordshire Railway was granted an Act to enlarge the Trent & Mersey up to Stoke but it did not implement it.

In 1895 with trade steadily (though slowly) declining The Trent & Mersey Company finished its own carrying business.

In 1914 an electric tug was introduced in Harecastle tunnel. Originally powered by batteries in "tender boats". In 1920 it was converted to a tram-type pick up overhead.

In 1921 NSR were taken over by London Midland and Scottish Railway. In 1948 although still open, the Trent & Mersey had continued to see loss of trade right through the war years. When the government nationalised the whole inland waterways system there was, at first, a glimmer of hope. It was thought that improvements would be made and trade would be rebuilt. However, this was not the case and the decline continued.

In 1954 the tunnel tugs at Harecastle were withdrawn and special ventilation equipment installed.

1968 Virtually all commercial trade had come to an end during the 60's but a different kind of boat was beginning to be seen on the canal. Pleasure cruising was growing and this was reflected in the Government's decision to class the Trent & Mersey as a "Cruiseway" in the 1968 Transport Act. Commercial trade may have been over but the canal was safe.

1973 to 1977 the Harecastle tunnel was closed for major repairs.

In 1981 a section of Preston Brook Tunnel collapsed 121 ft of the tunnel was blocked. It was repaired with a new large concrete section and re-opened in April 1984.

Sources.

Nicholson Guides to the Waterways.

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

Some pictures of this canal?

Preston Brook to Middlewich / Middlewich to Hardings Wood Junction / Hardings Wood Junction to Eturia

Eturia to Great Haywood / Fradley to Shardlow

General information on the canal.

Find our information about other canals and rivers on the canal index page.

If you have any questions then do ring us on 07977 229103
or email us at martinreed@reedboats.co.uk