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The Bridgewater Canal is a navigable canal in the north west of England, connecting Runcorn and Manchester. Unusually, it is operated by the Manchester Ship Canal company, not by British Waterways. For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ...
North West England is one of the nine regions of England. ...
For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...
This article is about the town in England. ...
This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ...
The canal at its Manchester end, looking towards Old Trafford. ...
British Waterways sign near Gas Street Basin on the BCN. British Waterways is a government body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Scottish Executive in the United Kingdom. ...
The entire canal is on one level and has no locks. Cranes are located at intervals along the canal's length to allow boards to be dropped into slots in the canal banks. This allows sections of the canal to be isolated in the event of a leak. Canal locks in England. ...
A modern crawler type derrick crane with outriggers. ...
 Bridgewater Canal at Stockton Heath Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x736, 112 KB) Bridgewater Canal Stockton Heath Warrington File links The following pages link to this file: Bridgewater Canal ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x736, 112 KB) Bridgewater Canal Stockton Heath Warrington File links The following pages link to this file: Bridgewater Canal ...
The Route
The original section of the canal terminated at Castlefield Basin where boats used to unload their cargoes in Manchester city centre, and where there is now a connection to the later Rochdale Canal. Castlefield Castlefield in Manchester, UK was a site where the Roman Empire established a fort. ...
A Lock on the Rochdale Canal with water flowing over the gate due to the lack of a side channel. ...
From Castlefield, the Bridgewater runs west through the Manchester suburbs for about four miles (7 km) to "Waters Meeting" junction: en route it passes Hulme Lock, now disused, which provided a connection to the River Irwell and the Manchester Ship Canal, and a new lock at Pomona giving access to the Manchester Ship Canal (the stretch of the MSC upstream from here is the only part easily used by leisure boats). The River Irwell is a river in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in England. ...
The canal at its Manchester end, looking towards Old Trafford. ...
The canal at its Manchester end, looking towards Old Trafford. ...
At Waters Meeting, the canal branches. The original canal travels north west for about 10 miles (16 km) to the original terminus in the village of Worsley at the entrance to the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater's coal mines via the Worsley Navigable Levels. On the way to Worsley it passes over the Manchester Ship Canal on the Barton Swing Aqueduct near Eccles. This section of the canal was later extended a further 5 miles (8 km) to Leigh where it makes an end-on connection with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Image File history File links Barton swing aqueduct File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links Barton swing aqueduct File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
For other uses, see Worsley (disambiguation). ...
Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (May 21, 1736–March 8, 1803) (also the 6th Earl of Bridgewater) was a British nobleman, the originator of British inland navigation, younger son of the 1st duke. ...
Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ...
Chuquicamata, the second largest open pit copper mine in the world, Chile. ...
, Starvationer at Ellesmere Port Canal Museum with a demonstration of the process of legging to push the boat through the tunnels The Worsley Navigable Levels are an extensive series of coal mines in Worsley in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. ...
The canal at its Manchester end, looking towards Old Trafford. ...
The aqueduct in the closed position The Barton Swing Aqueduct (Grid ref: SJ 767 976) is a feat of late Victorian civil engineering. ...
// Eccles can refer to: Eccles (UK Parliament constituency) — a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Eccles Avenue Historic District, Ogden, Utah Eccles Broadcast Center, Salt Lake City, Utah Eccles, Berwickshire, Scottish Borders. ...
Leigh is a town in Greater Manchester, in north west England. ...
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in the north of England running from Liverpool, Merseyside to Leeds, West Yorkshire. ...
 Junction of Bridgewater Canal and Manchester Ship Canal From Waters Meeting, the current main line of the canal (a later extension) runs approximately 20 miles south-west to Runcorn. This line goes through the towns of Sale and Lymm, passes to the south of central Warrington, and at Preston Brook junction, just short of Runcorn, a small branch connects with the Trent and Mersey canal). Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 674 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...
Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 674 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ...
This article is about the town in England. ...
Sale is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. ...
, Lymm (pronounced Lim) is a large village and civil parish part of Warrington, Cheshire, in north west England. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Preston Brook is a small town located in the county of Cheshire in the North West of England, just off the M56 motorway south-east of Widnes. ...
The canal now terminates in Runcorn basin, just before the disused locks which (before the approach road to the Widnes Bridge was built) used to lower the canal to the Runcorn Docks on the River Mersey (later, to the Manchester Ship Canal). Ferry across the Mersey, June 2005 The River Mersey is a river in north-western England. ...
The proposed new road crossing of the Mersey may allow a realignment of the Bridge approach road and the complete restoration of the closed locks - thus re-opening of the link to Runcorn Docks, the Runcorn and Weston Canal, the River Mersey, the Manchester Ship Canal, and the River Weaver. This would create a new ring route for leisure boats involving the Trent and Mersey Canal, the Anderton Boat Lift and the River Weaver. Anderton Boat Lift The Anderton Boat Lift provides a link between two navigable waterways: the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey Canal, and is situated near the village of Anderton, near Northwich, in north Cheshire, north_west England. ...
History The Bridgewater Canal is often considered to be the first true canal in Britain, in that it relied on existing watercourses purely as sources of water rather than as navigable routes.
Note, however, that the Sankey Brook Navigation also has a claim to be the first modern British canal. Although the Company promoted the scheme as a "navigation" (ie simply making the existing Sankey Brook navigable), they actually constructed an entirely new channel alongside the Sankey Brook, simply using the Brook as a water supply. The Sankey Canal (not the first canal in Britain, but the first in the 'Industrial Revolution-fuelled Canal Building period') can therefore claim to be a modern canal built before the Bridgewater. The Sankey Canal, also known as the Sankey Brook Navigation, is a disused canal in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. ...
The Bridgewater Canal came about because the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, Sir Francis Egerton wanted an efficient way to transport coal from his coal mines at Worsley, into Manchester, where the Industrial Revolution was under way. Furthermore it solved the ongoing problem of flooding in these mines. In addition to easing the overland transport difficulties, the underground section of the canal at Worsley also removed the need for expensive and difficult vertical winding of the coal to the surface whilst providing drainage for the mines and a source of water for the surface canal. Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (May 21, 1736–March 8, 1803) (also the 6th Earl of Bridgewater) was a British nobleman, the originator of British inland navigation, younger son of the 1st duke. ...
The Industrial Revolution was a major shift of technological, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions that occurred in the late 18th century and early 19th century in some Western countries. ...
The Duke commissioned James Brindley as canal engineer to build the canal, and it opened in 1761. At the time it was considered a major engineering achievement, as the canal contained a large aqueduct over the River Irwell (replaced by the Barton Swing Aqueduct when the Irwell was canalised as the Manchester Ship Canal), and it greatly enhanced Brindley's career. The Worsley part of the canal was later extended to Leigh, in 1799. James Brindley. ...
The names of canal engineers include: Thomas Dadford Junior James Brindley ...
1761 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...
For other uses, see Aqueduct (disambiguation). ...
The River Irwell is a river in the counties of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in England. ...
The aqueduct in the closed position The Barton Swing Aqueduct (Grid ref: SJ 767 976) is a feat of late Victorian civil engineering. ...
1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
The Duke had invested a huge sum of his own money into constructing the canal, and it was a great financial success. Due to the greatly increased supply of coal which the canal had enabled, the price of coal in Manchester fell by nearly three quarters within a year of the canal opening. A few years later construction began of the route to Runcorn, which opened in 1772. This article is about the town in England. ...
Year 1772 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
Inside the mines 46 miles of underground canal on four levels linked by inclined planes was constructed. They were served by specially-built M-boats (also known as starvationers), the largest of which could carry 12 tons of coal. Mining ceased in 1887.[1]
The canal carried commercial freight traffic until 1975, the last regular traffic being grain from Liverpool to Manchester for BOCM, and is now mainly used by pleasure craft. The canal also hosts two rowing clubs - Trafford Rowing Club and Manchester University Boat Club. Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
A coxless pair which is a sweep-oar boat. ...
The canal has suffered three breaches: one soon after opening, one in 1971 near the River Bollin aqueduct, and another in the summer of 2005 after a sluice gate failed in Manchester. Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ...
The River Bollin is a river in the north-west of England and a major tributary of the River Mersey. ...
Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Bridgewater Canal is unusual because it is one of the few canals in Britain which is still privately owned and was never nationalised. This is because it was bought by the Manchester Ship Canal company in the 1890s, which itself was never nationalised for various reasons.
See also Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Bridgewater Canal Image File history File links Commons-logo. ...
For canals of Northern Ireland see the Canals of Ireland article // History See History of the British canal system for a more detailed history. ...
The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a canal in the south west of England between Bridgwater and Taunton, linking with the River Parrett and the River Tone. ...
The British canal system of water transport played a vital role in Britains Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of mass transit by road of raw materials and finished products...
References - ^ Britain's lost waterways Michael E Ware page 11 ISBN 0-86190-327-7
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