81-512: The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (150 km) canal in Derbyshire , Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middlewich , it is a wide canal. The narrow locks and bridges are big enough for a single narrowboat 7 feet (2.1 m) wide by 72 feet (22 m) long, while
162-547: A caisson of water in which boats float while being moved between two levels; and inclined planes where a caisson is hauled up a steep railway. To cross a stream, road or valley (where the delay caused by a flight of locks at either side would be unacceptable) the valley can be spanned by a navigable aqueduct – a famous example in Wales is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site ) across
243-510: A drainage divide atop a ridge , generally requiring an external water source above the highest elevation . The best-known example of such a canal is the Panama Canal . Many canals have been built at elevations, above valleys and other waterways. Canals with sources of water at a higher level can deliver water to a destination such as a city where water is needed. The Roman Empire 's aqueducts were such water supply canals. The term
324-415: A "cistern", or depressed area just downstream from the fall, to "cushion" the water by providing a deep pool for its kinetic energy to be diffused in. Vertical falls work for drops of up to 1.5 m in height, and for discharge of up to 15 cubic meters per second. The transport capacity of pack animals and carts is limited. A mule can carry an eighth-ton [250 pounds (113 kg)] maximum load over
405-496: A canal has a series of dams and locks that create reservoirs of low speed current flow. These reservoirs are referred to as slack water levels , often just called levels . A canal can be called a navigation canal when it parallels a natural river and shares part of the latter's discharges and drainage basin , and leverages its resources by building dams and locks to increase and lengthen its stretches of slack water levels while staying in its valley . A canal can cut across
486-494: A canal that could bring coal in from Cheshire . The owners of the River Weaver Navigation were also not happy about the proposals, because the route would almost parallel that of the river. Yet another route was published which, much to the shock of Wedgwood, did not at all include the potteries. Wedgwood, intent on having a waterway connection to his potteries, managed to send his proposal to Parliament, with
567-413: A combination of the three, depending on available water and available path: Smaller transportation canals can carry barges or narrowboats , while ship canals allow seagoing ships to travel to an inland port (e.g., Manchester Ship Canal ), or from one sea or ocean to another (e.g., Caledonian Canal , Panama Canal ). At their simplest, canals consist of a trench filled with water. Depending on
648-549: A journey measured in days and weeks, though much more for shorter distances and periods with appropriate rest. Besides, carts need roads. Transport over water is much more efficient and cost-effective for large cargoes. The oldest known canals were irrigation canals, built in Mesopotamia c. 4000 BC , in what is now Iraq . The Indus Valley civilization of ancient India ( c. 3000 BC ) had sophisticated irrigation and storage systems developed, including
729-575: A massive celebration was held in the Potteries where Josiah Wedgwood cut the first sod of soil. James Brindley was employed as engineer and work got under way." Six years before the complete opening of the Trent and Mersey Canal in 1771, Wedgwood built the factory village of Etruria on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent, close to the canal. By this time, much of the canal had been built towards Preston Brook . The only obstacle that still had to be tackled by
810-581: A rather low gradient for its time. The canal is still in use after renovation. In the Middle Ages , water transport was several times cheaper and faster than transport overland. Overland transport by animal drawn conveyances was used around settled areas, but unimproved roads required pack animal trains, usually of mules to carry any degree of mass, and while a mule could carry an eighth ton, it also needed teamsters to tend it and one man could only tend perhaps five mules, meaning overland bulk transport
891-459: A uniform altitude. Other, generally later, canals took more direct routes requiring the use of various methods to deal with the change in level. Canals have various features to tackle the problem of water supply. In cases, like the Suez Canal, the canal is open to the sea. Where the canal is not at sea level, a number of approaches have been adopted. Taking water from existing rivers or springs
SECTION 10
#1732787977633972-804: Is Fradley Junction (with the Coventry Canal's "detached portion" ). The Coventry soon leads to the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal and branches off to Birmingham or (via another stretch of the Coventry Canal) to Coventry and a junction with the Oxford Canal and thence to the Thames and the 'Southern Half' of the English canals. The canal now heads directly to its terminus, passing through Burton upon Trent , Mercia Marina at Findern ,
1053-422: Is a channel that cuts across a drainage divide , making a navigable channel connecting two different drainage basins . Both navigations and canals use engineered structures to improve navigation: Since they cut across drainage divides, canals are more difficult to construct and often need additional improvements, like viaducts and aqueducts to bridge waters over streams and roads, and ways to keep water in
1134-501: Is local folklore which states that an elephant used in the show, died and is buried in the vicinity of the railway station. Etruria is home to the Etruria Industrial Museum , a scheduled ancient monument , which includes a working steam engine called Princess . The museum buildings were originally a bone and flint mill built in 1857 to grind materials for the pottery industry. Inside visitors can see displays on
1215-701: Is presumed, introduced in Italy by Bertola da Novate in the 16th century. This allowed wider gates and also removed the height restriction of guillotine locks . To break out of the limitations caused by river valleys, the first summit level canals were developed with the Grand Canal of China in 581–617 AD whilst in Europe the first, also using single locks, was the Stecknitz Canal in Germany in 1398. In
1296-599: Is rarely less than 30 metres (98 ft) wide. In the 5th century BC, Achaemenid king Xerxes I of Persia ordered the construction of the Xerxes Canal through the base of Mount Athos peninsula, Chalkidiki , northern Greece. It was constructed as part of his preparations for the Second Persian invasion of Greece , a part of the Greco-Persian Wars . It is one of the few monuments left by
1377-418: Is steeper than the desired canal gradient. They are constructed so the falling water's kinetic energy is dissipated in order to prevent it from scouring the bed and sides of the canal. A canal fall is constructed by cut and fill . It may be combined with a regulator, bridge, or other structure to save costs. There are various types of canal falls, based on their shape. One type is the ogee fall, where
1458-452: Is the pound lock , which consists of a chamber within which the water level can be raised or lowered connecting either two pieces of canal at a different level or the canal with a river or the sea. When there is a hill to be climbed, flights of many locks in short succession may be used. Prior to the development of the pound lock in 984 AD in China by Chhaio Wei-Yo and later in Europe in
1539-658: The Elbe , Oder and Weser being linked by canals. In post-Roman Britain, the first early modern period canal built appears to have been the Exeter Canal , which was surveyed in 1563, and open in 1566. The oldest canal in the European settlements of North America, technically a mill race built for industrial purposes, is Mother Brook between the Boston, Massachusetts neighbourhoods of Dedham and Hyde Park connecting
1620-705: The Etruria Works which remained in use by the Wedgwood enterprise until 1950. The Wedgwood factory is now in Barlaston , a village about six miles to the south of the Etruria site. Etruria Hall was the site of the substantial invention of photography by Thomas Wedgwood in the 1790s. Much of Etruria became derelict with the move of Wedgwood after the Second World War and the subsequent closure of
1701-543: The Naviglio Grande built between 1127 and 1257 to connect Milan with the river Ticino . The Naviglio Grande is the most important of the lombard " navigli " and the oldest functioning canal in Europe. Later, canals were built in the Netherlands and Flanders to drain the polders and assist transportation of goods and people. Canal building was revived in this age because of commercial expansion from
SECTION 20
#17327879776331782-545: The Phoenix metropolitan area was the most complex in ancient North America. A portion of the ancient canals has been renovated for the Salt River Project and now helps to supply the city's water. The Sinhalese constructed the 87 km (54 mi) Yodha Ela in 459 A.D. as a part of their extensive irrigation network which functioned in a way of a moving reservoir due to its single banking aspect to manage
1863-528: The River Brue at Northover with Glastonbury Abbey , a distance of about 1.75 kilometres (1,900 yd). Its initial purpose is believed to be the transport of building stone for the abbey, but later it was used for delivering produce, including grain, wine and fish, from the abbey's outlying properties. It remained in use until at least the 14th century, but possibly as late as the mid-16th century. More lasting and of more economic impact were canals like
1944-827: The River Soar Navigation (linking via Leicester to the Grand Union Canal ). Beyond the Cranfleet Cut the Trent is navigable all the way to its mouth at Trent Falls on the Humber Estuary . Canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation ) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi ). They carry free, calm surface flow under atmospheric pressure , and can be thought of as artificial rivers . In most cases,
2025-614: The Songhai Empire of West Africa, several canals were constructed under Sunni Ali and Askia Muhammad I between Kabara and Timbuktu in the 15th century. These were used primarily for irrigation and transport. Sunni Ali also attempted to construct a canal from the Niger River to Walata to facilitate conquest of the city but his progress was halted when he went to war with the Mossi Kingdoms . Around 1500–1800
2106-556: The reservoirs built at Girnar in 3000 BC. This is the first time that such planned civil project had taken place in the ancient world. In Egypt , canals date back at least to the time of Pepi I Meryre (reigned 2332–2283 BC), who ordered a canal built to bypass the cataract on the Nile near Aswan . In ancient China , large canals for river transport were established as far back as the Spring and Autumn period (8th–5th centuries BC),
2187-404: The stratum the canal passes through, it may be necessary to line the cut with some form of watertight material such as clay or concrete. When this is done with clay, it is known as puddling . Canals need to be level, and while small irregularities in the lie of the land can be dealt with through cuttings and embankments, for larger deviations other approaches have been adopted. The most common
2268-743: The "junction" with the River Weaver at Anderton Boat Lift near Northwich . After Anderton, the next major destination is Middlewich , where a junction with the 50-yard-long (46 m) Wardle Canal leads to the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal which gives access to Chester , Llangollen and ( heading south on the Shropshire Union) a parallel route to Birmingham via Wolverhampton . South of Middlewich, having passed through Wheelock ,
2349-552: The 'spare' lock was replaced by a steel contrivance with guillotine gates. Theoretically, this was adjustable to compensate for further subsidence although, in practice it was less than successful and was ultimately removed altogether. Little evidence of 'Thurlwood Steel Lock' remains today. The boater can use the Macclesfield Canal to head for Marple, and the junction with the Peak Forest Canal (and hence, via
2430-471: The 12th century. River navigations were improved progressively by the use of single, or flash locks . Taking boats through these used large amounts of water leading to conflicts with watermill owners and to correct this, the pound or chamber lock first appeared, in the 10th century in China and in Europe in 1373 in Vreeswijk , Netherlands. Another important development was the mitre gate , which was, it
2511-472: The 15th century, either flash locks consisting of a single gate were used or ramps, sometimes equipped with rollers, were used to change the level. Flash locks were only practical where there was plenty of water available. Locks use a lot of water, so builders have adopted other approaches for situations where little water is available. These include boat lifts , such as the Falkirk Wheel , which use
Trent and Mersey Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-565: The Ashton, Rochdale and Bridgewater canal) to complete the ' Cheshire Ring '. In September 2012 a serious breach occurred at Dutton Hollow near Preston Brook , which cost around £2.1 million to repair. The breach was south of bridge 213 and the canal was unusable between there and Middlewich Big Lock 75. The canal was officially reopened on 2 May 2013. After the Harecastle Tunnel (one way, alternating roughly every two hours),
2673-550: The Hall Green branch, simply treating it as part of the Macclesfield Canal). The actual junction where the branch leaves the main line is a normal right-angle junction called Hardings Wood Junction . The branch leaves the main line on the south side, then immediately turns 90 degrees clockwise. It runs westwards alongside the main line, maintaining the original level while the main line drops through two locks. At
2754-590: The Persian Empire in Europe . Greek engineers were also among the first to use canal locks , by which they regulated the water flow in the Ancient Suez Canal as early as the 3rd century BC. There was little experience moving bulk loads by carts, while a pack-horse would [i.e. 'could'] carry only an eighth of a ton. On a soft road a horse might be able to draw 5/8ths of a ton. But if
2835-597: The Red Bull settlement, the branch turns 90 degrees right, to head north and cross the main line on Poole Lock aqueduct. It then immediately crosses the A50 on Red Bull aqueduct, carrying boats north to join the Macclesfield Canal at Hall Green. The canal passes through the city of Stoke-on-Trent , where it meets the Caldon Canal . The canal formed an integral part of the 1986 Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival and in 1988
2916-953: The Severn, was built as the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal , whilst the southeastern arm (to the Thames) traversed the Coventry and Oxford Canals. On the Cheshire stretch of the canal, between Middlewich and the northern end of the canal in Preston Brook Tunnel, is the Victorian Anderton Boat Lift , which lowers boats fifty feet from the T&;M to the River Weaver . It was restored to full operation in 2002 after twenty years of disuse, and
2997-785: The Southwest by 1300 CE. Archaeologists working at a major archaeological dig in the 1990s in the Tucson Basin, along the Santa Cruz River, identified a culture and people that may have been the ancestors of the Hohokam. This prehistoric group occupied southern Arizona as early as 2000 BCE, and in the Early Agricultural period grew corn, lived year-round in sedentary villages, and developed sophisticated irrigation canals. The large-scale Hohokam irrigation network in
3078-633: The T&M climbs out of the Cheshire Plain via the 'Heartbreak Hill' locks (more traditionally known as the 'Cheshire Locks') to the summit-level and the junction with the Hall Green Branch , leading to the Macclesfield Canal at Red Bull Kidsgrove . Most of the locks in this flight are doubled, although not all of the duplicates are still usable. Of particular note was lock 53 where, because of subsidence from brine pumping,
3159-497: The canal company was the hill at Kidsgrove , through which a tunnel was being dug. Up until 1777, pots had to be carried on the short journey from Etruria, over the top of Kidsgrove Hill, and to the other side, where the canal had been constructed to Preston Brook. On 15 January 1847 the Trent and Mersey Canal was acquired by the North Staffordshire Railway Company (NSR). This was done to stifle
3240-502: The canal emerges in the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent , and is soon in the middle of the city and then at Etruria , and the junction with the Caldon Canal . Leaving Etruria, the canal is soon back in open country. It is now in the upper valley of the River Trent , which the canal follows until the river becomes navigable and the canal is no longer needed. The next sizeable place is the market town of Stone . After more countryside,
3321-783: The canal makes an end-on junction with the Bridgewater Canal within Preston Brook Tunnel, from which one can access Runcorn (but no longer the Mersey or Ship Canal) in one direction and Manchester (with its many canal links) in the other direction. From the junction with the Bridgewater Canal, the T&M travels south through Preston Brook Tunnel (one-way operation, alternating each half-hour) and two smaller tunnels at Saltersford (since 2008 also one-way operation, alternating each half-hour), and Barnton to
Trent and Mersey Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-436: The canal pressure with the influx of water. It was also designed as an elongated reservoir passing through traps creating 66 mini catchments as it flows from Kala Wewa to Thissa Wawa . The canal was not designed for the quick conveying of water from Kala Wewa to Thissa Wawa but to create a mass of water between the two reservoirs, which would in turn provided for agriculture and the use of humans and animals. They also achieved
3483-576: The canal reaches Great Haywood Junction and the towpath bridge across the junction with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal , which heads south to skirt Wolverhampton and join with the River Severn at Stourport-on-Severn , thus connecting the Mersey with the Severn. The next event is a right-angle bend, of no apparent significance from the boat, but this is where the canal (and the Trent itself) changes its basic direction from south-east to north-east (heading towards Nottingham). Very near
3564-418: The canal to form a dam. They are generally placed in pre-existing grooves in the canal bank. On more modern canals, "guard locks" or gates were sometimes placed to allow a section of the canal to be quickly closed off, either for maintenance, or to prevent a major loss of water due to a canal breach. A canal fall , or canal drop, is a vertical drop in the canal bed. These are built when the natural ground slope
3645-621: The canal was completed, including more than 70 locks and five tunnels , with the company headquarters in Stone . The first known idea to build a canal between the River Mersey and the River Trent was put forward in 1755, though no action was taken at that time. In 1760, Lord Gower , a local businessman and brother-in-law of the Duke of Bridgewater , drew up a plan for the Trent and Mersey Canal. If his plan had gone ahead, this would have been
3726-462: The canal. Where large amounts of goods are loaded or unloaded such as at the end of a canal, a canal basin may be built. This would normally be a section of water wider than the general canal. In some cases, the canal basins contain wharfs and cranes to assist with movement of goods. When a section of the canal needs to be sealed off so it can be drained for maintenance stop planks are frequently used. These consist of planks of wood placed across
3807-469: The channel. There are two broad types of canal: Historically, canals were of immense importance to commerce and the development, growth and vitality of a civilization. In 1855 the Lehigh Canal carried over 1.2 million tons of anthracite coal; by the 1930s the company which built and operated it for over a century ceased operation. The few canals still in operation in our modern age are a fraction of
3888-542: The distance to Preston Brook and Shardlow , Derwent Mouth is about 1 mile (1.6 km) beyond Shardlow. The plan of a canal connection from the Mersey to the Trent ("The Grand Trunk") came from canal engineer James Brindley . It was authorised by an act of Parliament , the Trent and Mersey Canal Act 1766 ( 6 Geo. 3 . c. 96) and the first sod was cut by Josiah Wedgwood in July that year at Brownhills, Burslem . In 1777,
3969-399: The drop follows an s-shaped curve to create a smooth transition and reduce turbulence . However, this smooth transition does not dissipate the water's kinetic energy, which leads to heavy scouring. As a result, the canal needs to be reinforced with concrete or masonry to protect it from eroding. Another type of canal fall is the vertical fall, which is "simple and economical". These feature
4050-470: The first modern canal constructed in England. James Brindley , the engineer behind many of the canals in England, did his first canal work on the Trent and Mersey, though his first job in charge of construction was on the Bridgewater Canal . In 1761, Josiah Wedgwood showed an interest in the construction of a canal through Stoke-on-Trent, the location of his Wedgwood pottery, as his business depended on
4131-670: The first summit level canal to use pound locks in Europe was the Briare Canal connecting the Loire and Seine (1642), followed by the more ambitious Canal du Midi (1683) connecting the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. This included a staircase of 8 locks at Béziers , a 157 metres (515 ft) tunnel, and three major aqueducts. Canal building progressed steadily in Germany in the 17th and 18th centuries with three great rivers,
SECTION 50
#17327879776334212-402: The freedom to make deliveries well away from rail lined road beds or ditches in the dirt which could not operate in the winter. The longest extant canal today, the Grand Canal in northern China, still remains in heavy use, especially the portion south of the Yellow River . It stretches from Beijing to Hangzhou at 1,794 kilometres (1,115 miles). Canals are built in one of three ways, or
4293-445: The help of two of his friends, Thomas Bentley and Erasmus Darwin . John Gilbert 's plan for the "Grand Trunk" canal met opposition at the eastern end where, in Burton on Trent, the locals objected to the canal passing parallel to the upper Trent navigation. In 1764, Wedgwood managed to convince Gilbert to include the Potteries in his route. In 1766, Gilbert's plan was authorised by an Act of Parliament. Later that year, "[o]n July 26th
4374-434: The higher waters of the Charles River and the mouth of the Neponset River and the sea. It was constructed in 1639 to provide water power for mills. In Russia, the Volga–Baltic Waterway , a nationwide canal system connecting the Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea via the Neva and Volga rivers, was opened in 1718. Etruria, Staffordshire Etruria is a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent , Staffordshire , England. Etruria
4455-477: The history of the site and original machinery. On the first weekend of each month the museum's 1903 coal-fired boiler provides steam to operate Princess which then turns the grinding machinery. Etruria Canals Festival takes place annually at Etruria Industrial Museum on the first weekend in June. Etruria remains connected by public transport. First Potteries operates bus routes 4 and 4A along Forge Lane and Festival Way between Hanley and Newcastle-under-Lyme ;
4536-451: The largest inland waterway marina in the United Kingdom, and then through wide locks (the first being at Stenson ) to Shardlow and finally Derwent Mouth . It is not far from Derwent Mouth, via the River Trent, to Trentlock , the four-way junction with the Erewash Canal (dead end at Great Northern Basin, formerly a link with the Cromford Canal ), Cranfleet Cut (bypassing Thrumpton Weir to continue navigation towards Nottingham ) and
4617-422: The load were carried by a barge on a waterway, then up to 30 tons could be drawn by the same horse. — technology historian Ronald W. Clark referring to transport realities before the industrial revolution and the Canal age . Hohokam was a society in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona , United States, and Sonora , Mexico. Their irrigation systems supported the largest population in
4698-412: The longest canal in the world today and the oldest extant one. It is 1,794 kilometres (1,115 mi) long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Zhuodu ( Beijing ) and Yuhang ( Hangzhou ). The project began in 605 and was completed in 609, although much of the work combined older canals, the oldest section of the canal existing since at least 486 BC. Even in its narrowest urban sections it
4779-419: The longest one of that period being the Hong Gou (Canal of the Wild Geese), which according to the ancient historian Sima Qian connected the old states of Song, Zhang, Chen, Cai, Cao, and Wei. The Caoyun System of canals was essential for imperial taxation, which was largely assessed in kind and involved enormous shipments of rice and other grains. By far the longest canal was the Grand Canal of China , still
4860-576: The nearby Shelton Bar steelworks. Large-scale regeneration began in the 1980s with the Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival . Since the Festival closed at the end of 1986, the site has been given over to the Festival Park commercial and retail development. Etruria was also formerly home to The Sentinel , the local evening newspaper for the Stoke-on-Trent area. The press hall there was responsible for printing several newspaper titles, including The Sentinel , and many northern editions of The Daily Mail . The Sentinel had previously been based in Hanley, and upon
4941-506: The numbers that once fueled and enabled economic growth, indeed were practically a prerequisite to further urbanization and industrialization. For the movement of bulk raw materials such as coal and ores are difficult and marginally affordable without water transport. Such raw materials fueled the industrial developments and new metallurgy resulting of the spiral of increasing mechanization during 17th–20th century, leading to new research disciplines, new industries and economies of scale, raising
SECTION 60
#17327879776335022-413: The opposition of the Canal Company to the creation of the Railway Company. In particular, the NSR had plans for a railway from Stoke-on-Trent to Liverpool, however, this line was abandoned because of opposition from other rail interests. In 1891 the North Staffordshire Railway Company obtained statutory powers to raise £400,000 (equivalent to £55,180,000 in 2023) to widen and improve the canal. By 1893
5103-411: The pre-railroad days of the industrial revolution, water transport was the gold standard of fast transportation. The first artificial canal in Western Europe was the Fossa Carolina built at the end of the 8th century under personal supervision of Charlemagne . In Britain, the Glastonbury Canal is believed to be the first post-Roman canal and was built in the middle of the 10th century to link
5184-403: The roof with their feet. This was a physically demanding and slow process and created major delays, so civil engineer Thomas Telford was commissioned to provide a second, wider, parallel tunnel with a towpath. This 2,926-yard-long (2,676 m) tunnel was opened in 1827. In the 1900s, the Brindley tunnel was closed because of severe subsidence, but the Telford Tunnel – although also prone to
5265-425: The safe and smooth transport of his pots. Pots transported by road were liable to be damaged and broken, and a canal near to his factory would provide fast and safe transport for his wares. Wedgwood's plan was not to connect the two rivers by canal, but to connect the potteries to the River Mersey. There was much debate about possible routes that a canal could take. Coal merchants in Liverpool felt threatened about
5346-443: The same problems – remains in use, and is the fourth-longest navigable canal tunnel in the United Kingdom . Just north of Harecastle Tunnel, the T&M features a 'flyover' junction. The Hall Green Branch leaves the T&M mainline (which runs east–west here) on the south side, but then crosses over the main line and travels a short distance north to join the Macclesfield Canal at Hall Green Stop lock (some guides do not refer to
5427-480: The section between the Anderton Boat Lift and Middlewich had been widened and deepened to allow an increase in the maximum tonnage of boats using this section to be increased from 30 tons to 60 tons. The basin at Middlewich was widened from 16 feet (4.9 m) to 50 feet (15 m) with the erection of a concrete wall and an extension to the wharfage. The canal was dredged by a Priestman -type steam dredger which removed between 80,000 and 100,000 tons. The Grand Trunk
5508-423: The site's closure it moved back. The site was bought by Bet365 and demolished to make way for new offices. Etruria was served by a railway station which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on 9 October 1848, but it was closed on 30 September 2005. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Etruria Railway Station was used as a base for Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show. His reason was, that as it
5589-480: The standard of living for any industrialized society. Most ship canals today primarily service bulk cargo and large ship transportation industries, whereas the once critical smaller inland waterways conceived and engineered as boat and barge canals have largely been supplanted and filled in, abandoned and left to deteriorate, or kept in service and staffed by state employees, where dams and locks are maintained for flood control or pleasure boating. Their replacement
5670-399: The valley of the River Dee . Another option for dealing with hills is to tunnel through them. An example of this approach is the Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal . Tunnels are only practical for smaller canals. Some canals attempted to keep changes in level down to a minimum. These canals known as contour canals would take longer, winding routes, along which the land was
5751-459: The wide locks can accommodate boats 14 feet (4.3 m) wide, or two narrowboats next to each other. The Trent and Mersey Canal (T&M) was built to link the River Trent at Derwent Mouth in Derbyshire to the River Mersey , and thereby provide an inland route between the major ports of Hull and Liverpool . The Mersey connection is made via the Bridgewater Canal , which it joins at Preston Brook in Cheshire . Although mileposts measure
5832-530: Was a part of a larger scheme of James Brindley 's to link the four main rivers of England ( Trent , Mersey , Severn and Thames ) in a project known as the "Grand Cross". The Trent and Mersey Canal provided the northwestern arm of the cross (to the Mersey), and the northeastern arm (to the Trent). It also provided the central hub of the cross, between Great Haywood , and Fradley Junctions. The southwestern arm, to
5913-466: Was also expensive, as men expect compensation in the form of wages, room and board. This was because long-haul roads were unpaved, more often than not too narrow for carts, much less wagons, and in poor condition, wending their way through forests, marshy or muddy quagmires as often as unimproved but dry footing. In that era, as today, greater cargoes, especially bulk goods and raw materials , could be transported by ship far more economically than by land; in
5994-458: Was an option in some cases, sometimes supplemented by other methods to deal with seasonal variations in flow. Where such sources were unavailable, reservoirs – either separate from the canal or built into its course – and back pumping were used to provide the required water. In other cases, water pumped from mines was used to feed the canal. In certain cases, extensive "feeder canals" were built to bring water from sources located far from
6075-574: Was declared a linear Conservation Area . The towpath was upgraded in the 1990s and forms part of the National Cycle Network ( Route 5 ). A charity, the Burslem Port Trust , has been established to renovate the short Burslem arm of the Trent & Mersey Canal which will extend 3/8 mile into Burslem. The route is conveniently divided into a northern and southern section by the Harecastle Tunnel . The northern end of
6156-470: Was gradual, beginning first in the United States in the mid-1850s where canal shipping was first augmented by, then began being replaced by using much faster , less geographically constrained & limited, and generally cheaper to maintain railways . By the early 1880s, canals which had little ability to economically compete with rail transport, were off the map. In the next couple of decades, coal
6237-472: Was in the Midlands, it was central to the whole country (and possibly a cheaper rent or lease for the sidings) and it was thus easier to get around the whole country than travelling completely from the south to the north and vice versa. Many of the performers in his show were often seen around the locality of May Bank and Wolstanton in their Native Indian attire, as it was the only clothes that they owned. There
6318-424: Was increasingly diminished as the heating fuel of choice by oil, and growth of coal shipments leveled off. Later, after World War I when motor-trucks came into their own, the last small U.S. barge canals saw a steady decline in cargo ton-miles alongside many railways, the flexibility and steep slope climbing capability of lorries taking over cargo hauling increasingly as road networks were improved, and which also had
6399-426: Was once used to describe linear features seen on the surface of Mars , Martian canals , an optical illusion. A navigation is a series of channels that run roughly parallel to the valley and stream bed of an unimproved river. A navigation always shares the drainage basin of the river. A vessel uses the calm parts of the river itself as well as improvements, traversing the same changes in height. A true canal
6480-705: Was the fourth and penultimate site for the Wedgwood pottery business. Josiah Wedgwood , who was previously based in Burslem , opened his new works in 1769. It was named after the Italian district of Etruria , home of the Etruscan people who were renowned for their artistic products. The site covered 350 acres (140 ha) and was next to the Trent and Mersey Canal . As well as Wedgwood's home, Etruria Hall , it included
6561-549: Was then the only operational boat-lift in the United Kingdom until the construction of the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland . Another major feature is the Harecastle Tunnel , near Kidsgrove in the city of Stoke-on-Trent , north Staffordshire . There are actually two tunnels; the first was built by Brindley and was 2,880 yards (2,630 m) long, and boats were moved through by men lying on their backs and pushing against
#632367