The Canals

Today the canals are mainly used by the tourism industry and private boat rather – most commercial traffic is now on just a few navigation. The use of canals seems obvious, it a method of travel used to transport goods as well as people. But with alternative transportation methods such as automotive vehicles, trains and airplanes, commercial transportation through the canals seems unnecessary. With this in mind, one can’t help but question the original purpose of the canals? With a little research and the help of my good buddy Google, I discovered why the canals were built in the first place.

The Industrial Revolution forever changed the manufacturing process of merchandise. During the eighteenth century commerce was bursting in England and manufacturing was moving from cottage industry to factories. This introduced the concept of mass production of low quality goods. Additional roads were being built and improved but they couldn’t handle heavy bulk materials such as coal or fragile materials like pottery. A single horse can pull fifty tons in a boat, and there were over a thousand miles of navigable rivers, but the horses were become exhausted. Canals seemed to be the answer to moving such materials across long distances. The man most associated with the early canals was Francis Egerton, the Duke of Bridgewater, who, in 1759, built a short canal that by-passed the River Irwell. His Bridgewater Canal allowed his coals to travel from his mines at Worsley directly to Manchester and Livepool, without paying tolls to the Irwell Navigation. Coal prices were halved and he became even richer as the furnaces of the Industrial Revolution roared even louder. Over the next fifty years canal mania hit London and two thousand miles of canals were built linking the Rivers Mersey, Trent, Severn and Thames together.

Source: Canal Junction