However, this trade ended in 1720, when duties were levied on all goods carried around the coast by sea, and it became cheaper to transport the coal by land.

Three traders from Carlisle, John Hicks, Henry Orme and Thomas Pattinson, sought an act of Parliament[which?]

which would waive the coastwise duties between Ellen Foot, as Maryport was then known, and Bank End, which was located on the river close to Carlisle.

1. c. 14) in February 1722, and could charge tolls on goods for 31 years, but there were no powers to make navigational cuts or build locks to improve the river.

[1] On the other side of the country, there was a scheme to extend navigation on the River Tyne westwards from Newburn to Hexham, which was not actioned, but from 1794 there were various schemes to extend or bypass the River Tyne, most of which were described as being part of a coast to coast canal which might end at Carlisle or Maryport.

The principal aim was to provide the city with a better and cheaper supply of coal, and a committee was appointed to push the plan forwards.

His canal would leave the Solway Firth about 1 mile (1.6 km) upstream of Bowness-on-Solway to reach Carlisle, and would cost £109,393.

In order to provide a water supply, a navigable feeder would continue onwards to Wigton, which would be suitable for 7-foot (2.1 m) wide narrow boats, and would cost an additional £38,139.

He also quoted two other prices for narrower canals, but noted that these would require goods to be transferred to smaller boats, with the inherent costs and inconvenience.

[4] After eight and a half years, another meeting was held at Carlisle on 7 October 1817, and Chapman was asked to produce a survey for a canal suitable for vessels of at least 70 tons.

Richard Buck had helped Chapman with the initial surveys, and it appears that his brother Henry fulfilled that role at the start of the project.

At Fisher's Cross, a basin 250 by 80 feet (76 by 24 m) had been built, which was connected to the Solway Firth by a sea lock with a long timber jetty.

There were no fixed bridges on the route, so that it could be used by coastal vessels, and where crossings were required, they were built using two-leaved drawbridges, similar in style to those on the Forth and Clyde Canal.

Shortly afterwards, the Treasury altered the rules on coastal taxes, and repealed the duties on coal, stone and slate carried between Whitehaven and Carlisle.

Towing of boats on the canal was organised by a group of men called Trackers, and by the end of the year tolls of £928 had been collected.

The steamer service to Liverpool began at about the same time, although the packet boat only ran in the summer months to begin with.

In early 1832, several shipowners had placed buoys in the Solway Firth, to mark the channel, and started collecting funds from ships to cover their costs.

With arrival of the railway imminent, the committee asked William Houston, of the Glasgow, Paisley and Ardrossan Canal to arrange the construction of a faster packet boat, and the Arrow entered service in 1834.

The old packet boat, Bailie Nicol Jarvie, was sold for £7 12 shillings (£7.60), and the company also started an omnibus service between Carlisle basin and the town centre.

The company decided to carry coal in barges, which were towed by a tug when operating on the Solway Firth, although they had initially considered using boats or rafts onto which the loaded railway wagons would be shunted.

A second packet boat was obtained from Paisley in July 1838, and tolls on the canal and railway were reduced in 1838 and 1839, to encourage through traffic.

[17] By the autumn of 1846, the company was seriously considering converting the canal into a railway, and commissioned a report, which was produced in February 1847, and suggested the idea was feasible.

[18] Despite the sale of the packet boat Clarence in 1847, and the withdrawal of the steamer service from Port Carlisle to Annan, passenger traffic remained good, but in April 1850 was affected by the introduction of cheaper fares to Liverpool, using the railway from Carlisle to Whitehaven, and a much shorter sea voyage from there to Liverpool.

In March 1852 the company decided that the best option was to convert the canal into a railway, raised some money from shareholders and loan holders, and sought an act of Parliament.

c. cliii) authorised the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway and Dock Company, with a working capital of £165,000.

Their railway left the Port Carlisle line at Drumburgh and ran to Silloth, where a dock to rival Maryport was constructed.