History of the British canal system

The restrictions of coastal shipping and river transport were obvious, and horses and carts could only carry one or two tons of cargo at a time.

Because of the small loads that could be carried, supplies of essential commodities such as coal and iron ore were limited, and this kept prices high and restricted economic growth.

One horse-drawn canal barge could carry about thirty tonnes at a time, faster than road transport and at half the cost.

[2] In 1605, the government of King James I established the Oxford-Burcot Commission, which began to improve the system of locks and weirs on the River Thames, which were opened between Oxford and Abingdon by 1635.

[7] The net effect of these was to bring most of England, with the notable exceptions of Birmingham and Staffordshire, within 15 miles (24 km) of a waterway.

In Staffordshire the potter Josiah Wedgwood saw an opportunity to bring bulky cargoes of clay to his factory doors, and to minimise breakages of his fragile finished goods as they travelled to market.

Canal proposals were put forward by financial investors interested in profiting from dividends, as well as industrial businesses that wanted to move their raw materials and finished goods.

[14] On the majority of British canals, the canal-owning companies did not own or run a fleet of boats, since the acts of Parliament setting them up usually prohibited this, in order to prevent monopolies developing.

By the second half of the 19th century, many canals were owned by railway companies or competing with them, and many were in decline, with decreases in mile-ton charges to try to remain competitive.

This put an end to the huge profits that canal companies had enjoyed before the coming of the railways, and also had an effect on the boatmen who faced a drop in wages.

During the 19th century the canal systems of many European countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands were modernised and widened to take much larger boats.

This did not happen on a large scale in the UK, mainly because of the power of the railway companies, who owned most of the canals and saw no reason to invest in a competing form of transport.

Separately, old canal beds were used as landfill sites, destroyed by flood relief work on nearby rivers, or simply built over during the post-war housing boom.

All or part of the canals could be transferred to local authorities; this allowed roads to be built over them, mitigating the need to build expensive bridges and aqueducts.

[17] The last regular long distance narrowboat commercial contract, transporting coal from Atherstone to the Kearley and Tonge jam factory at Southall in west London, ended in 1971.

The establishment in 1946 of a group called the Inland Waterways Association by L. T. C. Rolt and Robert Aickman helped revive interest in the UK's canals to the point where they are a major leisure destination.

Although out of commercial or leisure use, many canals survived because they formed part of local water supply and drainage networks.

The Canal and River Trust maintains a list of the sites it believes are the most important; it is called the Seven Wonders of the Waterways.

Moses Benson, a Liverpool slaver, invested in the Lancaster Canal, which subsequently had a dramatic effect on the economy of Preston.

Three Bridges, London is a clever arrangement allowing the routes of the Grand Junction Canal, a road, and a railway line to cross each other.

Packet boats carried packages up to 112 pounds (51 kg) in weight as well as passengers at relatively high speed day and night.

The boats were owned and operated by individual carriers, or by carrying companies who would pay the captain a wage depending on the distance travelled, and the amount of cargo.

They included cabin cruisers, fly-boats, Humber Keels, Mersey Flats, narrowboats, trows, sloops and tub boats.

Waterway restoration organisations have returned many hundreds of miles of abandoned and remainder canals to use, and work is still ongoing to save many more.

They now work with local authorities and landowners to protect historic routes or proposed future diversions from being built over, develop restoration plans, and secure funding.

In 1970 the Waterway Recovery Group was formed to co-ordinate volunteer efforts on canals and river navigations throughout the United Kingdom.

[20] British Waterways began to see the economic and social potential of canalside development, and moved from hostility towards restoration, through neutrality, towards a supportive stance.

There has also been a movement to redevelop canals in inner city areas, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Salford and Sheffield, which have both numerous waterways and urban blight.

However, the network linked with coastal port cities such as London, Liverpool, and Bristol, where cargo could be exchanged with seagoing ships for import and export.

[23] In the 19th century, Manchester's merchants became dissatisfied with the poor service and high charges offered by the Liverpool docks, and the near-monopoly of the railways.