[1] The place-name 'Keadby' is first attested in 1185, where it appears as Ketebi in the Records of the Templars in England.

The canal is now mostly a leisure waterway for pleasure boaters, with Keadby being at the "end of the line".

[4] The King George V Bridge (also known as Keadby Lifting Bridge) provides a crossing for twin rail lines, a road and a pedestrian walkway over the Trent, connecting the Isle of Axholme to Scunthorpe and the rest of North Lincolnshire.

Approximately 0.5 miles (0.8 km) farther along the canal, a railway line crosses the canal over the Keadby Sliding Bridge, also known as Vazon Sliding Railway Bridge.

This is an unusual retractable bridge that can be rolled out of the line of the canal to allow boats through.