Lancaster Canal Tramroad

As a temporary measure, the canal company constructed a tramroad to link the two halves and allow revenue traffic to start flowing.

In 1794, the canal company engaged the services of William Cartwright, first to supervise the construction of the foundations for the Lune Aqueduct and later as Resident Engineer.

The five-mile-long tramroad comprised a double-track plateway, except for a short section of single track through a tunnel under Fishergate in Preston, just south of the canal basin.

As was common on early 'railway' systems, the wagons could be privately owned by the hauliers themselves (known locally as halers) who paid the company a toll to use the tramroad.

The last haler to work the tramroad, John Procter, walked the 10-mile return journey twice a day for 32 years.

It has been estimated[2] that he walked or rode nearly 200,000 miles (300,000 km) during his career on the tramroad, and needed his clogs resoling once per week.

This part, including the tramroad bridge over the River Ribble, was turned into a footpath, which remains to the present day.

[4] A well-preserved section of track from the south side of the McKenzie Inn on Station Road in Bamber Bridge was taken up and relaid in Worden Park in Leyland.

They had lain there since an accident involving the failure of the endless chain on the Avenham Incline, which caused a train of wagons to run away and plunge into the river at the bottom.

Route of tramroad shown on a 2014 map
Footpath/cyclepath along route of tramroad
Former route of tramroad
Extant Lancaster Canal
Former route of Lancaster Canal
The River Ribble with the tramway bridge in the background
The tramroad bridge across the Ribble
All that remains of the terminus of the South branch of the Lancaster canal
The tunnel under Fishergate is now used to access a car park
Remains of the bridge over Garden Street in Preston