All water from the river entered the canal nearby, and any surplus was released into the Mersey through the Weaver sluices, which were located just upstream of the junction.

A notable feature is the Anderton Boat Lift, which is near Northwich, and links the Weaver with the Trent and Mersey Canal some 50 feet (15 m) above.

[3] Continuing northwards, it passes under the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal[4] before the village of Church Minshull.

They diverge near Winsford, the current head of navigation,[6] and at Northwich the river turns to flow north-west across north Cheshire.

Below Winsford, the course of the river has been altered several times, by the construction of cuts and locks, to enable small ships to trade on it.

[2] By the early 17th century, coal was being transported into the area so that it could be used to evaporate the brine, and as the industry expanded, there were calls to improve the river to simplify this trade.

Rates for tolls were set, which were to be reduced by 20 per cent once the cost of construction had been met, and profits were then to be used to maintain bridges and highways within Cheshire.

[12] Progress was slow, as only Richard Vernon of the original three undertakers was actively engaged on the project, and he could not reach agreement with the commissioners.

The commissioners largely ignored the survey which had been carried out by Henry Berry, and decided to enlarge the locks to 17.3 feet (5.3 m) wide.

[16] The proposed Trent and Mersey Canal was seen as a threat by the Trustees of the Navigation, for it ran parallel to the River Weaver for some distance near Anderton.

They also set about repaying their debts, which were liquidated in July 1775, resulting in some of the profits being given to the County of Cheshire, as stated in the original act of Parliament.

The downturn was short lived, as the salt trade developed, figures reaching their former levels by 1783, and climbing another 40 per cent to 171,719 tons by 1790.

[19] Below Frodsham, barges carrying salt had to negotiate a tidal section of the river to reach the Mersey, from where the cargo would be taken to Liverpool or Manchester for distribution worldwide.

The trustees wanted to pay for this extension by raising tolls, but the users objected, and it took several years to work out a deal which suited both parties.

[11] The trustees insisted that their own engineer, John Johnson, should oversee the work, but the project was too large for him, and ran over time and budget.

[19] Further improvements to make the river suitable for coasters began in 1856, when Edward Leader Williams was appointed as engineer.

Because of the difference in level, a vertical boat lift was designed by Edwin Clark, using counterbalanced tanks which were linked by a hydraulic system.

The lift was replaced by a new design, where each tank was attached to its own counterbalance weight by wire ropes and pulleys, with small electric motors to overcome friction.

Although it is possible for pleasure craft to reach the Weaver from the Ship Canal, it is a commercial waterway, and most leisure users are dissuaded from doing so by the amount of paperwork and the requirements of the operating company.

[8] Rowing is popular on the River Weaver, with competitive clubs in Runcorn, Northwich,[24] and Acton Bridge (The Grange School).

Several clubs lease fishing rights for different parts of the river from British Waterways, as it holds populations of bream, three types of carp, chub, dace, eels, perch, pike, roach, rudd and tench.

The Weaver Sailing Club is based at Frodsham, and uses a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) stretch of the river for activities which include youth training and racing of several types of dinghy sailboats.

Steel semaphore signals control access to the locks, and again the movement of the gates employs a Pelton turbine.

It consists of 48 round arches, constructed of blue bricks and red sandstone, with iron spans over the channels.

A. Saner, who was the Navigation's engineer, and incorporate a sectional pontoon, which is immersed in the river and carries about 80 per cent of the weight of the bridge.

The Pelton turbines which control the gates were built to Stoney's patent, and carry plates which indicate that they were manufactured by Hanna, Donald & Wilson of Paisley.

[47] The adjacent lock, which was designed by Robert Pownall and George Leigh in 1781, was modified in 1830 and later, but most traffic was using the Weston cut by the time of the 1890s upgrade, and so it retained some of its original features.

There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms and fish.

Reasons for not achieving good quality include agricultural runoff and the discharge of treated effluent from sewage treatment works along the length of the river.

[59] Download coordinates as: The following is a list of those named watercourses which enter the river Weaver on its left (L) or right (R) bank.