Black Brook Footpath Bridge - St. Helens, UK - Arch Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Sankey Canal
The Sankey Canal was originally known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and later as the St Helens Canal. It lays claim to being the first modern canal in England, or the first canal of the industrial age, and indeed it opened before its more famous neighbour, the Bridgewater Canal. To understand this claim, it is necessary to look at how the canal fits into the evolution of waterways. The first artificial waterways in England were constructed by the Romans, including the Foss Dyke between Lincoln and the Trent. In later centuries attempts were made to make rivers navigable by the use of weirs and locks, such as the Exeter Ship Canal, opened in 1566. By the 18th century, rivers such as the Mersey and Weaver were being navigated for some distance, and boats were even getting nearly a mile up the Sankey Brook to Sankey Bridges.

At this time, there was a growing demand for coal by salt manufacturers on the Weaver and new industries in Liverpool, but the only means of transporting the abundant coal from around Warrington, Parr and Haydock was by horse or cart over poor roads.

The idea of making the Sankey Brook navigable was put forward and gained support. In 1755 an Act of Parliament was passed to make the brook navigable as far as Broad Oak. So, officially, this was to be a traditional river navigation, but it is believed that the engineers knew that the brook was too shallow and twisting to be of practical use, so they constructed a completely separate canal alongside the brook. So, even though it was known as The Sankey Brook Navigation, it was, in practice, a discrete canal - the first to be built in England in modern times.

From 1900 traffic on the upper section of the canal dwindled and by the 1930s, the canal above Newton Common had been closed to navigation, with many of the bridges being replaced by fixed bridges.

Sugar was still being carried to the Sankey Sugar Company in Earlestown until the 1950s but after that trade ceased the canal was officially abandoned in 1963. link

The Bridge
Many stretches of the canal have been infilled or drained, but there are a number of stretches that are still in water.

The Sankey Canal Restoration Society has been formed by a number of peoplewho wish to see the canal restored for use by leisure boaters.

In the meantime the area round about has been made into the Sankey Valley Country Park and is popular with walkers and cyclists. The bridge takes one of these leisure paths across Black Brook which runs parallel with the route of the old canal.

What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Pedestrians and cyclists What kind of gap does this bridge cross?: Black Brook Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: yes Name of road or trail the bridge services: Unnamed footpath Location: St. helens Merseyside United Kingdom Length of bridge: Not listed Height of bridge: Not listed Date constructed: Not listed

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