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.
It opened as far as the site of the Old Double Lock by 1757 - 6 years before the first part of the Bridgewater Canal opened. Yet the Bridgewater is often proclaimed to be the first canal, since it was openly promoted as a canal rather than a river navigation! It is thought that the idea of building a separate canal was so radical that the Sankey's financial backers would be frightened away - hence the deception!
The canal was constructed with broad locks to accommodate the traditional Mersey "flats" or sailing barges that already plied the Mersey.
The canal from St Helens to Ravenhead was infilled in 1898 as part of the extension of Pilkingtons' glass works. 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.
Some parts of the canal have been built over or drained but large stretches are still in water.
The Sankey Canal Restoration Society (SCARS) was formed in 1985 to try to prevent further deterioration and begin restoration. They have put forward a proposal to construct a new 4 mile link to the Leigh Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which would connect the Sankey to the main canal system for the first time!
The Dry Dock
A number of organisations including local councils have been involved in restoration activities along ythe length of the canal.
The Sankey Valley Park has been created as a linear park along the route of the canal and footpaths laid out. Some bridges have been replaced and repaired including here in front of Winwick Dry Dock which formed part of Winwick Maintenance Yard.
Although there are some stretches of the canal that are still in water at this point it has been infilled, but the landscaping of the canal has laid out a well paved and marked trail along the canal route.
Next to the dry dock is an information board that has the following details about it.
Winwick Dry Dock
This important feature is the only remaining dry dock on the Sankey Canal. It was built entirely of sandstone with stepped sides and curved ends. Notice the steps allowing workers to get down to the floor and the sleepers for the traditional Mersey Flat boats to rest on. The one metre 'threshold depth' from the canal allowed the Mersey Flats access for repair. Once the boat was inside, the dock gates were closed and the water drained off via a small culvert in the western wall. This simple but highly efficient system used no machinery, just the lie of the land. Once repair work had taken place the dock was filled and the boat floated out.