Bridgewater Canal - Lymm, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Bridgewater Canal

introduction

The Bridgewater canal was constructed in stages and the full route took more than 35 years to complete. Construction began in 1759 and the section you are currently on opened in 1766. It is known as a 'contour canal' because it maintains the same elevation along its length. Journeys then, are not interrupted by the need to negotiate locks.

History and Development

The Bridgewater Canal was the work of Francis Egerton - 3rd Duke of Bridgewater - and the engineers John Gilbert and James Brindley.

The Duke owned mines in Worsley but had difficulty getting his coal to market due to the poor condition of roads at that time, especially in winter. He was convinced that a canal would be the answer to his problem, having been inspired by the canals he had seenon the continent.

He set about digging his canal, and the first section from Worsley to Castlefield in Manchester opened in 1761 - affording a much more practical and cheaper method of supplying the Manchester coal market.

The next stage was striking out across Cheshire to Runcorn, where access to the Mersey could be gained. This would enable the Duke to reach a much wider market, but opposition from landowners along the route, particularly Sir Richard Brooke of Norton Priory - meant that the canal was not completed until 1776.

By then the heyday of inland navigation had begun and the waterways network was beginning to take shape. When the canal reached Preston Brook, the Trent and Mersey Canal was under construction, so the Bridgewater Canal was linked to it. The final leg of the canal, from Worsley to Leigh was constructed in the late 1790s to link with the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

Canal Trade

Coal transportation was joined by other goods as inland waterways revolutionised commerce. Goods transported from Lymm included crops and fustian (a type of cloth). One of the old canal warehouses still remains at Agden Wharf, 1 1/2 miles east of here. On a rather less savoury note, one of the 'goods' transported to Lymm was 'nightsoil' - a polite phrase for human excrement. In the days before sewer systems were developed, nightsoil was collected from the city, transported along the canal to rural areas, and deposited on farmer's fields.

Eventually though the prosperity of canals was threatened by the advent of the railways. This brought about a reversal of roles fore those with an interest in canals, as they became the ones to lobby Parliament with their opposition to a new transport network.

However the infrastructure which had grown up with the canal meant that it was able to exist alongside the railways for many years. In fact commercial traffic continued to use the canal until the 1960s. It was around this time that the canal began to assume the character it has today as interest in pleasure cruising began to grow. well over a thousand pleasure craft are now registered on the Bridgewater Canal.

The Canal Today

The canal is owned by the Manchester Ship Canal Co. (MSC) who bought it from the Bridgewater Navigation Company in 1885. The full route is still navigable (though access to the Mersey can no longer be gained) and the towpath forms part of the 'Cheshire Ring', a 97 mile circuit of canalside paths.

Locally the canal can be used as a basis for circular walks of varying lengths which pass close by: The Trans Pennine Trail and the Mersey Valley Timberland Trail.

The MSC company manages the canal in conjunction with the Bridgewater Canal Trust. The trust was formed following a breach of the aqueduct over the River Bollin in August 1971. For a while this threatened to close the canal but the necessary reinstatement eventually took place and the route became fully open some two years later.

Lymm Heritage Trail

Lymm Heritage Trail is a self guided trail exploring the built and natural heritage of the village. The route is based on the north/south valley which runs through the village centre (comprising Lymm Dam, the Dingle and Slitten Gorge) and two east/west routes - the Bridgewater Canal and the former Warrington to Altrincham Railway (now part of the Trans Pennine Trail).

The full route is 3 1/2 miles but the trail can be walked in shorter sections if desired. The route is waymarked and route maps can be found on each of the eleven information boards along the trail.