Sankey Canal - Fiddlers Ferry Lock - Penketh, UK - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts 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.

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.

In 1762, a 1.5 mile extension was built at the southern end, from Sankey Bridges to a new lock onto the Mersey at Fidlers Ferry (also known as Fiddlers Ferry). This bypassed the narrow, winding course of the Sankey Brook below Sankey Bridges, that was only navigable at high tides.

The Penny Bridge branch was extended to Stanley Colliery at Blackbrook Quay in 1770. Between 1770 and 1772 a further branch was constructed, south from the Gerard's Bridge branch, to Boardmans Bridge, south of the present St Helens railway station. This branch was reached by the construction of the New Double Lock and eventually came to be regarded as the "main line"

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!

Fiddlers Ferry Lock
Between 1762 and 1833, this was the end of the Sankey Canal, where boats joined or left the tidal River Mersey. A second lock, now filled in, was built a short distance to the west, to enable more boats to lock through with each tide. The locks became disused after the canal was extended to Widnes in 1833. This lock was restored in the 1980s by Warrington Council and now gives access to a marina.

Currently boats can either access the marina or a repair boat yard. Many use the marina as a shelter from the tidal River Mersey.

Because the Mersey is tidal the use of the lock is restricted to high tides as at low tide there are only exposed mud banks on the Mersey.

There is a swing bridge across the entrance to the lock which carries the towpath users including vehicles accessing the boat yard.

When the canal was extended to Widnes in 1833 another lock onto the Mersey was created at that point and this lock closed. Except for a short stretch the canal is still in water between here and Widnes, although there is one fixed pedestrian bridge across the canal. With no major roads crossed, however, this is the easiest and most convenient section for restoration.

There is currently a major new road bridge being constructed across the Mersey near Widnes (Mersey Gateway Bridge).

The Linking the Locks project’s aim is to restore this section to navigation over the next three years (starting in 2014), via a joint project between Halton and Warrington Councils and the Sankey Canal Restoration Society (SCARS).

The contractor for the new Mersey Gateway Bridge has agreed to replace the fixed bridge to Spike Island with a swing bridge, and the task will be given to apprentices as a suitable project.

Waterway Name: SankeyCanal Connected Points: Connected the River Mersey and Sankey - Penny Bridge - Gerard's Bridge Junction Type: Lock Date Opened: 01/01/1762 Elevation Difference (meters): 2.00 Site Status: Operational Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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