Sankey Canal Lock On River Meresy - Widnes, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 21.155 W 002° 43.904
30U E 517856 N 5911526
This river gauge is carved in stone at the entrance to the entrance lock to the Sankey Canal on Spike Island alongside the River Mersey.
Waymark Code: WMT8H5
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/14/2016
Views: 2
"Spike Island is an island in the estuary of the River Mersey and part of Widnes in the Borough of Halton in North West England.
The island was at the centre of the British Chemical industry during the 19th Century and part of the Industrial revolution. However by the 1970s the area contained abandoned chemical factories, rail lines, canal and industrial dockage, and extensive chemical pollution. Between 1975 and 1982 the Island was reclaimed and returned to green spaces."
link
"Widnes Dock was located at the southern end of the 1833 St Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway (SH&RGR) on the Lancashire side (north) of the River Mersey. The Runcorn Gap was a narrow point on the river at which a ferry connected West Bank in Lancashire to Runcorn in Cheshire . The SH&RGR was built primarily to move coal from the St Helens coalfield to the River Mersey for onward movement by river. The railway was built as a competitor to the Sankey Canal which had opened in 1757 for exactly the same purpose.
When the SH&RGR was authorised on 29 May 1830 the Sankey Navigation Canal Company had realised that they would be at a disadvantage as the canal entered the river three miles to the east of Runcorn Gap at Fiddlers Ferry. They obtained authorisation at the same time as the railway was authorised to extend the canal to Runcorn Gap.
link