Canal Wharf Bus Shelter - Middlewich, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 11.544 W 002° 26.640
30U E 537147 N 5893818
This bus shelter is next to a former wharf on the Trent & Mersey Canal and has been pained with a scene from the days when the wharf was in use.
Waymark Code: WMW7T4
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/21/2017
Views: 3
The Trent and Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey Canal was the UK's first long distance canal and as the name suggests was built to give a connection to the Rivers Trent and Mersey. (Access to the Mersey was actually via the Bridgewater Canal with some locks at Runcorn that no longer exist).
It opened in 1777 and is 93.5 miles (150.5 km) long and stretches from its connection with the Bridgewater Canal at Preston Brook to its connection with the River Trent at Derwent Mouth.
The bus shelter design
The shelter is in the middle of town on Lewin Street near to the junction with St. Michael's Way the main road through the town.
Very close to the shelter is an entrance onto the former wharf and a footpath along the canal.
The picture shows the canal wharf with a crane, a traditional canal boat passing between two road bridges and various canal buildings.
A nearby information board on the site of the wharf contains the following information about the wharf.
Based on late 19th and early 20th century trade directories, the district offices of the Trent and Mersey Canal Company were located within the Wharf area. Within the same complex were the district offices for agents to the North Staffordshire Railway and Canal Company and the Shropshire Union Canal Company. In addition to the district company offices a series of merchants operated within the wharf area including in 1850, John Henshall, a coal merchant and a 'wharfinger' by the name of William Henshall; and in 1874 a beer retailer by the name of John Evans.
Many independent carriers operated alongside large scale company carriers. The wharf area received everything for traders and householders including food stuffs, building materials, even furniture! The biggest export from the wharf was cheese; its destination was nation wide. Wharves were normally bases for canal companies but were public and could be used by any carrier. There were also wharves owned by companies or independents dealing with coal or brick making.
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