LEEDS LIVERPOOL CANAL
The Leeds & Liverpool
Canal was the earliest of the trans-Pennine canals
to be mooted, offering a gentler,
less direct route than the Huddersfield Narrow and the
Rochdale. But construction delays meant it only fulfilled
its potential later in the 19th century. It was built
in stages from either end over a period of almost half
a century.
Together with
the Aire & Calder Navigation, which
it meets at Leeds, it offered a coast to coast route
between the Irish Sea and the North Sea. At 127 miles
long, the Leeds & Liverpool main line is the longest
canal in the land historically run by a single company
- and its branches, to Rufford and Leigh, add even more
to the total. Only the Grand Union can beat this total,
and that was a 20th century merger of several distinct
canal companies. The summit level at Foulridge was opened
in 1796.
Locks on the
Leeds & Liverpool were for the most
part built to a size of 62 feet by 14 feet (18.8m x 4.3m).
The local cargo craft were known as 'short boats', broad-gauge
vessels capable of carrying around 45 tons. The reservoirs
built to supply the canal were never adequate, causing
water shortages in dry summers. Inevitably, much freight
deserted the canal for the railways and the roads at
the first opportunity.
Nonetheless, the impressive payload of the short boats
- around twice that of a standard narrowboat - enabled
the line to prosper for many years, and commercial carriage
of coal continued along the Leigh Branch to Wigan Power
Station into the 1970s. To the west of the line, the
canal's Rufford Branch replaced the earlier Douglas Navigation
that was used to export coal from Wigan. It now gives
access to the Ribble Estuary and then via the Ribble
Link to the Lancaster Canal.
Today,
the Leeds and Liverpool ranks as one of the most beautiful
canals in Great Britain whilst remaining one
of the quietest. There are just 35 hire boats on the
canal and only 1 significant marina between Wigan and
Leeds. Compare this to nearly 150 hire boats and a 300
berth marina on the 40 mile Llangollen canal and you
start to sense the tranquility that is the L&L.
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