Landlocked waterways

[magpie patrick]

I have been holding forth, spouting, boring people, however you might want to put it, on how the waterways developed into a network, or networks if you prefer. The basic proposition I have is that generally rivers extended navigation in from the sea and canals extended it from there. This doesn't mean the vessels went from The middle of the Irish sea to Birmingham, or even that the trade took such a route, but that development was often an extension of what was already available.

 

But it has occurred to me that the Bridgewater canal, often (erroneously) claimed to be the first, was not. It linked the collieries at Worsley to the market in Manchester, and didn't extend an existing navigation to do so (a branch off the Mersey and Irwell would have sufficed). It's trade was not an extension of another and it could have been landlocked when first built. I don't know whether it was unconnected to anything else but to serve it's main market it could have been.

 

We actually have a paradox in that most traffic on the canal system was relatively local and yet the system itself was, well, a system. In theory, all this local traffic could have resulted in a lot of isolated waterways.

 

So I suppose my question is, were any isolated waterways planned? Or to put it another way were any waterways planned in isolation? By isolated I mean not connecting to another canal, river or the sea (connection could be by transhipment within reason). I don't think any ended up isolated except the Brecon and Abergavenny, which was the result of a closure not the result of being planned that way.

So, landlocked, isolated canals. Were there any built or planned?

[MtB]

The Cromford Canal looks on a map as though it may have always been isolated...

[Rob-M]

The Cromford Canal looks on a map as though it may have always been isolated...

Didn't the Cromford link to the Erewash..?

[Laurence Hogg]

St Columb? Kington, Leominster & Stourport as constructed and used, Compstall navigation, there must be more...

[Stedman II]

My 1904 Bradshaw has the Cromford connecting with both the Erewash and the Nottingham, It also, in section 12 lists all the groups of connected waterways, and cites 28 groups. The final 'group' (of one canal) is the Shropshire (Coalport) Canal, with no connection to any other waterway. That is certainly one contender.

[RLWP]

There was a canal between Cambeltown and Machrihanish*

 

Richard

 

*I think I got my spelling right

[Tiggs]

Didn't the Cromford link to the Erewash..?

Yes, and the Nottingham Canal at Langley Mill.

It closed due to a dodgy tunnel which would need to be fixed to re-open it.

The top end has a horse boat working on it for visitors to the area - part of the Derwent Valley World Heretage site.

[David Mack]

But it has occurred to me that the Bridgewater canal, often (erroneously) claimed to be the first, was not. It linked the collieries at Worsley to the market in Manchester, and didn't extend an existing navigation to do so (a branch off the Mersey and Irwell would have sufficed).

 

Perhaps it was more to do with the Duke having full control of his coal from mine to market, rather than being reliant on others.

 

It's trade was not an extension of another and it could have been landlocked when first built.

It was landlocked when first built. But the Duke quickly realised that extending to Runcorn would give him his own route to Liverpool (in competition with the Mersey and Irwell), and so presumably access to coastal shipping, and an opportunity to capitalise on the Manchester import/export trade.

[Graham Davis]

I have a feeling that the Glamorgan Canal didn't actually connect with the tidal docks at first, so was landlocked.

And what about the Tavistock Canal?

[Pluto]

Don't forget re the Bridgewater that it was a development of the ideas behind the Worsley Brook navigation, which would have linked the mines to the M&IN, for which the first Duke obtained an Act in 1737.

 

On isolated canals, there are the remains of one in Haigh Park, Wigan, which connected a coal mine to Haigh Forge, and Emmetts Canal near Birkenshaw, which was built for the same reason.

[bigste]

The Tavistock was connected to the River Tamar, albeit via an inclined plane. It is or was not your normal canal as is was much smaller, taking boats of 30ft x 5ft. Built in the 1800s it is still in water but has a very unsafe tunnel. It has not locks but does have a slight decent so there is a flow to push waterwheels along it's route to Morwhellham Quay. Morwhellham is twenty odd miles up the Tamar and is tidal. Once of a day quite large vessels used it but nowadays it is only open to shallow draft stuff. I've been there many times and it is a very interesting day out.

[Pluto]

Considering isolated canals a bit further, I have a list of 43 underground canals (there were undoubtedly more), only 7 of which were linked to the canal 'system'. Those unconnected include the Magpie Sough at Bakewell, so there's one for you to visit.

[carlt]

Adelphi Canal carried castings from the iron works at Calow for 1/2 mile then transhipped to the Chesterfield by road.

[carlt]

Another landlocked ironworks canal was in the Forest of Dean but I cannot remember the name nor find it on the internet.

[AMModels]

Theres the Cemlyn canal nr Porthmadog, it connected with the Dwyryd and then to the sea but never to the main system.

 

http://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/cemlyn-canal.html

 

and here No 46.

 

http://www.welshmines.org/wms/publ/nl02_04b.pdf

[X Alan W]

Yes, and the Nottingham Canal at Langley Mill.

It closed due to a dodgy tunnel which would need to be fixed to re-open it.

The top end has a horse boat working on it for visitors to the area - part of the Derwent Valley World Heretage site.

The Cromford as you say was connected to the Erewash & Nottingham at Langley Mill the basin by the Great Northern pub being the junction with the Nottingham, the Erewash Junction with the Cromford ( official junction is by LM lock)more or less just carried on from where it finishes ( at the end of LM boatyard moorings) it also had a cable hauled Tram/railway that used to cross the Ambergate/ Cromford road a short distance from Cromford It used to go up very steeply on your left as you traveled towards Cromford It's demise was the subsidence of Butterley Tunnel which with the small amount of traffic was deemed an uneconomical repair + it was not a through route to any connecting canal/s

[Machpoint005]

There's one a few hundred metres long at Etherow Park, near Marple Bridge/Compstall.

I thought pretty well all canals were built between A and B simply because somebody wanted to transport stuff from A to B?

Edited June 9, 2016 by Machpoint005

[Laurence Hogg]

My 1904 Bradshaw has the Cromford connecting with both the Erewash and the Nottingham, It also, in section 12 lists all the groups of connected waterways, and cites 28 groups. The final 'group' (of one canal) is the Shropshire (Coalport) Canal, with no connection to any other waterway. That is certainly one contender.

 

The Shropshire canal was originally joined to the Severn with a lock close to Coalport bridge, this was removed quite early in the navigations life due to constant problems with the Severn.

[Ray T]

There was a canal between Cambeltown and Machrihanish*

 

Richard

 

*I think I got my spelling right

 

We are at Perth at the moment in the land boat, I'll go and look.

[Bee]

My 1904 Bradshaw has the Cromford connecting with both the Erewash and the Nottingham, It also, in section 12 lists all the groups of connected waterways, and cites 28 groups. The final 'group' (of one canal) is the Shropshire (Coalport) Canal, with no connection to any other waterway. That is certainly one contender.

The lower bit of the Coalport canal, where it ran parallel to the Severn passes behind the Brewery inn, there is a tiny 'wharf' there, a platform just a few feet long and a couple of brick 'rails'( can't think what else to call them) down which barrels could be rolled, I really must photograph them sometime. I can only think that the Brewery Inn shipped beer out on the tub boats at some long forgotten time.

[Derek R.]

 

The Shropshire canal was originally joined to the Severn with a lock close to Coalport bridge, this was removed quite early in the navigations life due to constant problems with the Severn.

 

Indeed, and several sections of said canals were linked not by water, but by inclined planes with tub boats on cradles. Look at the Severn today around Coalport, and you'd have trouble keeping a canoe from grounding.

[RLWP]

 

We are at Perth at the moment in the land boat, I'll go and look.

 

Search out the route of the railway too then

 

Richard

[John Brightley]

The first parts of the Arbury Canals near Nuneaton were built in c. 1700-1710, well before any other waterways in the area were first contemplated.

And they weren't linked to the Coventry Canal until 1792.

Considering isolated canals a bit further, I have a list of 43 underground canals (there were undoubtedly more), only 7 of which were linked to the canal 'system'. Those unconnected include the Magpie Sough at Bakewell, so there's one for you to visit.

In case you don't have a record of it, Sir Roger Newdigate's diaries clearly state that there was an underground canal, with boats, on the Arbury Estate. Its exact location isn't known.

[magpie patrick]

Interesting stuff, especially confirmation that the Bridgwater was planned and built in isolation initially

 

Splendid isolation really is rather solitary - I used to do a talk on "The Isolated Waterways" but I meant those not connected to the main system. In that context the Bridgwater and Taunton was "isolated" but it was intended to communicate with the seagoing trade at Bridgwater, allowing Taunton better access to the coastal markets of the Bristol Channel and beyond, not just trade from Taunton to Bridgwater.

[Derek R.]

Most of the Shropshire canals (as opposed to Shropshire Union) were land locked. I cannot find a reference to any lock adjoining the River Severn at Coalport, and as the Shropshire canal at that point was only a short section from the Coalport works to the foot of the Hay inclined plane, and as the canal used tub boats, there would appear to be no reason to connect said section of canal to the river. It ran (runs? Still in water) parallel to the river terminating at Coalport wharf.

 

http://shropshirehistory.com/canals/canals/shropshire.htm