Haslingden Canal
Haslingden Canal | |
---|---|
Specifications | |
Length | 13 miles (21 km) |
Status | Authorised but not built |
History | |
Date of act | 1794 |
Geography | |
Start point | Bury |
End point | Church, near Accrington |
The Haslingden Canal was a proposed canal link between the
The proposed canal would have been
History
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal had been authorised by
There were suggestions that the Leeds and Liverpool should be linked to the Rochdale by building a branch between Burnley and Todmorden, and an increasing number of shareholders were convinced that the canal should be routed further east. Whitworth and Priestley presented a report, which outlined a plan to re-route the Newburgh to Bamber Bridge section through Duxbury, Red Moss, where there would be a junction with the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal, Westhoughton, Hindley and Platt Bridge, where it would join the River Douglas Navigation. The disadvantage of the route was the need for locks to raise the level by 215 feet (66 m) to reach Red Moss, and a longer route via Burnley, Accrington and Blackburn was also considered. It was 12 miles (19 km) longer, but all on one level, and avoided the water supply problems likely with the Red Moss route.[5]
In 1792, the Manchester Bolton & Bury company proposed extending their Bury Branch to Rochdale, but agreed to drop the plan if the Leeds and Liverpool would build their line via Red Moss. The Leeds and Liverpool decided that a link to the Rochdale Canal would be better than an extension of the Bury Branch, and approved the East Lancashire diversion via Red Moss in February 1792. A
At this point, the Haslingden Canal was proposed, as an additional link between the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal at Bury and the Leeds and Liverpool at Church, near Accrington. Engineers from both canals had decided it was feasible, and William Bennet had worked on the detailed design. It would be 13 miles (21 km) long, and have to rise by 400 feet (120 m) to reach the summit at Haslingden, which was an expanding manufacturing centre. An Act of Parliament (
There was an attempt in July 1794 to engage millowners in a discussion about how alternatives to locks might work, but the project appears to have faded away after that. In 1797, the company was wound up, and the Red Moss scheme was also abandoned at the same time. Hadfield and Biddle have suggested that the scheme might have been a political move, rather than a genuine proposal.[8] In 1805, the Leeds and Liverpool decided to press ahead with the line to Red Moss, but reported that the Manchester Bolton & Bury were no longer ready to do so, although that company kept no record of the event. In 1810, common sense prevailed, and the Leeds and Liverpool agreed to share the southern end of the Lancaster Canal between Johnson's Hillock and Kirkless, near Wigan. Concessions on tolls agreed between the companies meant that a link to the Manchester Bolton & Bury was unlikely to be built.[9]
See also
Bibliography
- Hadfield, Charles; Biddle, Gordon (1970a). The Canals of North West England, Vol 1 (pp.1-236). David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4956-2.
- Hadfield, Charles; Biddle, Gordon (1970b). The Canals of North West England, Vol 2 (pp.241-496). David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4992-9.
- ISBN 978-0-00-721113-5.
References
- ^ Shead, Jim, History by Waterway from Haslingden Canal, Jim Shead, retrieved 18 August 2008
- ^ Pictorial History of the County of Lancaster ...: With One Hundred and Seventy Illustrations and a Map, Routledge, 1844, p. 24
- ^ Nicholson 2006, p. 79
- ^ Hadfield & Biddle 1970a, pp. 149, 154
- ^ Hadfield & Biddle 1970a, p. 150
- ^ Hadfield & Biddle 1970a, pp. 153–155
- ^ Hadfield & Biddle 1970a, pp. 259–260
- ^ Hadfield & Biddle 1970b, pp. 260–261
- ^ Hadfield & Biddle 1970b, pp. 160–161