Trent and Mersey Canal
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The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal linking the River Trent at Shardlow in Derbyshire to the River Mersey at Runcorn in Cheshire. It runs for 93.5 miles (140 km), providing a connection from north-west England to the East Midlands, and was opened in 1777.
The idea of a canal connection from the Mersey to the Trent ("The Grand Trunk") came from canal engineer James Brindley. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1766 and the first sod was cut by Josiah Wedgwood in July that year at Middleport. Less than eleven years later, the whole canal, including more than 70 locks and five tunnels, was open, with the company headquarters in Stone.
The majority of locks accommodate one narrowboat, ie. 72 x 7 feet.
A special feature on the Cheshire stretch of the canal is the Anderton Boat Lift, the world's first boat-lift. Until the construction of the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, it was the only boat-lift in the United Kingdom.
Another major feature is the Harecastle Tunnel, near Kidsgrove in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, north Staffordshire. There are actually two tunnels. The first tunnel, built by Brindley was 2880 yards (2633 m) long; barges were 'legged' through by men lying on their backs and pushing against the roof with their feet. This was a physically demanding and slow process and created major delays, so leading civil engineer Thomas Telford was commissioned to provide a second and wider, parallel tunnel, with a towpath. This 2926 yard (2676 m) long tunnel was opened in 1827. In the 1900s, the Brindley tunnel was closed due to severe subsidence, but the Telford Tunnel - although also prone to the same problems - remains in use, and is the fourth longest navigable canal tunnel in the UK.
The canal passes south through the city of Stoke-on-Trent, where it formed an integral part of the 1986 National Garden Festival, the Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival. The canal's towpath forms a vital part of the city's National Cycle Network. At Stoke it is joined by the popular Caldon Canal. It then passes through Stone, Stafford, and Burton upon Trent.
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