39495
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal in Kinver, South Staffordshire.
It links the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal in Great Haywood.
James Brindley was the chief engineer of the canal, which was part of his "Grand Cross" plan for waterways connecting the major ports at Hull (via the Trent), Liverpool (via the Mersey), Bristol (via the Severn) and London (via the Thames).
The Act of Parliament authorising the canal was passed on 14 May 1766. This created "The Company of Proprietors of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Navigation", which was empowered to raise an initial £70,000 (equivalent to £9,805,998 in 2019).
The canal was completed in 1771 for a cost that exceeded the authorised capital and opened to trade in 1772. It was a commercial success, with trade from the Staffordshire Potteries southwards to Gloucester and Bristol, and trade from the Black Country northwards to the Potteries via the junction with the Birmingham Canal at Aldersley.
The Company obtained a second Act of Parliament on 9 June 1790, authorising it to raise another £12,000 (equivalent to £1,444,462 in 2019), to improve the River Severn immediately below Stourport as far as Diglis, to improve navigation to and from the canal.
Trade declined when the newer Worcester and Birmingham Canal was opened in 1815, providing a more direct route between Birmingham and Bristol. To remain competitive, the company increased the hours when locks could be used, and by 1830 they were available 24 hours a day.
To resolve the situation, the Birmingham Canal Company and the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Company jointly promoted an Act of Parliament to authorise a short canal that would have left the Birmingham Canal at a higher level than the junction, crossed the Staffordshire and Worcestershire by an aqueduct, and then dropped down by a series of locks to join the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal.
Despite the competition, and later competition from the railways, the canal company paid dividends to its shareholders until the end of the 19th century, although profits fell steadily from the 1860s. It remained independent until the Transport Act 1947 nationalised Britain's canals on 1 January 1948. In its latter years, the major trade was in coal from Cannock to a power station at Stourport which closed in 1949.
In 1959 the British Transport Commission planned to close the canal, but it was saved by a volunteer group, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society.
Information Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffordshire_and_Worcestershire_Canal
39495
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal in Kinver, South Staffordshire.
It links the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal in Great Haywood.
James Brindley was the chief engineer of the canal, which was part of his "Grand Cross" plan for waterways connecting the major ports at Hull (via the Trent), Liverpool (via the Mersey), Bristol (via the Severn) and London (via the Thames).
The Act of Parliament authorising the canal was passed on 14 May 1766. This created "The Company of Proprietors of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Navigation", which was empowered to raise an initial £70,000 (equivalent to £9,805,998 in 2019).
The canal was completed in 1771 for a cost that exceeded the authorised capital and opened to trade in 1772. It was a commercial success, with trade from the Staffordshire Potteries southwards to Gloucester and Bristol, and trade from the Black Country northwards to the Potteries via the junction with the Birmingham Canal at Aldersley.
The Company obtained a second Act of Parliament on 9 June 1790, authorising it to raise another £12,000 (equivalent to £1,444,462 in 2019), to improve the River Severn immediately below Stourport as far as Diglis, to improve navigation to and from the canal.
Trade declined when the newer Worcester and Birmingham Canal was opened in 1815, providing a more direct route between Birmingham and Bristol. To remain competitive, the company increased the hours when locks could be used, and by 1830 they were available 24 hours a day.
To resolve the situation, the Birmingham Canal Company and the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Company jointly promoted an Act of Parliament to authorise a short canal that would have left the Birmingham Canal at a higher level than the junction, crossed the Staffordshire and Worcestershire by an aqueduct, and then dropped down by a series of locks to join the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal.
Despite the competition, and later competition from the railways, the canal company paid dividends to its shareholders until the end of the 19th century, although profits fell steadily from the 1860s. It remained independent until the Transport Act 1947 nationalised Britain's canals on 1 January 1948. In its latter years, the major trade was in coal from Cannock to a power station at Stourport which closed in 1949.
In 1959 the British Transport Commission planned to close the canal, but it was saved by a volunteer group, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society.
Information Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffordshire_and_Worcestershire_Canal