67-689: The Crinan Canal is a nine miles (14 km) long navigable canal in Argyll and Bute , west of Scotland. It opened in 1801 and connects the village of Ardrishaig on Loch Gilp with Crinan on the Sound of Jura , providing a navigable route between the Firth of Clyde and the Inner Hebrides , without the need for a long diversion around the Kintyre Peninsula , and in particular the exposed Mull of Kintyre . Today
134-403: A mutual organisation , but no further details were released. BW welcomed the announcement, with the chairman Tony Hales stating that the plan would preserve the canals and their associated infrastructure, and "safeguard against a return to the decline and dereliction which they faced in the last century". It would also "unlock the enormous public support that there is for them." By September of
201-645: A varied history , from use for irrigation and transport , through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution , to today's role of recreational boating . Despite a period of abandonment, today the canal system in the United Kingdom is again increasing in use, with abandoned and derelict canals being reopened, and the construction of some new routes. Canals in England and Wales are maintained by navigation authorities . The biggest navigation authorities are
268-566: A classical style. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is an iron trough on tall stone piers. Barton Swing Aqueduct opens to let ships pass underneath on the Manchester Ship Canal. Three Bridges, London is an arrangement allowing the routes of the Grand Junction Canal, a road, and a railway line to cross each other. Locks are the most common means of raising or lowering a boat from one water level to another. The distinguishing feature of
335-482: A cleaned-up and well-used waterway was bringing visitors to other towns and waterside pubs – not just boaters, but people who just like being near water and watching boats (see gongoozler ). They began to clean up their own watersides, and to campaign for "their" canal to be restored. As a result of this growing revival of interest, for the first time in a century some new routes have been constructed (the Ribble Link and
402-563: A further hundred are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Through its charitable arm The Waterways Trust , British Waterways maintained a museum of its history at the National Waterways Museum 's three sites at Gloucester Docks, Stoke Bruerne and Ellesmere Port . Since the transfer of the assets and responsibilities of British Waterways to the Canal & River Trust, The Waterways Trust in England and Wales has merged with
469-399: A further £14 million through third party contributions. However, operating revenue for the company was at a deficit of £3.7 million, a result of a large cut of 16 per cent in the government grant given to BW, and through the continuing programme of renovation and works costing £92.1 million. British Waterways owned a large canalside property portfolio which made a considerable contribution to
536-457: A lock is a fixed chamber whose water-level can be changed. Where a large height difference has to be overcome, locks are built close together in a flight such as at Caen Hill Locks . Where the gradient is very steep, a set of staircase locks are sometimes used, like Bingley Five Rise Locks . At the other extreme stop locks have little or no change in level but were built to conserve water where one canal joined another. An interesting example
603-728: A narrowboat (a boat 7 ft [2.1 m] wide) no longer than about 56 ft (17 m). There are also several through-routes not connected to the main network, notably those in Scotland , e.g., Glasgow to Edinburgh via the Forth and Clyde Canal , the Falkirk Wheel , and the Union Canal ; and Fort William to Inverness via the Caledonian Canal (including Loch Lochy , Loch Oich , and Loch Ness ). There are four separate sections of
670-400: A result, many remainder waterways could face abandonment or transference to the local authority who would contribute to the waterway's upkeep as part of the act. Additionally, many of these remainder waterways were crossed by new roads and motorways without provision for boat navigation. As the century progressed, leisure boating on the canals began to expand, with numbers reaching 20,000 by
737-607: A standalone public corporation under the trading name Scottish Canals . The British Waterways Board was initially established as a result of the Transport Act 1962 and took control of the inland waterways assets of the British Transport Commission in 1963. By the final years of its existence, British Waterways was sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in England and Wales, and by
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#1732851609772804-418: A waterways manager. These regions were: British Waterways was funded through a mixture of commercial activities, government grants and grants and donations from charitable bodies. In 2010/11, BW raised over £103.6 million from their commercial activities, including waterways licensing, received £58.9 million from a government grant, issued via the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs , and gained
871-507: Is King's Norton Stop Lock which was built with guillotine gates . See also List of canal locks in the United Kingdom . The Canals Collection at the Cadbury Research Library (University of Birmingham) contains archive materials relating to Midlands canals in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. British Waterways British Waterways , often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by
938-541: Is usually given to L. T. C. Rolt , whose book Narrow Boat about a journey made in the narrowboat Cressy was published in 1944. A key development was the foundation of the Inland Waterways Association , and the establishment of fledgling weekly boat-hire companies, following the example of such companies on the Norfolk Broads , which had long been used for leisure boating. The authority responsible for
1005-515: The Canal & River Trust and the Environment Agency , but other canals are managed by companies, local authorities or charitable trusts. The majority of canals in the United Kingdom can accommodate boats with a length of between 55 and 72 feet (17 and 22 m) and are now used primarily for leisure. There are a number of canals which are far larger than this, including New Junction Canal and
1072-500: The Canal & River Trust . The following waterways and dockland were under British Waterways' ownership and care: The Environment Agency is the navigation authority for the non-tidal River Thames , rivers in the Fens and East Anglia and some other waterways. The Port of London Authority is that for the tidal section of the Thames. The Broads Authority is the navigation authority for
1139-693: The Carlisle Journal reported that: On Monday, a boat laden with fish, arrived at the Broomielaw, Glasgow, from one of the Western Isles, being the first vessel that has passed through the Crinan Canal The canal bank near Lochgilphead failed in 1805 and the canal's course was diverted to avoid the marshy ground. The canal's reservoirs were finished in 1809 but two years later a storm caused one to burst releasing its water and sending boulders and mud along
1206-578: The Gloucester and Sharpness Canal , which can accommodate boats with a length of up to 230 feet (70 m). An incomparable purpose-built ship canal is the Manchester Ship Canal . Upon opening in 1894, it was the largest ship canal in the world, permitting ships with a length of up to 600 feet (183 m) to navigate its 36-mile (58 km) route. Canals first saw use during the Roman occupation of
1273-461: The Industrial Revolution took hold in the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, the technology allowed canals to be improved. The early canals contoured round hills and valleys, later ones went straighter. Locks took canals up and down hills, and they strode across valleys on taller and longer aqueducts and through hills in longer and deeper tunnels. From the mid-19th century, railways began to replace canals, especially those built with
1340-412: The Inland Waterways Association is to protect the existing waterways and help restore once-navigable waterways. In May 2005, it was reported that British Waterways (the predecessor to the Canal & River Trust) was hoping to quadruple the amount of cargo carried on Britain's canal network to six million tonnes by 2010 by transporting large amounts of waste to disposal facilities. The speed limit for
1407-924: The Liverpool Canal Link ), another is under construction (the Fens Waterways Link ). Large projects such as the restoration of the Anderton Boat Lift , or the building of the Falkirk Wheel attracted development funding from the European Union and from the Millennium Fund . The Rochdale Canal , the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and the Droitwich Canals have all been restored to navigation since 2000. There are now about 4,700 miles (7,600 km) of navigable canals and rivers throughout
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#17328516097721474-504: The Manchester Ship Canal , the Aire and Calder Navigation and the other large waterways) remain viable, carrying many millions of tonnes per year and there are still hopes for development, but containerisation of ports and lorries has mostly passed the waterways by. The last major investment development of the inland waterways was the enlargement of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation in
1541-672: The Scottish Government in Scotland. British Waterways managed and maintained 2,200 miles (3,541 km) of canals , rivers and docks within the United Kingdom including the buildings, structures and landscapes alongside these waterways. Half of the United Kingdom population lives within five miles of a canal or river once managed by British Waterways. In addition to the watercourses, British Waterways also cared for and owned 2,555 listed structures including seventy scheduled monuments . A further 800 areas have special designation and
1608-608: The Transport Act 1962 , the British Transport Commission was split into several new organisations, including the British Railways Board and the London Transport Board , with the inland waterways of Britain becoming part of the new British Waterways Board (BWB). In the same year, a remarkably harsh winter saw many boats frozen into their moorings, unable to move for weeks at a time. That was one of
1675-406: The government of the United Kingdom . It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland and Wales . On 2 July 2012, all of British Waterways' assets and responsibilities in England and Wales were transferred to the newly founded charity the Canal & River Trust . In Scotland, British Waterways continues to operate as
1742-447: The 1960s to close commercially unviable canals, and to resist pressure from local authorities and newspapers to "fill in this eyesore" or even to "close the killer canal" (when someone fell in one). It was not long before enthusiastic volunteers were repairing unnavigable but officially open canals and moving on to restore officially closed ones and demonstrating their renewed viability to the authorities. Local authorities began to see how
1809-552: The 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of canals and rivers in England and Wales cared for by British Waterways. The new name, the Canal & River Trust , and logo were revealed in October 2011, and the trust was granted charitable status on 5 April 2012. On 2 July 2012 all of British Waterways' responsibilities for waterways in England and Wales were transferred to the Canal & River Trust . The Scottish Government , however, decided that
1876-628: The Aire power stations lasted as late as 2004). However, the last new canal before the end of the 20th century was the New Junction Canal in Yorkshire (now South Yorkshire) in 1905. As competition intensified, horse-drawn single narrowboats were replaced by steam and later diesel powered boats towing an unpowered butty, and many of the boatmen's families abandoned their shore homes for a life afloat, to help with boat handling and to reduce accommodation costs –
1943-440: The Canal & River Trust. It continues, however, as an independent charity in Scotland. During the early 20th century, the canal network was in decline because of increasing competition from the railways and road transport. Until the 1950s, freight and other cargo was still carried on the canals, by then owned by the railway companies. When the railways were nationalised in 1948, the canals they owned were also incorporated into
2010-606: The Midlands to Dickinson's paper mills at Croxley and the Kearley and Tonge jam factory at Southall both ceased in 1970 – the Croxley mills had changed to oil and the jam factory closed for re-location. Regular narrowboat traffics continued, such as lime juice from Brentford to Boxmoor (until 1981) while aggregates were carried on the River Soar until 1988. Some individual waterways (especially
2077-514: The Rivers and Canals of England and Wales which was published by Lander, Westall and Co. In 1916, P. Bonthron published My Holidays on Inland Waterways which described his adventures covering 2,000 miles of inland waterways in his motor boat. In the latter half of the 20th century, while the use of canals for transporting goods was dying out, there was a rise in interest in their history and potential use for leisure. A large amount of credit for this
Crinan Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
2144-552: The United Kingdom; 2,700 miles (4,345 km) of these are part of the connected system. Most of them are linked into a single English and Welsh network from Bristol to London , Liverpool to Goole and Lancaster to Ripon , and connecting the Irish Sea , the North Sea , the estuaries of the Humber , Thames , Mersey , Severn and Ribble . This network is navigable in its entirety by
2211-450: The banks of the canal and seven of the gates forming the locks which were swept into the valley below. The canal was closed for through navigation until 1 May 1860 although the wider repairs to paths and road had not been completed. Although Parliament had authorised £12,000 (equivalent to £1,420,000 in 2023) for repairs the company reported that the expenditure had exceeded the budget by around £3,500 (equivalent to £415,300 in 2023) as
2278-407: The birth of the "boatman's cabin" with bright white lace, gleaming brass and gaily-painted metalware. A trip on the canal system was described colloquially as "a cruise on the cut". Constant lowering of tolls meant that the carriage of some bulky, non-perishable, and non-vital goods by water was still feasible on some inland waterways – but the death knell for commercial carrying on the narrow canals
2345-488: The canal a tourist attraction and gave the canal an added purpose. Passenger steamer companies operating out of Glasgow advertised the canal as the "Royal route" and by the late 1850s more than 40,000 passengers passed through Ardrishaig each year and were met by steamers to Oban at Crinan. A disaster occurred on 2 February 1859 when the Camloch reservoir supplying the canal burst, and the ensuing torrent of water and rock damaged
2412-510: The canal in both directions wrecking locks, the canal banks and the nearby roads. Repairs cost £8,000 (equivalent to £733,200 in 2023). The canal company, headed by the Duke of Argyll , had to seek help from the government, who asked Thomas Telford to assess the problems. He suggested improvements to the locks , and some parts of the canal were redesigned including the swing bridges which were replaced in cast iron in 1816. The government paid for
2479-447: The canal is operated by Scottish Canals and is a popular route for leisure craft, used by nearly 2,000 boats annually. The towpath is part of National Cycle Route 78 . The canal is a two-part scheduled monument . Loch a' Bharain, which serves as a feeder reservoir for the canal, is also a scheduled monument. The canal was built to provide a shortcut for commercial sailing and fishing vessels and later Clyde puffers to travel between
2546-499: The canal's 4-mile-long (6-kilometre) east reach to 32 ft (10 m) above sea level. The 1,100 yd (1,000 m) summit reach, between Cairnbaan and Dunardry, is 64 feet (20 metres) above sea level. The west reach between Dunardry and Crinan is 18 feet (5.5 metres) above sea level. The canal is 10 ft (3 m) deep, although the declared maximum draught for a vessel is 2.5 m (8.2 ft), and has essentially no height limit, but there are signs quoting 30m maximum due to
2613-524: The canals to users other than boaters, BW set up the Waterscape website in 2003 to be an official information and leisure resource for UK inland waterways. The website worked alongside the Environment Agency and the Broads Authority and covered all canals, rivers and waterways in England, Scotland and Wales. The Waterscape website was taken down on 3 July 2012 and was replaced by the new website of
2680-502: The canals, the British Waterways Board , encouraged this process from the late 1950s by operating a fleet of holiday hire boats, initially converted from cut-down working boats. Holidaymakers began renting ' narrowboats ' and roaming the canals, visiting towns and villages they passed. Richer people bought boats to use for weekend breaks and the occasional longer trip. The concept of a canal holiday became even more familiar when
2747-568: The chairman (in the final phase of operations, Tony Hales), and appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Scottish Government (eight by the former and two by the latter). In addition, there were nine executive directors led by Robin Evans, the Chief Executive. At a regional level, British Waterways was divided into thirteen regional waterways; each appointed
Crinan Canal - Misplaced Pages Continue
2814-474: The conservation of historic structures". However, by the late 1990s the canal network and British Waterways were flourishing; revenues generated for canal maintenance reached £100 million for the first time in 1998, large grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund allowed the canal network to expand again by restoring former canals and additional funding was announced for British Waterways in 1999 by
2881-407: The damage included large boulders of rock which were found in the bed of the canal. In 1866 a steam-powered passenger boat Linnet replaced horse-drawn boats for tourists. Linnet remained in service until 1929. Between 1930 and 1932, new sea locks were built at either end, making the canal accessible at any state of tide. The swing bridge at Ardrishaig was installed at this time. The canal became
2948-474: The early 1980s to cope with barges of standard European dimensions that never came. There have been a number of successful initiatives to get more traffic on to the larger inland waterways, though even the Manchester Ship Canal does not convey cargo ships to the docks in Salford, which have become little more than a water feature for the apartments, offices and cultural institutions of 'Salford Quays' that have replaced
3015-404: The early 1980s. Additionally, the work of voluntary restoration groups succeeded in restoring some waterways to their former condition. However, despite this steady progress throughout the 1970s and 1980s, organisations such as English Heritage criticised the newly named British Waterways for failing to provide "adequate training or access to professional advice [for British Waterways officers] on
3082-437: The funding of the waterway network. This amounted to £130m in the five years prior to 2008. As of 2008, a HM Treasury team was reviewing the management of this portfolio in terms of public sector savings and efficiencies. Another source of revenue contemplated by BW in October 2008 was the installation of 50 wind turbines on waterside land, generating around 100 megawatts. As part of British Waterways' commitment to promote
3149-732: The industrialised region around Glasgow to the West Highland villages and islands. Authorised by the Crinan Canal Act 1793 ( 33 Geo. 3 . c. 104), it was designed by civil engineer John Rennie and work started in 1794, but was not completed until 1801, two years later than planned. The canal's construction was beset with problems including finance and poor weather. Landowners demanded high prices for their land and navvies were reluctant to leave jobs in more accessible parts of England and Scotland. The construction cost £127,000 (equivalent to £12,220,000 in 2023). On Saturday 8 August 1801,
3216-428: The inland canal network accessible to wide or broad-beam boats of around 12.6 ft [3.8 m] wide (though two each are linked by tidal waterways). However, long-term proposed and already underway restorations and constructions of new routes would eventually link these sections, enabling wide boats to move freely between them and create a true north–south east–west network. The aim of campaigning bodies such as
3283-472: The large agencies that dealt with Broads holidays began to include canal boatyards in their brochures. Canal-based holidays became popular due to their relaxing nature, self-catering levels of cost, and variety of scenery available; from inner London to the Scottish Highlands. This growth in interest came just in time to give local canal societies the ammunition they needed to combat government proposals in
3350-414: The majority of inland waterways in the United Kingdom managed by the Canal & River Trust is 4 mph (6.4 km/h). All speed measurements on Canal & River Trust waterways are expressed in terms of speed over the ground, rather than speed through the water. Canal aqueducts are structures that carry a canal across a valley, road, railway, or another canal. Dundas Aqueduct is built of stone in
3417-456: The nationalised waterways into three distinct categories as specified by BWB: British Waterways Board was required under the Act to keep commercial and cruising waterways fit for their respective traffic and use. However, these obligations were subject to the caveat of being by the most economical means and BWB had no requirement to maintain remainder waterways or keep them in a navigable condition. As
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#17328516097723484-708: The new British Transport Commission . The Commission focused on encouraging commercial traffic to the waterways, but with the construction of motorways in the 1950s, and legislation such as the Clean Air Act 1956 affecting the coal carriers using the waterways, that policy could not be sustained. The last regular coal long-distance narrow-boat-carrying contract, from Atherstone to the Kearley and Tonge jam factory at Southall near London, ended in October 1970, although lime juice continued to be carried by narrow boat from Brentford to Boxmoor until 1981, and aggregate from Thurmaston to Syston from 1976 until 1988. Under
3551-469: The potential for volunteers on the waterways, allowing the waterways community to play a greater role. Its plans involved moving to become a charitable trust , in charge of the current canal systems in addition to acquiring other waterways, such as those operated by the Environment Agency . In March 2010, the plans were given a boost when the government announced in the Budget that it intended to turn BW into
3618-456: The reasons given for the decision by the BWB to formally cease most of its commercial narrow boat traffic on the canals. By that time, the canal network had shrunk to just 2,000 miles (3,200 km), half the size it was at its peak in the early 19th century. However, the basic network was still intact, with many of the closures affecting duplicate routes or branches. The Transport Act 1968 classified
3685-606: The recent power lines that cross the canal. The retractable bridge at Lock 11 replaced the original swing bridge in 1900. It is operated by a rotating handle and a cogged wheel which causes the bridge deck to roll forwards and backwards on rails and comes to rest across the lock chamber. It is no longer is use. The canal has towpaths on both sides from Ardrishaig to Crinan Bridge (no longer) and horses assisted unpowered craft until 1959. A song sung by Dan MacPhail in The Vital Spark : Oh! The Crinan Canal for me, I don't like
3752-546: The responsibility of British Waterways in 1962. It closed for nine-week period in October 1987 to allow some refurbishment. On 2 July 2012 the British Waterways functions in Scotland became Scottish Canals. The Crinan Canal has 15 locks and is crossed by seven bridges: six swing bridges and a retractable bridge . Stone for the 15 locks was brought from Mull , the Isle of Arran and Morvern . From Ardrishaig, three locks raise
3819-446: The same year, the proposals seemed likely to be enacted; a leaked list of quangos that were due to be abolished was acquired by the BBC , including British Waterways, with the note: "Abolish as a non-departmental public body and mutualise". The following month saw an official announcement from British Waterways confirming the leaked list, and that a new charity would be established to tend
3886-811: The south of Great Britain and were used mainly for irrigation. The Romans also created several navigable canals, such as Foss Dyke , to link rivers, enabling increased transport inland by water. The United Kingdom's navigable water network grew as the demand for industrial transport increased. The canals were key to the pace of the Industrial Revolution: roads at the time were unsuitable for large volumes of traffic. A system of very large pack horse trains had developed, but few roads were suitable for wheeled vehicles able to transport large amounts of materials (especially fragile manufactured goods such as pottery) quickly. Canal boats were much quicker, could carry large volumes, and were much safer for fragile items. Following
3953-519: The standard narrow (7 ft [2.1 m]) bridges and locks. As trains, and later road vehicles, became more advanced, they became cheaper than the narrow canal system, being faster, and able to carry much larger cargoes. The canal network declined, and many canals were bought by railway companies – in some cases to enable them to penetrate rival companies' areas transhipping to/from canal boats. Some narrow canals became unusable, filled with weeds, silt and rubbish, or were converted to railways. There
4020-629: The success of first the Sankey Canal followed by the Bridgewater Canal , other canals were constructed between industrial centres, cities and ports, and were soon transporting raw materials (particularly coal and lumber) and manufactured goods. There were immediate benefits to households, as well as to commerce: in Manchester , the cost of coal fell by 75% when the Bridgewater Canal arrived. As
4087-427: The then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott . By the early 2000s, boating numbers had overtaken the previous industrial revolution high and the canal network was officially classed as 'safe' following the completion of all outstanding safety works. By 2009, British Waterways was looking for a means of gaining a larger and more secure supply of funding in order to plug a £30m shortfall in its budget, while utilising
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#17328516097724154-501: The waterways in Scotland would not be part of the new charity, and that British Waterways Scotland would remain a state-owned entity, operating as Scottish Canals . British Waterways operated from headquarters in Watford , with additional administrative offices in Leeds and thirteen regional waterway offices. At the strategic level, there were ten non-executive board members, who were led by
4221-414: The wharves and warehouses. Early use of the canals for leisure travel was fairly limited. One of the earliest records of pleasure cruising was published in 1891. Two Girls on a Barge by Miss V. Cecil Cotes describes an unconventional adventure by two young ladies who took a barge from Paddington to Coventry. With the introduction of motor boats, George Westall authored a book in 1908, Inland Cruising on
4288-573: The wild raging sea, It would be too terrific to cross the Pacific, Or sail to Japan or Fiji. A life on the Spanish Main, I think it would drive me insane, The big foaming breakers would give me the shakers, The Crinan Canal for me. Canals of the United Kingdom The canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom . They have
4355-491: The work but the canal company lost control and it was handed to the Caledonian Canal Commissioners. Queen Victoria travelled along the canal to Crinan during a holiday in the Scottish Highlands in 1847. She was greeted at Ardrishaig and her boat was towed by four horses, two of which were ridden by postilions in royal livery . At Crinan she boarded the royal yacht Victoria and Albert . Her journey made
4422-559: Was a late burst of wide-waterway building (e.g. the Caledonian Canal , and the Manchester Ship Canal ), and of invention and innovation by people such as Bartholomew of the Aire and Calder company, who conceived the trains of nineteen coal-filled "Tom Pudding" compartment boats that were pulled along the Aire and Calder Navigation from the Yorkshire coalfields, then lifted bodily to upturn their contents directly into seagoing colliers at Goole Docks (their descendants, Hargreaves' tugs pushing three coal-pans trains to be upended into hoppers at
4489-518: Was sounded in the winter of 1962–63, when a long hard frost kept goods icebound on the canals for three months. A few of the remaining customers turned to road and rail haulage to ensure reliability of supply and never returned, though both rail and road had been severely disrupted by the frost and snow too. Other narrowboat traffic gradually ceased with the change from coal to oil, the closure of canalside factories, and run-down of British heavy industry. The last long-distance narrowboat traffics, coal from
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