Transport during the Industrial Revolution

Transportation of raw materials to the manufacture sites, and of the finished clothing and linen from the centres of production in the Pennines in the centre of the country, was limited by the lack of large scale rivers.

Related Topics:
Clothing - Linen - Pennines - River

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This was overcome by the development of canals, starting with a navigation between the coal mine at Worsley and the conurbations and ports of Manchester and Liverpool. This first British canal was built by James Brindley at the behest of the Duke of Bridgewater to transport coal from mines at Worsley, to factories in Manchester and to the ports on the River Mersey: it was thus named the Bridgewater Canal. However, the Sankey Brook Navigation from the Mersey to the area which became St Helens also has a good claim to the title of first canal of the Industrial Revolution since, though it was promoted as a scheme to make the Sankey Brook navigable, it did this by constructing an entirely new channel, and thus was effectively an artificial canal along the Sankey Brook valley.

Related Topics:
Canal - Navigation - Coal - Worsley - Manchester - Liverpool - James Brindley - Duke of Bridgewater - River Mersey - Bridgewater Canal - Sankey Brook Navigation

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