Kildwick Canal: BU00566



Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Gargrave: BU06532A

Canals were an essential factor in the industrial revolution in this country; they did a similar job to that done by the motorway system today. Before railways were invented, and roads and vehicles were not good enough to transport heavy freight, boats were an easy way of transporting raw materials and goods. But as rivers don’t always go to the places the entrepreneurs would like, they built canals. By the middle of the nineteenth century a network of 4,000 miles of canals had been constructed.

The death knell of the canal was sounded when the railways began to compete, and as they could carry heavier loads and travelled faster, the traffic on canals dwindled. For almost a century, the canals were left to decay, but after World War II interest was re-kindled and campaigns to restore and re-open canals were mounted. By the beginning of this century, over 10 million people were visiting canals each year to cruise, fish and walk.



          Canal Plans, 1767: NYCRO1118