 Building
the English canals was a stupendous undertaking, transforming
the countryside and man's place in it over a short fifty year
period using private capital.
At a time when roads were poor and disjointed,
a national system capable of moving large tonnages of bulk goods
from North to South, East to West, coast to coast, was developed
through personal initiatives, enthusiasm and human labour. |
Civil
engineering began here. An army of navvies (navigators)
was mobilised which moved from canal project to project, doing
all the hard labour by hand, and often terrorising the
neighbourhood in the process! Almost
uniquely the results of their labours, locks, bridges,
buildings, are still in daily use, fulfilling their original
purpose because of a design strength and honesty that has lasted
hundreds of years. |
 |
 |
Tunnels were probably the most difficult
engineering task facing the early canal builders. However
most are still in use and a tribute to those early
engineers and navvies. |
 |
The engineers who built the canals, men such as
Telford, Brindley and Rennie were essentially the first
civil engineers, changing the landscape in a way that few
had done before them. |
 |
There are a wide variety
of
bridges and aqueducts on the canals. materials vary from
wood to masonry to cast iron. Some just link fields
together, others span deep river valleys. |
 |
The narrow
boat is probably
the defining piece of canal engineering, creating the
commercial environment and the lifestyle of canal people,
almost unchanged over two hundred years. |
 |
Locks were the essential canal
engineering feature, allowing canals to climb over ranges
of hills and create coast to coast inland waterway links.
Also boat lifts. |
 |
A full section about traditional
river and canal craft, from midlands joey boats to the
Severn Trows. Written by Tony Lewery and illustrated with his own
photographs. |
 |
Canals needed maintenance
yards, dry docks and houses for lock keepers and toll
collectors. Commerce needed warehouses and factories.
Altogether a fascinating range of
structures. |
 |
Horses
are an important part of canal history, hauling canal
boats into the middle of the 20th century, but their story gets overlooked in this mechanical age. |
|
