 Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead. |
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1810 | He was asked to do a detailed survey of a small ship-canal line from Canterbury to St Nicholas Bay, near Margate, that had been proposed by Robert Whitworth junior. He did the survey and also suggested a 18f oot deep ship canal from St Nicholas Bay to Deal, where a second harbour was proposed. |
Description: Originally a 3 mile 7 furlong, 12 lock, broad canal from the River Don at Tinsley to Sheffield. Now part of the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Navigation.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1815, opened in 1819, transferred to the Don by an Act of 1849.
26 December 1792 | He reported favourably on the project. His diary records "Bad day, in a chaise to Sheffield; viewed the line, lands and brooks to that place. Viewed the termination and place for bason. Attended a committee - made a report viva voce to the meetingon this canal". | |
19 August 1793 | He reported his proposal for a level canal 12¾ miles long from the Eckington-Beighton road via Attercliffe to close behind the Hospital Chapel at Sheffield, with a fair amount of cutting and a 770 yard tunnel. The Attercliffe to Sheffield Section would take river barges as would the branch from Attercliffe to the Don, which made part of the river navigable with 3 lock and was to have 7 canal locks. The rest, including a 5 lock extension to an iron works near Chesterfield would be narrow.He estimated the main line and Tinsley Branch at £45,041. | |
March 1801 | In a letter to the River Don company he suggests that an extension to Sheffield could be included in the River Don Improvement Bill. On the basis of a quick survey he thought locks should be grouped at Tinsley as back pumping would be needed and the cost of maintaining a steam engine may be too much. | |
July 1802 | Worked with William Dunn on surveying a line for the canal. | |
Early July 1802 | He agrees to survey the line from Tinsley to Sheffield and proposes using 4 locks on the River Don then a canal with 5 locks from Brightside. | |
1804 | He was asked by the River Don company to report on the possibility of a railway instead of a canal on the route. | |
20 July 1813 | He reported his proposals for the canal from Rotherham to Sheffield having surveyed lines north and south of the river. | |
April 1814 | The shareholders reject his proposal for the Sheffield Canal. | |
Autumn 1814 | He revised his ideas for the route on the south side of the river and proposed three reseviors, a branch canal towards Darnell and a steam engine to pump colliery water. | |
1815 | Authorised by an Act. | |
Mid 1816 | Was appointed resident engineer. | |
1819 | Opened. | |
1832 | Laid out a 7.75 mile route to extend the canal from the top of the Sheffield Locks to the Chesterfield Canal at a point below Killamarsh forge. He estimated the cost as 46,204 pounds and the revenue as 4,999 pounds. | |
October 1832 | He reports on the line of the proposed Sheffield & Chesterfield Junction Canal laid out by Joseph Burke. He makes some improvements of his own and re-estimates the cost as £75,870. | |
1849 | Transferred to the Don by an Act. | |
Description: A proposed 44 mile canal from the Peak Forest canal at Buxworth down the Derwent valley to the Sheffield and Chesterfield canals and on to Cromford. Also called the Grand Conmmercial Canal.
History: A prospectus (dated 24 June 1824) was issued to build the canal at an estimated cost of £574,130. It was never authorised or built.
1824 | About this time he was retained to report on this project. | |
24 June 1824 | He issued his prospectus for the 44 mile canal. | |
February 1825 | At a meeting in Buxton he reported on the proposed canal line from Sheffield through Penistone to the Peak Forest Canal at Hyde, but the railway scheme that became the Cromford & High Peak Railway had been launched in June 1824. |
Description: Oringinally a 7.75 mile tub boat canal with a 2.75 mile branch to Coalbrookdale. Long abandoned but some parts are still in water, notably at the Blist Hill Museum near Ironbridge. The tub boats that used the canal were 20 feet by 6 feet 4 inches.
History: Authorised by an act of 1788 and completed in 1792. Part of it (from the bottom of Wrockwardine Wood inclined plane to the bottom of Windmill inclined plane was abandoned in 1857 and the rest in two stages in 1913 and 1944.
Points of Special Interest: The canal had no locks but had three inclined planes which took the boats down a slope on rails. The Hay inclined plane can be seen at Blist Hill Museum.
1788 | He gave evidence in London to support the Bill authorising the canal. | |
1788 | He was appointed surveyor. | |
After June 1788 | He helped to judge the models submitted in response to the company's offer of a £50 reward for "the best Means of raising and lowering heavy Weights from one Navigation to another". | |
July 1788 | He and John Lowdon were awarded £50 each for their entries in a competition to find "the best means of raising and lowering heavy weights from one navigation to another". | |
July 1788 | He and Henry Williams were awarded £50 each for their entries in a competition to find "the best means of raising and lowering heavy weights from one navigation to another". | |
Early 1790 | He resigned. | |
25 May 1793 | He writes a letter suggesting new methods of getting crates in and out of boats. | |
February 1794 | He was appointed surveyor. | |
1839 | He retired. |
Description: Was a 17 mile, 11 lock, tub-boat canal from Shrewsbury to the Donnington Wood Canal, via a mile of the Wombridge Canal, which the company purchased, and an inclined plane which they built to connect to it. Later the Newport Branch was added.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1793, opened in 1797, Newport Branch open in 1835, became part of the Shropshire Union in 1846.
1792 | He surveyed the line for the canal. | |
1793 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1793 | Appointed engineer. | |
1794 | Had begun to build a stone aqueduct at Longdon-on-Tern that was destroyed by floods in early 1795. | |
February 1795 | Appointed Engineer to succeed Josiah Clowes. | |
14 March 1795 | A meeting ordered "that an Iron Aqueduct be errected at Longton (agreeable to a plan to be approved bt Mr. Telford) by Messrs. William Reynolds & Company" at a cost not exceeding £2,000. | |
1797 | Opened. | |
1797 | He was appointed engineer and superintendent while continuing to be employed by the Shropshire Canal company. | |
1831 | He reported on the cost of altering locks and bridges on the canal to make it suitable for narrowboats. | |
1835 | Newport Branch open. | |
1846 | Became part of the Shropshire Union. | |
1944 | Newport Branch (then part of the Shropshire Union) officially closed. | |
1965 | First moves made to re-open the canal and the Newport Branch. | |
2000 | Shrewsbury & Newport Canals Trust inaugurated. | |
Description: A local canal of about a mile from Bretton to Saltney, just outside Chester.
History: Built about 1768 and in use until 1779.
1768 | Built about 1768. | |
1779 | In use until 1779. | |
Description: Was a 12.25 mile, 7 lock, river navigation from Sleaford to the River Witham, via Kyme Eau.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1792, opened for navigation in 1794, no commercial traffic by 1878, Act of abandonment passed in 1881 but much of it navigable until the 1940s.
25 November 1791 | He and John Hudson reported that the Slea and Kyme Eau could be made navigable for £9,979. | |
25 November 1791 | He and William Jessop reported that the Slea and Kyme Eau could be made navigable for £9,979. | |
1792 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1792 | Invited to be joint egineer of the Horncastle and Sleaford navigations but declined the post. | |
Mid 1792 | Was appointed engineer jointly for the navigation and for the Horncastle Canal. | |
1794 | Opened for navigation. | |
1878 | Act of abandonment passed. | |
1881 | Closed, but much of it navigable until the 1940s. | |
1940 | Closed in 1881 but much of it navigable until the 1940s. | |
Description: Was a river navigation from Droitwich to the Severn.
History: 5 locks built by Lord Windsor around the time of the Restoration but the intended sixth lock was not completed. Bills introduced in 1693 and 1747 but no work done.
1655 | He and Captain Wall offered to seek letters patent from the Lord Protector to make the river navigable. He made an agreement with Droitwich corporation which allotted land to him for 21 years as payment for this. No further action was taken on this proposal. | |
1662 | Promoted by Act. | |
1693 | 5 locks built by Lord Windsor around the time of the Restoration but the intended sixth lock was not completed. Bills introduced in 1693 and 1747 but no work done. | |
1747 | 5 locks built by Lord Windsor around the time of the Restoration but the intended sixth lock was not completed. Bills introduced in 1693 and 1747 but no work done. | |
Description: Was a 17.75 mile, 23 lock, narrow canal from Paulton to Limpley Stoke where it joins the Kennet & Avon Canal.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1794, opened in 1805, reduced to 10.5 miles when the Radstock line was converted to a tramway, closed in 1898, abandoned in 1904 although a short length at Limpley Stoke is still used as moorings.
1793 | He made a report on the proposed canal, assisted by William Smith, and was paid £75. | |
1793 | He made a survey for the canal under the direction of John Rennie he also attended William Jessop on his survey of the line. | |
14 October 1793 | Having surveyed the line of the canal assisted by William Smith he presnets his report proposing a line from the Kennet & Avon Canal at Limpley Stoke up the Dunkerton valley, with a branch up the Wellow valley. The costwas estimated as £80,000. | |
1794 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1794 | He and John Sutcliffe were engaged to do detailed surveys. | |
1794 | He attended two committee men, Richard Perkins of Oakhill and Samborne Palmer, on a 900 mile tour to study canal and railway construction. | |
December 1794 | Having done some detailed survey work with Robert Whitworth senior he was nnow appointed chief engineer on a daily pay basis. | |
1795 | He prepared plans for summit level canals assisted by William Bennet. | |
1795 | Called in to assist William Smith in the preparation of plans. | |
1796 | Appointed engineer. | |
Early 1796 | He left his post of chief engineer. | |
1799 | He and his partner, Norton, offered to build a balance (or geometrical) lift without payment, on condition that if successful they were to have £17,300 and a royalty of 4 pence per ton of goods passed. | |
5 June 1799 | He was dismissed from his post of surveyor. | |
1800 | He advocates the rebuilding of colliery railways as plateways to take 2-ton waggons replacing the 10 -14 hundred-weight trucks using edge-rails. The trucks would then be run on to rafts and horse-towed up two inclined planes. | |
25 May 1800 | He produced a report in which he found Witmore & Norton's geometrical (or balance) lock greatly preferable to Weldon's caisson lock, but thought it would be better to reduce its size to take 12-ton rather than 24-ton boats. He criticised Benjamin Outram's plans for plateways, and rafts to carry the trucks, saying their use on the narrow canal would cause damage. He also suggested locks as a cheaper alternative to Outram's inclined planes. | |
Summer 1800 | Following criticism of his earlier plan he now suggests railways to join the levels, the coal being carried in containers on boats and transferred to and from the railway on cranes. | |
1805 | Opened. | |
5 April 1805 | Completion of the Combe Hay flight of locks, for which he was probably engineer. | |
1 October 1814 | A meeting was called to consider his report on the state of the Radstock Line of the canal and for proposals for making a railway on the towing path. | |
1898 | Closed in 1898. | |
1904 | Abandoned in 1904 although a short length at Limpley Stoke is still used as moorings. | |
1970 | The Somersetshire Coal Canal & Railways by Kenneth R Clew, Published by David & Charles. | |
Description: Was a 3 mile level private canal from Sir Nigel Gresley's collieries at Aperdale to Newcastle-under-Lyme.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1775, completed about 1776, probably closed in 1857.
1775 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1776 | Completed about 1776. | |
Late 1831 | He was asked to report on the practiabliity of converting the canal, and the other Newcastle canals, into railways. He oposed the idea because the canal turns were too sharp for a railway. He recommended a single-track inclined plane to carry boats from one canal to another at a cost of £2,206 plus land, cutting and embanking. | |
1857 | Probably closed in 1857. | |
Description: A half mile underground canal in Speedwell lead mine, Castleton, Derbyshire. Still navigable.
History: Begun in 1774 and completed around 1778.
1774 | Began. | |
1778 | Completed around 1778. | |
Description: Connects not only the Aire and Calder Main Line with the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Canal, but also Sheffield with the River Trent via the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation
History: Authorised in 1891 to increase the scope of the coal trade carried in "Tom Puddings". Work started in 1896 and it was opened in 1905.
Points of Special Interest: Sykehouse Lock is normally boater operated from an electronic control panel. The operation is complicated because the lock will not operate unless the swing bridge across the lock (which is swung manually) is open and has locked into place. The swing and lift bridges on the rest of the waterway are electically operated by boaters (using a BW key) and a simple push button system.
1888 | Appointed director of the newly formed company. | |
22 August 1888 | Commissioned to report, with T & C Hawksley, on the construction of a canal between the Trent and Sheffield.In October they recommended new larger locks on the existing waterway. | |
22 August 1888 | Commissioned to report, with James Abernethy, on the construction of a canal between the Trent and Sheffield.In October they recommended new larger locks on the existing waterway. | |
1891 | Authorised to increase the scope of the coal trade carried in "Tom Puddings". | |
1896 | Work started. | |
1896 | Work on building the new canal began under his direction. | |
1905 | The Sheffield and South Yorkshire New Junction Canal was opened. | |
2 January 1905 | His new canal was completed at a total cost of £300,000. | |
Description: Intended as a 13 mile tub-boat canal from the sea at Mawgan Porth inland to Columb Major then back to the sea at Lower St. Columb Porth. Two lengths of 4.5 and 2 miles with inclined planes were built.
History: Authorised by an Act of 1773, opened between 1777 and 1779, closed about 1781.
1773 | Authorised by an Act. | |
March 1773 | He gave evidence to a House of Lords committee during the passage of the Bill. | |
1777 | Opened between 1777 and 1779. | |
1779 | Opened between 1777 and 1779. | |
1781 | Closed about 1781. | |
Description: The main line runs 5 miles from Stourton Junction, where it joins the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, to Black Delph, where it joins the BCN Dudley Canal Line No 1. There are also two branches
History: Promoted by an Act of 1776 and opened in 1779. The IWA Midlands Branch attempt a "canal busting" cruise through the neglected canal in 1959 and in 1962 the IWA National Rally was held at Stourbridge to draw attention to the poor state of the canal. In July 1964 an agreement was reached between the British Waterways Board and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society to restore the sixteen locks using voluntary labour. The Official reopening was on 27 May 1967.
February 1775 | A meeting approved his survey for the canal. His line ran from Stourton on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to Stourbridge. From Wordsley Junction at Stourbridge there was a branch to the Fens on Pensnett Chase where there was to be a reservior. From Lays Junction on the Fens branch a line ran to Black Delph to join the Dudley Canal. | |
1776 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1776 | Appointed engineer at £120 a yeas and a house. | |
1776 | Was appointed to assist Thomas Dadford junior as engineer. | |
1779 | Opened. | |
25 March 1781 | He resigned as engineer. | |
Spring 1781 | Was appointed engineer. | |
1800 | Was appointed engineer. | |
1800 | He was replaced as engineer by James Green. | |
1959 | IWA Midlands Branch attempt a "canal busting" cruise through the neglected canal. | |
1962 | IWA National Rally held at Stourbridge to draw attention to the poor state of the canal. | |
1964 | In July an agreement was reached between the British Waterways Board and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society to restore the sixteen locks using voluntary labour. | |
1967 | Official reopening on 27 May. | |
1992 | Towpath Guide No 3: The Stourbridge Canal by J Ian Langford, Published by Lapal Publications - This guide and brief history covers the canal from Stourton Junction to Black Delph Junction. | |
Description: Runs 8 miles from Wallbridge Locks, Stroud, where it joins the Thames and Severn Canal, to Framilode Lock, where it joins the River Severn.
History: Promoted by Acts of 1730, 1759 and 1776. Opened in 1779. Closed by an Act of 1954. Now subject to a long term restoration project
1728 | He surveyed the route and recommended a 8.25 mile canal, with 12 locks, to take 60-ton barges at an estimated cost of £20,000. | |
1730 | An Act was passed to make the Stroudwater (a small river or stream) navigable. | |
1755 | He made a survey and proposed building a reservior to supply the mills on the proposed navigation. | |
1759 | An Act was passed allowing the navigation to be built without locks. | |
1759 | He gave evidence in support of the Bill that became an Act in early April. | |
June 1774 | Produced an estimate based on his survey of the line of the canal with John Priddey. They estimated a cost of £16,451. | |
Summer 1774 | He surveyed the route with Thomas Dadford. | |
Autumn 1774 | He re-surveyed the line and suggested a 8 mile canal 42 feet wide with 12 locks taking Severn craft. | |
January 1775 | He was appointed resident engineer at one pound, eleven shillings and sixpence a week including all expenses. | |
Early February 1775 | The directors resolve to discharge him and pay him 12 guineas for his trouble. | |
23 February 1775 | He was appointed engineer at a salary of £100 a year with at least a quater of his time to be spent supervising construction. | |
1776 | An Act was passed authorising a canal navigation after works being built under the 1730 act were found to be illegal. | |
1776 | He said, speaking of the cranes that were to transfer goods by Mills instead of locks, that he had "seen the Engines now remaining upon the River - that are out of Repair not being used - . . . most of the Iron work is lost". | |
2 May 1776 | He was given three months notice of the termination of his post as engineer. | |
8 July 1776 | He was appointed engineer. | |
5 November 1777 | He was dismissed by the directors after he refused to allow them to give him detailed orders and report to them twice a week. | |
1779 | Opened. | |
1954 | Closed by an Act. | |
1976 | The Stroudwater Canal. Vol 1 by Michael Handford, Published by Moonraker Press. | |
1979 | The Stroudwater Canal by Michael Handford, Published by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd. | |
1993 | The Stroudwater and Severn canals in Old Photographs by Edwin Cuss & Stanley Gardiner , Published by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd. | |
Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.
