 Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead. |
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1758 | James Brindley did a survey for Earl Gower for a canal from Wilden Ferry on the River Trent to Stoke-on-Trent. | |
1758 | At the request of Earl Gower, Lord Anson and Thomas Broade he surveyed the line of a canal from Wilden Ferry to Stoke-on-Trent. | |
1761 | He reviewed James Brindley's 1758 plan for a canal from Stoke-on-Trent to Wilden Ferry and suggested that the canal could be extended "to join the navigable river that falls into the west sea" at a cost of £77,939. | |
Early March 1765 | He meets with Josiah Wedgwood and they discusses a navigation to Stoke-on-Trent based on Brindley's 1758 plan. | |
Early March 1765 | He meets with James Brindley and they discusses a navigation to Stoke-on-Trent based on Brindley's 1758 plan. | |
1766 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1766 | Shareholder in the canal | |
1766 | Shareholder in the canal | |
Early 1766 | Subscribed to the canal | |
Mid 1766 | Shareholder in the canal | |
Mid 1766 | On the committee of the canal company. | |
Mid 1766 | On the committee of the canal company. | |
Mid 1766 | On the committee of the canal company. | |
Mid 1766 | On the committee of the canal company. | |
18 February 1766 | On this date the Bill was presented and after the second reading was referred to a committee which he chaired. He was also a shareholder in the canal. | |
May 1766 | He has ten £200 shares in the new company. | |
3 May 1766 | Appointed Surveyor-General at £200 p.a. | |
3 May 1766 | Appointed Clerk of Works at £150 p.a. to included the cost of a clerk. | |
3 May 1766 | Appointed Treasurer | |
3 May 1766 | Appointed Clerk at £100 p.a. | |
Spring 1767 | In a letter of the 2nd March Josiah Wedgwood expresses concern that Brindley is endangering his life and health through over work. On the 2nd of April he says "Poor Mr Brindley was not well enough to attend the Committee". | |
1770 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1770 | River Trent Aqueduct opened 24 June | |
1771 | Proposed a canal from Swarkestone to Chesterfield, which would have by-passed both the Trent and the Derwent. It was opposed on the grounds that river navigations were much cheaper. | |
Autumn 1772 | He suceeded to the post of engineer on Brindley's death. | |
1775 | Chellshill Aqueduct (over the present B5078 road) and Snapes Aqueduct opened in April. | |
1775 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1776 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1777 | Croxton Aqueduct (River Dane Crossing) opened May. | |
May 1777 | Completes the canal started by Brindley. | |
1783 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1797 | Leek and Uttoxeter branches promoted by two Acts. | |
1802 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1809 | Promoted by an Act. | |
1820 | He surveyed the Harecastle Tunnel and recommended it should be closed for a year for repair and that traffic should be diverted to a tramroad over the top, a by-pass along the Bath Pool valley, or a new tunnel. | |
February 1825 | Work began on his new 2,926 yard Harecastle Tunnel. | |
February 1825 | As engineer in charge he began construction of Telford's new Harecastle Tunnel. | |
1827 | Hall Green and Wardle branches promoted by an Act. | |
16 March 1827 | His new Harecastle Tunnel was completed at a cost of £112,681. | |
1857 | As engineer of the North Staffordshire Railway, who were then the owners of the canal, he considered the widening of the canal and running barges on fixed services. | |
1875 | Anderton Lift opened. Connecting the Trent & Mersey Canal with the River Weaver this boat lift raised boats 50 feet from the river. | |
1957 | Thurlwood Lock No 53, Rode Heath, was from 1957 to 1988 the site of Thurlwood Steel Lock, built to overcome subsidence caused by salt workings. | |
1960 | IWA National Rally at Stoke-on-Trent. | |
1971 | The Rise of the Staffordshire Potteries by J Thomas, Published by Adams & Dent. | |
1974 | Knobsticks by Robert J Wilson, Published by Robert Wilson - Canal carrying on the Trent & Mersey. | |
1977 | Shardlow - 18th Century Port by D Cullimore, published. | |
1979 | The Trent and Mersey Canal by Jean Lindsay, Published by David & Charles - Inland Waterways History series. | |
1980 | Historic Waterways Scenes: The Trent & Mersey Canal by P Lead, Published by Moorland Publishing Co Ltd. | |
1983 | Problems with the Anderton Lift mechanism caused the lift to close. | |
1988 | Thurlwood Lock No 53, Rode Heath, was from 1957 to 1988 the site of Thurlwood Steel Lock, built to overcome subsidence caused by salt workings. | |
Description: This abandoned canal runs 28.75 miles from Wallbridge, where it joins the Stroudwater Navigation, to Inglesham Lock, where it joins the Thames.
History: Promoted by an Act of 1780 and opened in 1789. Abandoned by orders of 1927 and 1933. Now subject of a restoration scheme.
August 1781 | He completed the first survey for the canal. | |
1782 | He surveyed two possible routes, one from the Stroudwater Canal up the Golden Valley past Cirencester to the Thames, the other from higher up the Severn to the Coln valley on to the Thames at lechlade. He found the first route was shorter, cheaper and better supplied with water. He estimated the cost as £127,916 for a 12 foot barge canal, large enough for Thames barges but not for Severn trows. | |
1783 | Promoted by an Act. | |
Early 1783 | Appointed resident engineer. | |
1789 | Dudgrove Double Locks built. | |
1789 | Opened. | |
Autumn 1789 | He tried and failed to stop the summit level leaking. This led to various actions to improve the water supply of the canal. | |
Late 1790 | He was called in to address the problem of water supply. He found the tunnel and summit level were leaking 1.25 million cubic feet a week and that the canal needed 5 million cubic feet a week and that only 2.5 million cubic feet of water a week was available from the River Churn and Thames Head. | |
June 1790 | The canal company invited him to come to advise on using a steam engine to improve their water supply. | |
1927 | Abandoned by orders of 1927 and 1933. | |
1933 | Abandoned by orders of 1927 and 1933. | |
1953 | Hornblower and the Atropos by C S Forester, Published by Shepperton Swan - A story of Captain Hornblower on a trip from Gloucester to London via the Thames & Severn Canal. | |
1969 | The Thames and Severn Canal by Humphrey Household, Published by David & Charles. | |
1975 | The Thames & Severn Canal by D J Viner, Published by Hendon Publishing Co. | |
1983 | The Thames and Severn Canal by Humphrey Household, Published by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd - Enlarged and revised edition of the 1969 original. | |
Description: Various schemes for navigations around the River Tees none of which were authorised or built.
History: Were current in the period 1796 to 1825.
1796 | Surveyed the Tees and proposed a canal from Stockton to Darlington and Staindrop to Winton with branches to the River Wear near Durham and the River Ure at Boroughbridge. | |
1812 | He was asked to look at the advantage of a railway or canal from Stockton by Darlington and Winston. He reported in favour of a canal from Stockton to Winston, which he estimated at £179,578, and branches to Yarm, Croft Bridgenear Darlington, and Piercebridge estimated at £26,040. | |
1816 | He made an estimate of £141,460 for a canal from Stockton to Darlington with a railway on to Winston. This was less than the cost of a canal for the whole route. | |
1818 | He was employed by Christopher Tennant of Stockton to survey a line for the proposed Stockton & Aukland Canal. This broad canal with 50 locks was to run from the River Tees at Portrack, below Stockton, for 29.5 miles through Whitton, Mordon, Bradbury and Shildon to the River Gaunless at Evenwood. The estimated cost was £205,283 later increased to £225,283. | |
1825 | He deposited a plan for a 4½: mile ship canal from the lower end of 1810 Mandale cut to a basin at Cargo Fleet, with enrance locks at each end. |
Description: Up until 1995 when the Tees Barrage was built below Stockton this was a wholly tidal river. Now there are 11 miles of non-tidal freshwater above the barrage which are used for pleasure boating. Below the barrage there are 13 miles of tidal water to the mouth of the river where it joins the North Sea
1800 | Surveyed the route for a narrow canal from the River Ure, near Boroughbridge, to Piercebridge on the River Tees | |
1810 | He completed the 154 yard Mardale Cut, the first major improvement to the navigation, which saved 2.5 miles of river passage. |
Description: A river navigation of over 2 miles from Upton Forge, Shropshire, to the River Severn between Shrewsbury and Wellington.
History: Used before 1757, when the Tern Forge that it served was closed, and may have been used until 1797 when part of its entrance lock to the Severn was removed.
1757 | Used before 1757, when the Tern Forge that it served was closed. | |
1797 | May have been used until 1797 when part of its entrance lock to the Severn was removed. | |
Description: A 7 mile barge canal with entrance locks and basins from Gravesend, on the Thames, to Strood, on the Medway. Included the 3,931 yard Strood Tunnel, later opened in the middle for a boat passing place and making two tunnels of 1,515 and 2,347 yards.
History: Authorised by Acts of 1800,1804 and 1810, opened in 1824, tunnel opened at centre in 1830, shared the tunnel with the South Eastern Railway from 1845 to 1847 when the tunnel was closed to canal traffic. The rest of the canal was abandoned in 1934.
Points of Special Interest: The tunnel is still used by trains between Gravesend and Strood.
1799 | Published a pamphletadvocating the canal. | |
Late 1799 | He estimated the cost of the 47 mile canal, 48 feet wide and 7 feet deep, at £24,576 and thought it could be built in two years. | |
1800 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1800 | He produces a revised, shorter, route involving a long deep cutting and changes his estimate to £33,819 or £45,972 should a wider angle of slope be necessary in the cuttings. | |
1800 | He was consulted and confirmed Ralph Dodd's line but advised a tunnel rather than a 2,000 yard cutting unless the ground was found to be very stable. He raised the estime to £57,433. | |
1803 | He surveyed the uncompleted canal and found that much more money was needed to complete the work. He also suggested a a line ¾ mile shorter than planned with cutting depths of up to 100 feet . | |
1804 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1804 | He had probably ceased working on the canal by this date. | |
Autumn 1808 | He surveyed the canal again and recommended that much of the line proposed by the Act should be abandoned in favour of a route with a long tunnel further west which would "be attended with much advantage in point of saving considerable Expence, and upwards of one Mile and one quarter less in length". | |
1810 | Authorised by an Act. | |
1810 | He increased his estimate from £40,000 in total to £37,715 for the tunnel and £16,989 for other work, telling the Parliamentary committee that this would be half the cost of building the previous line. | |
1817 | Was appointed engineer and estimated that 97,755 pounds was needed to complete the navigation. | |
Late 1822 | About this time he inspected the canal on behalf of the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners following an application for a loan by the canal company. | |
1824 | Opened. | |
November 1826 | Advised the City of London about building a short canal in the area at the time of a dispute between the city and the canal company. | |
1830 | The 3,931 yard Strood Tunnel was opened in the middle for a boat passing place, making two tunnels of 1,515 and 2,347 yards. | |
Late 1842 | His survey for the Maidstone, Rochester & Gravesend Railway proposed a short tunnel crossing over the Higham canal tunnel rather than using the canal tunnel for the railway as had been previously suggested. | |
January 1842 | He met with the canal shareholders to discuss the possible conversion of the canal to a railway at the cost of £120,000. | |
April 1844 | As company engineer he approved the contract with Fox, Henderson & Co for the building of a railway alongside the canal and sharing Higham Tunnel with boat traffic. | |
1845 | Shared Strood Tunnel with the South Eastern Railway from 1845 to 1847 when the tunnel was closed to canal traffic. | |
1847 | Strood Tunnel was closed to canal traffic. | |
1934 | The canal was abandoned in 1934. | |
1948 | Spritsail Barges of the Thames & Medway by Edgar March, published. | |
Description: The navigation runs 211 miles from Cricklade Bridge to the Open Sea. The first 135 miles, above Teddington, are non-tidal
September 1783 | In his role as consultant engineer for the Thames & Severn Canal he and Christopher Chambers, a shareholder of the canal and of the Stroudwater canal as well as being a Thames Commissionner, enquired what improvements the commissioners intended to make to the navigation between Lechlade and Pangbourne. | |
1787 | He advises the Thames Commisionners on the building of Osney Lock while engineer to the Thames & Severn Canal. | |
March 1787 | He completed a survey and reported on the river from Oxford to Lechlade. | |
Early 1789 | He was commissioned to design pound locks at St John's (Lechlade) and Buscot. | |
July 1789 | Reported on a survey he had conducted for the commissioners from Lechlade to Old Nan's Weir just above Rushey. | |
1791 | He was asked by the commissioners to survey the upper river and recommended the replacement of 25 weirs and flash locks between Abingdon and Lechlade by a smaller number of pound locks. He also severely criticised the state of the navigation. | |
Early 1791 | He was asked to survey the upper river but was too busy. | |
August 1793 | He reported to the commissioners on his survey of the river below Maidenhead and recommended a 4.75 mile canal with 3 locks from Boulter's Lock to Eton. | |
Late July 1794 | Having surveyed the whole river down from Maidenhead he reported that improvements to the river were a better course than the various canal bypass schemes that were being proposed. His bill for his work was £474. | |
1805 | He and John Rennie surveyed the river from Kew to Boulter's Lock and recommended contracting and deepening the channel or preferably the building of long cuts and 5 pound-locks. | |
1805 | He and William Jessop surveyed the river from Kew to Boulter's Lock and recommended contracting and deepening the channel or preferably the building of long cuts and 5 pound-locks. | |
1809 | Following land owner's objections to the long cuts that he and William Jessop had proposed in 1805, he suggests nine pound locks instead. | |
1819 | Southwark Bridge, for which he was engineer, was opened. | |
1839 | Brunel's Maidenhead railway bridge on the Great Western main line with the largest ever brick arches of built across the river. | |
1859 | The Book of the Thames by Mr & Mrs S C Hall, book with many engravings of wild life and scenery. | |
1875 | Life on the Upper Thames by H R Robertson, Published by Virtue, Spalding & Co. - Large format, high quality engravings of river trades. | |
1878 | A New Map of the River Thames, From Thames Head to London (on scale of two inches to a mile) from entirely new surveys finished during the summer of 1878,and corrected to the Present Time by H Taunt, Published by Taunt & Co. | |
1910 | The Thames by G E Mitton, Published by Blackie & Son Ltd - Beautiful England series. | |
1912 | Boulter's Lock at Maidenhead rebuilt and enlarged. | |
1914 | The Thames Highway by Fred S Thacker published. | |
1920 | The Thames Highway: A History of the Locks and Weirs by Fred S Thacker, Published by the author - The second volume of this History of the Thames. | |
1925 | London River by H M Tomlinson, Published by Cassell - Docklands as they were with an account of a voyage from Limehouse to Gravesend. | |
1926 | River Thames by F V Morley, Published by Methuen London Ltd. | |
1927 | Sunbury Lock - new lock was completed. | |
1932 | No Boats on the River by Sir Alan Patrick Herbert, Published by Methuen London Ltd - The Thames Water Bus service, with a technical essay by J H O Bunge. | |
1938 | The Thames From the Towpath by E K W Ryan, Published by St. Catherine Press - "An account of an expedition on foot from Putney to Thames Head". | |
1944 | The Tideless Thames in Future London by J H O Bunge, Published by Frederick Muller. | |
1946 | Sweet Thames Run Softly by Robert Gibbings, Published by J M Dent - A voyage from Lechlade to London with wood engravings and many anedotes. | |
1951 | The Thames from Mouth to Source by L T C Rolt, Published by Batsford. | |
1952 | Time on the Thames by Eric de Mare, Published by The Architectural Press - A guide to the river by this well known waterways writer and photographer. | |
1956 | Thames Waters by Roger Pilkington, Published by Lutterworth Press. | |
1957 | Till I End My Song by Robert Gibbings, Published by J M Dent - The story of a move to a Berkshire village that allows the author to enrich his knowledge of part of the Thames. | |
1958 | London's Riverside, Past Present & Future by Eric de Mare, Published by Rheinhardt. | |
1961 | The Thames Flows Down by Laurie Osmond, Published by Oxford University Press. | |
1966 | Small Boat on the Thames by Roger Pilkington, Published by Macmillan Publishers (UK) Ltd. | |
1967 | The Thames. An Eating, Drinking and Cruising Guide. by Lionel R Munk, 1Published by Batsford. | |
1970 | Holiday Cruising on the Thames by E & P W Ball, Published by David & Charles | |
1973 | The Thameside Book by Mary Atkinson, Published by Osprey. | |
1974 | Victorians on the Thames by Reginald R Bolland, published. | |
1977 | A View of the Thames by Norman Shrapnell, Published by Collins - A travel and documentary view of the Thames. | |
1977 | IWA National Festival at Reading. | |
1977 | Practical Boat Handling on the Thames by C L Colbourne, Published by David & Charles. | |
1977 | The Making of the Middle Thames by D G Wilson, Published by Spurbooks. | |
1979 | The Upper Thames by J B L Anderson, Published by Eyre Methuen - Two chapters on cruising and navigation. | |
1985 | Royal River Highway. A History of the Passenger Boats and Services on the River Thames by F L Dix, Published by David & Charles. | |
1985 | The Thames by Wilson Stephenson, Published by Frederick Muller - Part of the Rivers of Britain series. | |
1993 | The Victorian Thames by D G Wilson, Published by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd. | |
1994 | Where Two Rivers Meet by Adam Stout, Published by Two Rivers Press - A history of the area where the Kennet joins the Thames. | |
1995 | Electric Boats on the Thames, 1889 - 1914 by Edward Hawthorne, Published by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd. | |
1996 | Old Father Thames & Sleeping Beauty by John Cook, Published by Petmac Publications - A 1992 trip on the Thames and newly reopened Kennet & Avon Canal. | |
1997 | Along the Thames by Brian Eade, Published by Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd - The non-tidal river with over 200 historic views and text. | |
1997 | IWA National Festival at Henley. | |
1997 | Thames Tideway by Robert Simper, Published by Creekside Publishing - history of the tideway with over 150 photographs. | |
1998 | The Quiet Waters By by David Blagrove, Published by M & M Baldwin - The story of the author's time spent as a Thames Lock keeper and of some canal trips made at this period. | |
1998 | The River Thames Book by Chris Cove-Smith, Published by Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson - A walking and boating guide to the Thames, Wey, Basingstoke Canal and to the eastern part of the Kennet & Avon Canal. | |
2003 | The Inland Waterways Association National Festival was held at Beale Park, near Pangbourne . | |
Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.
