The history of British canals, with all the most interesting information bearing upon their extent, capacity, and traffic, has been written by Priestley in a work that is to this day the standard authority on the subject. The same subject has been dealt with very extensively in Rees’s ‘Cyclopædia,’ under the heading of “Canals.” With these sources of information open to all the world, it would be quite supererogatory to go into much detail relative to these waterways of Great Britain, except in so far as they are of cardinal importance, or are likely to exercise an influence in the future development of canal navigations. It will be understood, therefore, that in these notes no attempt is made to afford minute details of the different canals dealt with; while many of the canals that have either been abandoned, or have become the property of railway companies, or have otherwise ceased to be of public importance, have been entirely disregarded.
It is an axiom in water transport that the larger the vessel employed, within certain limits, the more inexpensive is the cost of the service performed. It has been calculated[51] that at the present time, the cost of transporting fifty tons of material between London and Liverpool, a distance of 180 miles, is 25l., or 10s. per ton exclusive of tolls. But then the boats employed are only 25-ton craft, which take eight days on the journey, with one day to load, and one day to unload, making, with two spare days, twelve days in all. If, however, large craft were substituted, capable of carrying 120 tons each, and towed by a steam barge carrying 90 tons—making a total load of 450 tons—the cost would be reduced to about 2s. 6⅕d. per ton, or about one-fourth of the existing cost, and the time occupied by the journey would be lessened by two days. In both cases profit is included, at the rate of 25 per cent.
In order, however, to have this substitution generally effected, a large number of the existing canals would require to be deepened and widened. The size of the craft suggested for the more economical trip would be 84 feet by 12 feet by 6 feet 3 inches draft. A smaller vessel would not answer the purpose. Now, there are comparatively few canals that would at the present time admit of the passage of such craft, and in some cases waterways that are nominally adapted for even larger boats, are in such an imperfect condition of repair that they are not suited for use. The canals of the independent companies that profess to be adapted for vessels of this size, and the size of craft which they severally admit, are—
| Canal. | Length of Navigation. | Size of Craft. |
|---|---|---|
| miles. | ft. in. ft. in. | |
| Aire and Calder | 80 | 212 0 by 22 0 |
| Bridgwater | 97 | 84 0 ” 15 0 |
| Bude[52] | 35½ | 104 0 ” 29 6 |
| Gloucester | 16 | 163 0 ” 29 6 |
| Leicester and Northampton | 24 | 88 0 ” 15 6 |
| Louth | 11¾ | 87 6 ” 15 6 |
| Medway Navigation | 7¾ | 86 0 ” 23 0 |
| Regent’s and Hertford Union | 10¼ | 90 0 ” 15 0 |
| Stort | 13½ | 100 0 ” 13 6 |
| Thames and Medway | 9 | 94 8 ” 22 8 |
| Trent River | 72 | 90 0 ” 15 0 |
| Total[53] | 306¾ | — |
Here then we have only 306¾ miles of canal suited to the passage of craft 84 feet by 12 feet, including the river Trent, which, of itself, contributes 72 miles to the total. In other words, only about twenty per cent. of the total independent waterways of the country can admit craft that would enable them to realise the full value of economical transport. Of the remainder, a great part of the navigations vary from 60 to 75 feet in width, so that presumably they could be adapted for the larger sizes of craft without very material expense.
Map showing the Canals and Navigations in England and Wales.
The canals and navigations managed by public trusts are in a decidedly better position. Commencing with the noble Severn, which, for a great part of its canalised course of forty-four miles, admits craft 270 feet by 35 feet, there are the Thames (from London Bridge), the Lea, the Weaver, and the Wye, which are suited to craft of considerable dimensions, but these for the most part can hardly be described as canals proper.
The canals that have passed into the possession of the railway companies are not, as a rule, so well adapted for navigation as those controlled by independent companies. On the face of it, indeed, there is a presumption that the railways could not have acquired the property if it had been as it should have been. The only railway canals that are capable of admitting craft exceeding 84 feet in length are the Kennet and Avon, 85 miles long; the Grantham Canal, 33½ miles long; and the Nottingham Canal, 15 miles in length—about 133 miles in all. Out of a total of 1333 miles of the derelict and converted canals, only the Melton Mowbray, 14¾ miles in length, was adapted for the larger size of vessels.
The preceding map shows the canals in England and Wales that are in the hands of independent owners or public trusts, and in the possession of railway companies, respectively.