Driving through the countryside, we have often crossed over canals with long narrow boats parked along the canal banks. I asked where the canals go and Lana said she's not sure because there is a very comprehensive and complex canal system in England. My curiosity got the best of me, so I went searching for a Waterways Navigation Map. I did find one, which shows an overview of the entire countries canal system. WOW. You can, literally, go from just about anywhere in the country to anywhere else by canal. It may take a while, but you can get there by boat. For anyone who is interested, I will show you the map when we get back home. It's too big to scan in and display. The map shows the miles, number of locks and time needed to go between locations. For example the map shows: 8-23-7 between Warwick and Kingswood. This means it is 8 miles, utilizing 23 locks, and should take about 7 hours to navigate. So, as you can see, this is not a fast mode of travel.
According to a brochure I picked up, canal mania was sweeping the country in the 1790's. In 1793, an act of Parliament authorized the construction of a canal from Warwick to Birmingham. This canal provided a link in the chain of canals joining the industrialising inlands to London. Raw materials came from all over the world, where they were used to produce many things... like spices, tea, sugar, etc. Locally, the canal meant cheap transport of coal helping to power local industry, such as the cotton mills... and keeping the home fires burning, literally. Major improvements were made to the canal system in the 1930's.
The canal locks near where Lana & Rob live are the Hatton Locks, near the historic town of Warwick (where the Warwick Castle is). I have inserted some pictures above, but here is a link to some more pictures of the Hatton Locks, and some additional information.
The first picture above is how the boats look along the canal. If you enlarge the photo, and look closely, you can see me standing in the right foreground. The second picture is a close-up of one of the locks. The third a look up the ladder of locks, and the fourth a look down the ladder of locks. I believe there are 21 locks at this particular lock station.
1 comment:
This is really interesting. What is the purpose of all the gates tho, is that a method of controlling the water or paying to use the system?? Obviously I'm NOT up on canal knowledge at all! :-D What is the cost to use the canals by the way?
Portland Peggi
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