Runcorn Memories: Clamour for coal cut the Sankey Navigation

By Runcorn And Widnes Weekly News on Sep 26, 09 04:08 PM in 1500-1799

REGARDED as the first 'true' canal in England, the Sankey Navigation was built in response to the increasing demand for coal from the hearths and industries of Liverpool and the salt boilers of Cheshire in the 1750s.

Existing roads from St Helens pits were inadequate and expensive for coal haulage and a water route was seen as both more reliable and cheaper.

Henry Berry, who had taken over as Liverpool Dock Engineer in 1750, was appointed surveyor and engineer. His brief was to construct the Sankey Navigation by widening, straightening and deepening an existing watercourse - the Sankey Brook. Ingeniously, Berry took advantage of a clause in the Canal Bill - a clause which allowed the construction of any new cuts thought 'proper and requisite' and built a completely new canal separate from the brook.

The canal was opened to traffic between Sankey Bridges and Blackbrook in 1757 and was extended, five years later, from Sankey Bridges to Fiddlers Ferry. The Canal Company was amalgamated with the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway in 1845.

Loads as diverse as coal and sugar remained the canal's principal cargoes and, in fact the last cargo of sugar went to Sankey Sugar Works as late as 1959. Four years later, the remainder of the canal was officially abandoned.

One large stretch of the canal - that between St Helens and Earlestown - had been officially abandoned in 1931.

The Sankey Canal Reservation Society (SCARS) hopes eventually to restore the whole of the canal. To boost funds for its work, SCARS has published a number of booklets, held fundraising events and even produced souvenir mugs and calendars.

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