Discovering Lost Canals

A while ago I acquired a slim paperback called "Discovering Lost Canals" by Ronald Russell. It was first published in 1975; my copy is a second edition (1980). To each of 16 canals Mr. Russell devotes about three pages, divided into a section on History; one on The canal today; and a sketch map. Being concise the book is very readable, but manages to pack a wealth of information about the canals' start in life, problems in construction, their main cargoes, the reasons for their decline and eventual abandonment.

It's fascinating to read about canals which have since been restored, notably the Rochdale and the Huddersfield Narrow.

This is the start of the section on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal:

Many eccentric and ambitious projects flowered in the 1790s, a decade in which, to canal promoters, nothing seemed impossible. [...] One such, however, was the Huddersfield Narrow Canal, one of three completed projects to take waterway traffic across the Pennines and provide a link between the east and west coasts.

Further on:

The Huddersfield Narrow still supplies water for industry and the tunnel serves to drain the railway tunnel above it, but the locks are unusable.

Then in the Canal Today section:

Vivid descriptions have been published of voyages through the tunnel [Standedge] in recent years, but it is considered too dangerous for visitors to be allowed through. [...] A long term and admittedly costly plan for the restoration of the canal to navigable standard has been drawn up by the Huddersfield Canal Society.

Now, of course, the restoration has been carried out (hooray!) and we have ourselves cruised its length.


These are the canals covered:

The Bude Canal
The Chard Canal
The Chesterfield Canal (Chesterfield to Worksop)
The Dorset & Somerset Canal
The Grand Western Canal
The Grantham Canal
The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal
The Huddersfield Narrow Canal
The Lancaster Canal (Kendal to Tewitfield)
The Leominster Canal
The Rochdale Canal
The Shropshire tub-boat canals and the Shrewsbury Canal
The Somersetshire Coal Canal
The Thames and Severn Canal
The Wey and Arun Junction Canal
The Wilts and Berks Canal

There is a chapter headed Some other lost canals; and another headed Lost canals found.

The book would make an excellent companion for an exploration of any of the featured canals, especially for the section on history. One to watch out for in a second hand bookshop.