When were Britain’s canals at their busiest? I dare say most
people would nominate the early years of the nineteenth century, when the canal
network was at its height, and the railways hadn’t yet begun to take their
traffic. But they would be wrong, for the answer is – today. According to a recent article, there are more boats on our canals and rivers now than at the
height of the industrial revolution. Of course, the vast majority are leisure
or house boats, rather than the freight barges that once dominated the canals,
but the nation’s waterways are clearly thriving.
Not all canals, however, made the transition from nineteenth
century industrial transport arteries to twenty-first century leisure
facilities. Some were abandoned once their original function became obsolete
and were subsequently filled in or built over. One such was the South End of
the Lancaster Canal, which ran from Whittle Springs, through the centre of
Whittle-le-Woods, to a terminus at Walton Summit, from where goods were
transported by a tramway into Preston, to pick up the north end of the canal to
Lancaster and Kendal. In this brief article, I will outline the history of the
Lancaster Canal, and the subsequent set of photographs will trace the remains
of the closed section of the canal that ran through Whittle and
Clayton-le-Woods.
Construction of the Lancaster Canal began in the 1790s,
under the direction of the leading civil engineer John Rennie. The canal aimed
to transport coal from the Wigan coalfield northwards to Preston, Lancaster and
Kendal, and limestone southwards from the quarries around Kendal. A series of
locks and an aqueduct were proposed to carry the canal across the valley of the
river Ribble and into Preston, but this proved too expensive, and the tramway
was built instead. It was hoped that the canal would be profitable enough to
fund the building of an aqueduct at a later date.
A deal was struck with the Leeds-Liverpool canal to share
the route from Wigan to Whittle Springs, where the Leeds-Liverpool then ascended
by means of seven locks at Johnson’s Hillock and headed north-east to
Blackburn, while the Lancaster canal took a flatter, north-westerly route
toward Preston. The south end of the Lancaster canal opened in 1803, and the
whole route to Kendal was finished by 1819. The Leeds-Liverpool canal was
completed in 1816.
The three-mile section of the Lancaster canal from Whittle
Springs to Walton Summit did not require any locks, following a level course
some 250 feet above sea level. It crossed the river Lostock by means of an
embankment and a small aqueduct, then needed a 250-yard tunnel to take it
through Whittle Hill. The tunnel suffered from rock falls, and was subsequently
hollowed out to a cutting. A basin and wharf were provided at Rip Row, where
the canal crossed (modern day) Chorley Old Road, and another basin was built at
Radburn Brow. A larger basin, with wharves and a warehouse was constructed at
Walton Summit, with a network of rail tracks marking the beginning of the
horse-drawn tramway. This descended through Bamber Bridge and Lower Penwortham
to cross the Ribble by a wooden trestle bridge.
Wagons were then hauled up the steep incline at Avenham by a stationary
steam engine, before being again drawn by horses to the beginning of the north
end of the canal at an extensive basin to the north of Fishergate.An interesting and thorough book by Steve Barritt (see 'Sources used') relates the history and function of the tramway.
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The basin at Rip Row in the late 19th century, looking towards Chorley Old Road, with the Duke of York Inn in the background (now the Co-op supermarket)
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The canal functioned adequately until the coming of the
railways in the 1830s, though it was never profitable enough to fund the replacement
of the tramway across the Ribble with an aqueduct. The arrival of the railways
led to a complex series of deals between the nascent railway companies and the
Lancaster Canal Company. The railways gained access to the canal basin in
Preston, and coal began to be transported by rail from Wigan to Preston,
transferring to the canal for onward travel to Lancaster and beyond. With the
southbound limestone traffic drying up, this effectively made the tramway
across the Ribble redundant. In 1864, the northern end of the Lancaster canal
was leased to the London and North Western Railway and the southern end to the
Leeds-Liverpool Canal Company. The tramway was closed, apart from a short
section between Walton Summit and Bamber Bridge, which continued for a few more
years, finally closing in 1879. This made the canal redundant between
Whittle-le-Woods and Walton Summit, as it ran through undeveloped countryside,
and it gradually became disused north of the basin at Rip Row. In 1886, the
leasing arrangements were made permanent, and the Lancaster canal company was
wound up.
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The canal basin at Walton Summit, towards the end of the canal's life in the 1950s.
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So by the end of the nineteenth century, the south end of
the Lancaster canal had become a short branch line off the Leeds-Liverpool
canal into Whittle-le-Woods. As such it served a purpose, as Whittle did not
have a railway connection - an attempt in the 1870s to interest the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Railway in constructing a line from Chorley, parallel to the
current A6 through Whittle, Clayton and Bamber Bridge to Preston came to
nothing. The canal was used to transport coal to Whittle’s homes and factories,
with goods being taken south to Chorley from the quarries and cotton mills. Other
small businesses also used the canal, such as St Helen’s Chemical works and
Lostock Valley Brick and Tile works, which owned its own barge.
The twentieth century saw a slow decline, as road transport
gained its ascendancy, though the canal apparently continued to be navigable
until after the Second World War. The end came with the construction of the M61
motorway in the late 1960s. This cut through the canal in several places and it
was largely drained and filled in. Soon after, housing developments connected
with the proposed Central Lancashire New Town started to appear, with houses
sometimes being built on top of the canal bed.
The southern end of the Lancaster canal is therefore no
more, and despite today’s interest in waterways it can never be restored. Much
of it has disappeared, but it can still be traced. The subsequent series of
photographs follows the canal from Whittle Springs north to Walton Summit, as a
memorial to the time when Whittle and Clayton had its own trunk route.
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The canal arriving from the south at Whittle Springs. The Lancaster and Leeds-Liverpool canals shared the route from Wigan to here. As can be seen, the Leeds-Liverpool canal is still a thriving waterway.
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The junction where the Lancaster canal (to the left) branches off from the Leeds-Liverpool canal. There is water in the Lancaster canal as far as Town Lane, but this section is no longer navigable
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The Leeds-Liverpool canal arrives from the north at Whittle Springs via a picturesque set of locks that brings it down the gentle slope of Johnson's Hillock
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The short water-filled section of the Lancaster canal is now one of Whittle's pleasantest walks. The towpath would not, of course originally have had trees at its edge, as they would obstruct the ropes by which horses pulled the barges
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The canal is now dammed at Town Lane, but originally went under a road bridge. Just beyond the bridge was the Navigation Inn, now a private house
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When the M61 was built, its route pierced the canal in no fewer than four places, leading to its final closure
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Lostock Valley Brick and Tile Works, owned by landowner and entrepreneur Charles Lowe Swainson, was sited next to the canal, just south of the river Lostock. It was in operation between 1875 and 1890. Its wares were transported to Chorley on the company's own barge, perhaps skippered by Swainson's redoubtable wife Elizabeth, who was interested in matters nautical
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The canal crossed the river Lostock by means of a short aqueduct
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| The canal as it wound through Whittle Hill and into the village, as depicted on an 1890s ordnance survey map. A cutting and 250 yard tunnel originally took the canal through Whittle Hill, but following rockfalls in 1827 and 1836, the centre of the tunnel was hollowed out into another cutting. The canal crossed Chorley Old Road at Moss Bridge, where there was a basin and wharf (see earlier vintage photograph). This area of Whittle was known as Rip Row, and was home to a heady mix of mill workers, quarrymen and boatmen. Plenty of pubs were needed. |
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much overgrown course of the Lancaster canal, pictured from the top of
the tunnel off Hilltop Lane, looking north. Whittle quarry is to the
left. When the centre of the tunnel was hollowed out here in 1837, workers discovered a hoard of third century
Roman coins, leading to the theory that the Romans had been quarrying
stone in Whittle-le-Woods. |
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The northern entrance to Whittle Hill tunnel. There was no towpath through the tunnel, and the boatmen had to guide the barge through by pushing on the walls and roof
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The section from the tunnel mouth to Moss Bridge (which carried Chorley Old Road over the canal) was restored in the 1990s, and is now an atmospheric walk
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Moss Bridge, looking back towards the restored section. The canal has been completely filled in from here to Walton Summit
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The basin at Rip Row is today a leisure area and playground. The clump of trees to the left has grown on the bed of the canal
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This memorial to the former canal basin includes mill stones of the type that were once transported by canal from Whittle's quarries. It was built in 1985 by participants in the Chorley Community Project (aka job creation scheme)
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From the Rip Row basin, the canal ran parallel to Chorley Old Road, before crossing it again at Dog Inn Bridge. This section is now a footpath, and embraces Whittle's Community Garden
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After re-crossing Chorley Old Road, the canal ran parallel to it as far as Radburn Brow. This picture was taken standing on the bed of the canal, looking towards the little playground off Osborne Drive
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An original source of revenue for the Lancaster canal was the transportation of limestone southwards from quarries near Kendal. The stone was baked into lime for use as fertiliser or mortar. This early 19th century limekiln is now hidden in the woodland of Whittle Spinney, but was originally in open country some thirty yards from the canal. As the 19th century wore on, lime manufacture became concentrated in large concerns, and small limekilns such as this one became redundant. The loss of the southbound lime trade was one reason for the closure of the tramway across the Ribble, relegating the south end of the canal to a branch line
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A basin and coalyard were provided at Radburn Brow, where the canal neared the Chorley to Preston turnpike. The canal ran through the gable end of the house in the background
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A well-restored mile post outside the Lord Nelson pub. On the other side it reads: "Junction L & L C 2 miles"
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Westwood Road climbs up a considerable embankment to join Sandy Lane where it crosses the M61 motorway, but it is actually directly on the route of the canal as it headed north to Walton Summit. In the distance, the road veers to the left, while the canal veered to the right, heading north-east through open countryside, before turning sharp west to its terminus
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The Walton Summit terminus in the 1840s, depicted on the first edition ordnance survey map. The canal arrives from the east, splitting into two sections with wharves, with a warehouse between them. The tramway heads off to the west, with a network of sidings serving the wharves
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This neglected (and, it must be said, not very level) playing field in the north east corner of Clayton Brook village is the site of Walton Summit terminus today
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This path marks the beginning of the tramway that descended through Bamber Bridge and Lower Penwortham to the river Ribble. The gradient is quite steep, and originally a stationary steam engine was planned to haul wagons up it, but modifications to the route allowed horses to do the work. The river crossing was closed in 1864, and the short remaining section to Bamber Bridge was abandoned in 1879. Part of the route south of the Ribble was purchased by Preston Council and is now a footpath. This concludes our exploration of Whittle and Clayton's lost trunk route, I hope it may encourage you to explore the remaining footprint of this once important transport artery.
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Sources Used
Historic maps available at MARIO and Old Maps
Census returns available at The Genealogist
Newspaper articles available at British Newspaper Archive
Barritt S (2000) The Old Tram Road: Preston to Walton Summit. Lancaster: Carnegie Publishing
Hodkinson K (1991) Whittle and Clayton-le-Woods: A Pictorial Record of Bygone Days.
