Lancaster's own waterway described

Another handy pocket-sized guide from local author Robert Swain, this time about the Lancaster Canal, from Preston to Lancaster and northwards to Kendal over some 57 miles and with over 120 bridges between Ashton Lock in Preston and Tewitfield. There is an appendix describing the 2 5/8 miles of the Glasson Branch with its eight bridges.

But this is not just a guide for those who wish to enjoy a walk along the canal's attractive and varied banks. It is, for some three-quarters of its length, a historical companion too. "This book does not claim to be a complete history of the canal,' the author modestly claims, but it is certainly the most authoritative and easily accessible work I have yet seen on this relative latecomer onto the British canal scene.

The scheme was first mooted by local and mainly Lancaster-based businessmen in 1760s though, like many canal and, later, railway projects, would not come to fruition for some years – and even then not as the original promoters envisaged.

Nor were things easy once construction was complete. A particularly influential factor on the canal was the advent of the railways, a scenario which would have parallels in the early years of the twentieth century as the internal combustion engine – as in the motor car and buses - began its slow but decisive inroads into the former quasi-monopoly of the railway. Which had, in turn, taken away a good deal of the raison d'être of the canals in the nineteenth century.

Ownership of the Lancaster Canal was, in fact, in the hands of the early railway companies during the 1840s. Swain narrates an incredibly complex story of political shenanigans, double-dealing, expensive law-suits and counter-claims and other duplicities between the several railway companies and canal companies. All in the name of competition and, er, consumer choice! Some things don't change.

The story behind the construction of the wonderful Skerton Aqueduct (Bridge 107) is fascinating and, deservedly, has a chapter to itself. This fine bridge, completed in the autumn of 1797, is arguably the finest and grandest of all the crossings of the Lune, except possibly the Skerton Bridge. Attractive or monumental railway bridges can be found at Berwick-upon-Tweed, Conwy, Menai, along the length of the Settle-Carlisle line, at Bath and across the Thames in and around London, but Lancaster City's two rail-built crossings (the Carlisle and Greyhound bridges) are tamely functional in comparison with the classical grandeur of the Lune Aqueduct.

John Rennie, the bridge's designer, "favoured brick … but the Committee preferred stone,' Swain tells us. That is a decision we applaud today, but "I still wish the Committee had tried brick, it would have saved many thousand pounds,' Rennie later wrote to Samuel Gregson. Construction took nearly four years. "To Public Prosperity,' an inscription on the north-east side altruistically proclaims. That on the south-west is more elegiac, and Swain translates the Latin as follows:

Old needs are served; far distant sites combined;
Rivers by art to bring new wealth are joined.

The erection of that elegant structure cost £48,320 18s 10d, almost double the original estimate of £18,618 16s 0d. Troubles with Jarvis and other contractors are nothing new, and those on top of delays caused by natural phenomena such as ‘leaves on the line': "Troubles arose through drunken [pumping] engine attendants, the flooding of the coffer dams owing to sudden rises in the level of the river, bad weather and recalcitrant workmen,' Swain tells us. Only the weather is a valid reason for lack of progress and increased costs; the rest are specious excuses – flooding on the Lune at that point has been familiar for centuries.

Swain also describes the traffic the canal has carried, with data on tonnage and revenues as well as how the nature of that traffic has changed over the years from the ‘Black and White' of coal and limestone to tourism today.

As for walking along the canal, this is nicely and clearly described, with small sectional maps giving bridge numbers, there are 57 between the Ashton Basin in Preston and Castle Head in Kendal. There are also interesting historical notes about what can be seen from the banks, and pointers to adjacent roads and other access points, including public transport.

Perhaps an updated and expanded version may now be called for in the light of the opening in 2002 of the new Ribble Link. This has been well described on a video, The Lancaster Canal, reviewed in these columns in 2003.

But the vast majority of the text, and the worthwhile information it has for those who want to walk along the canal, is an excellent companion for holidaymakers, exercise-conscious locals, picnicking students, families and swan-spotters alike.

Copyright © 6 February 2005 Michael Nunn

A Walker's Guide To The Lancaster Canal is available in Waterstones, Tourist Information Centres, local museums and galleries, and local booksellers (please support them!).

It can also be ordered direct from the publisher's website by clicking here.