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 The
British system of navigable waterways was established between 1750
and 1840, although the peak period for legislation occurred in the
canal mania years from 1791 to 1795 when parliament authorised fifty-one
new canals. About 4,000 miles of waterways were built to provide
a transport system by means of which the industrial centres of the
country developed and prospered. Some of the earliest canals were
built to serve local interests and gradually an intricate network
spread across the countryside. In retrospect, it seems fortuitous
that national routes were eventually established in the same way
as those projected in the railway era of a generation later. In
the north of England, however, three inter-regional canal routes
were proposed to link Lancashire with the West Riding and the east-coast
ports of Yorkshire. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal was the first
of these to be built and the others, completed in later years, were
the Leeds and Liverpool and the Rochdale canals, both broad navigations
which followed more northerly, longer but easier routes.
Further Reading
Hadfield, C., The Canals of Yorkshire and the North-East
Vols 1 & 2 (1972) (1973)
Burton, A., Canals In Colour (1974)
Braithwaite, L., Canals In Towns (1976)
Huddersfield Canal Society, The Huddersfield Canals Towpath
Guide (1981)
Scholes, R., B., The Construction Of The Huddersfield Narrow
Canal 1794 - 1811 (1981)
Fox, M., Pennine Passage (1988)
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