Transportation, take two: the canals of England
Written as part of Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge. This week’s topic was fashion, about which I have nothing to say. But I did have a second transportation story.
Thomas Blissett Harley (1836-1873), my Great Great Grandfather, lived for much of his life in the Potteries area of Staffordshire, England. Thomas, his wife, Jane, and their only child, Frank, lived at 70 Lytch House Road in Burslem, one of the five towns which were to form the city of Stoke on Trent. The six towns of Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke-upon-Trent and Tunstall, were collectively known as ‘The Potteries,’ and Burslem was the centre of the industry.
The Old Pottery, Shaws’ Brow, 2856 William Gawin Hardman, British Museum.
https://www.watercolourworld.org/article/potted-history-potteries
It has been estimated there were over 1000 bottle ovens operating across the six towns. Robert Plot, in The Natural History of Staffordshire, 1686 wrote;
‘...the greatest pottery they have in this County is carreyed on at Burslem, … where for making their several sorts of pots, they have as many sorts of clay, which they dig around the Towne, all within half a mile distance, the best being found near the coale.’
Thomas and his partner Arthur Dean together built Burslem’s Wedgwood Memorial Institute, a Gothic revival building in Queen Street. Named after the famous potter, Josiah Wedgwood, (born in Burslem in 1730, died 1795) the Institute stands on the site of one of Wedgwood’s pottery works. The Institute was to house a School of Arts and Science and a public library. Its foundation stone was laid by then Chancellor of the Exchequer, later four-time prime minister of England, William Gladstone, on 26 October 1863. Hidden within the foundation stone is a document with the names of local dignitaries and includes the names of Thomas and Arthur as the builders.
The Wedgwood Memorial Institute, Burslem, built by Thomas Blissett Harley and Arthur Dean
The building is ornate, to say the least. It has numerous inlaid sculptures, ceramics, a series of mosaics, medallions of people connected with Wedgwood's projects, and a statue of Josiah Wedgwood himself. Ceramic panels and mosaics depict the months of the year and the signs of the zodiac, while ten terracotta panels illustrate processes involved in the manufacture of pottery.
In the late 17th century, the Potteries fueled the Industrial Revolution in Britain, and it was Josiah Wedgwood who commissioned the creation of a new canal. He needed to transport his products - such as this lovely vase - across England, to his showrooms in London and to various ports.
First edition of the 1790 Wedgwood Portland Vase at the British Museum.
Pots transported by road were liable to be damaged and broken and Wedgwood’s business depended on their arriving undamaged, so he needed to find a mode of safe and smooth transport. Realizing that water transportation would be both fast and safe, he commissioned the building of the Trent and Mersey Canal to connect the potteries to the ports of Hull and Liverpool. Once the plan was approved, he built a new factory at Etruria, on the bank of the proposed canal in Burslem.
Plan for the Trent and Mersey Canal (marked in red)
The period between the 1770s and 1830s was the golden age of canals. The UK was the first country to develop a nationwide canal network, growing to nearly 4,000 miles in length. Then from 1840 the canals began to decline, as the railway network, a more efficient means of transporting goods, rapidly took over. In the 20th century, as the road network became more important, canals were abandoned as uneconomic.
Railway lines parallel the canals in many places.
The primary vessel in the canals is the narrowboat (one word), described in the Oxford English Dictionary:
A British canal boat of traditional long, narrow design, steered with a tiller; spec. one not exceeding 7 feet in width or 72 feet in length. These dimensions are determined by the size of the locks. Some locks are shorter than 72 feet, so to access the entire canal network the maximum length is 57 feet.
In 2011, we rented a narrowboat and planned a family reunion on the canals.
The Fjord Prince (Middlewich) at Harecastle Tunnel, our home for two weeks in 2011.
The Fjord Prince at Church Lock, with inches to spare.
The first narrow boats were wooden boats drawn by a horse and led by a crew member walking on the canal towpath. Horses were gradually replaced with steam and then diesel engines.
Horse drawn narrowboat.
(https://highcliffecoaches.rezdy.com/368431/horse-drawn-canal-boat-marlborough)
Many boats, like the one above, are traditionally decorated with art in the style known as Roses and Castles, which resembles the art of Romani Gypsy caravans.
The tradition continues: castles, roses …. and dogs.
Some are distinctly untraditional …
This was not our first canal trip.
On the Staffordshire and Worcesteshire canal 1977 …
… and the Llangollen canal, including the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, the 336 yard long waterway that carries boats and contents 126 ft in the air over the River Dee.
In 2011 we travelled on the Shropshire Union, the Trent and Mersey, and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canals, from Nantwich to Stoke on Trent, Great Haywood, Fazely, skirting Birmingham on the way to Wolverhampton, Brewood and back to Nantwich.
In two weeks we covered 110 miles, at a maximum speed of 4 miles per hour.
If you travel England by road, you experience twentieth century England; if you travel by rail, you will see the nineteenth century. But on the canals you can experience an earlier England, both rural and industrial, at a much slower pace, travelling through the countryside, small villages and towns, as well as industrial cities.
The Cheshire countryside
Arriving in the town of Stone, Staffordshire.
There are many marvels of seventeenth century engineering.
The Poole aqueduct crosses over the canal, at Poole, Staffordshire
The Harecastle Tunnel is 1.6 miles long. In the past boatsmen had to lie on the roof of a boat and use their feet to push forward against the tunnel walls because there was no towpath.
Harecastle Tunnel leads to the Potteries ..
.. where there are still bottle ovens by the canal.
There are dozens of stone bridges: Otherton Lane Bridge
A high bridge on the Shropshire Union
And industrial pipelines too
You can berth just about anywhere to take a walk in the countryside …
… into the village for grocery shopping …
… or pull up for lunch at a canal side pub, in this case the Fox and Anchor, Cross Green.
You always know where you are.
The interior of the narrowboat is cozy like a camper.
The tiller is a favorite spot to hang out …
… even in the rain.
Everyone learns to open and shut the lock gates …
… and tie up the boat.
Not everyone is a tourist. Many people live on the canals year round,, out of choice or necessity.
Contemporary horse-power.
While some people have their dogs aboard …
… others show their preference for cats.
People like to display their reasons for being on the canals ..
Our reason was the family reunion.