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Great
Salopians: Thomas Telford
Builder of the Shrewsbury Canal, Telford was responsible for
the creation of a whole new profession.
Canals
were built in response to the growing industry in Shropshire,
including the mines in the county. To find out more, see our
feature on mining in Shropshire.
Memory
Lane Gallery
Take a look at our photography gallery showing Shrewsbury
in the 1950's and 60's.
A Shrewsbury gallery has just opened a new exhibition of photographs
of old Shropshire. See
our feature about it.
Day
Star Theatre Company write and perform their own plays
on the banks of the Shropshire Union Canal, using their narrowboat,
the Angry Bull.
Mystery
of Ironbridge Historians have finally uncovered the
great mystery of Ironbridge - how it was built.
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Society was formed in the 1960s to restore
the 'Shroppie' and its feeder canals, including the Shrewsbury
and Newport.
Shrewsbury
& Atcham Borough Council's and guide
to its wildlife, which include kingfishers and great crested
newts.
is another well-illustrated
website that explores the history of the route.
has a history of the Shrewsbury Canal, with plenty of 'then
and now' pictures of the industrial canal and the inclined
plane at Trench.
The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content
of external websites.
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| FACTS |
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Obviously,
canals must be level in order to work, but there were two
ways of getting around this, and the Shrewsbury and Newport
Canal employed both.
The
link from the Shropshire Union Canal at Norbury to Wappenshall
had to cope with a large change in elevation and so used locks
to cope - there were 17 just between Forton and Norbury.
Inclined
planes were another way of getting over the problem. Boats
were put in tanks of water on rails and then hauled up an
incline (or lowered down one).
Although
there is little left other than the slope of the Trench inclined
plane, another largely intact one can be seen at Blist's Hill
Victorian Town in the Ironbridge Gorge.
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Gradually,
as at Uffington in the picture, parts of the canal were filled in
and bridges over it removed and the land levelled.
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Shrewsbury
& Newport Canal
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What
remains today
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By
the 1960s the first efforts to restore it were made by the Shropshire
Union Canal Society, but these met with little enthusiasm from the
authorities, who were dead against any restoration plan. In fact,
much of the route of the canal was sold off just as enthusiasts
were looking at preserving it.
The
society turned its attention to saving the the Mongomeryshire Canal
from a new road scheme instead.
Meanwhile,
much of the Shrewsbury route was being reclaimed. The sections on
either side of the Longden upon Tern aqueduct were filled in and
became part of the surrounding fields. Other sections, too, were
filled in and bridges removed.
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The
route of the canal from Shrewsbury to the Shropshire Union
canal at Norbury Junction has been criss-crossed by several
new roads which will prove a problem for the restorers
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In
Shrewsbury nearly every trace of the canal has disappeared. It can
barely be seen at the back of the Canal Tavern in Castlefields,
and then all trace of it disappears on its route in front of the
Maltings and then out towards Telford Way.
From
Telford Way the route of the canal can be followed as it's a footpath
and nature reserve today, although the canal itself has been filled
in. A couple of pools, used by wildlife, remain at Sundorne, but
the canal is mostly filled in all the way to Uffington, where part
of it is a cycle track.
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Weeds
grow where the canal was once
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From
there on the canal can largely be seen, although it's choked with
weeds, until it passes under the A5 bypass - unfortunately at water
level. From there it goes on to the Berwick Tunnel, which is bricked
up but still in water, before curving back through the village of
Berwick Wharf (which owes its existence to the canal) and back under
the A5 near Upton Magna.
From
there on much of the canal route is dry and some of it has been
filled in. Several aqueducts that used to take the canal over roads
and the River Roden have also been demolished.
Newport
is the only place where large sections of the canal remain in water
and as they were 50 years ago - it was bought with preservation
in mind by the local council.
Beyond
Newport most of the canal has been filled in all the way to Norbury
Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal, but all along the route
listed structures, such as bridges and canal buildings, also survive.
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