1 72 History of Inland Transport 



London bankers, and the new canal was partly opened for 

 traffic in 1767, although the Runcorn locks were not com- 

 pleted till 1773. The total amount spent by the Duke on 

 his two canals was 220,000. 



In 1772 the Duke added to the usefulness of his Manchester- 

 to-Runcorn canal by establishing passenger boats which 

 could accommodate sixty passengers, and on which they 

 were carried twenty miles for a shilling. He afterwards had 

 larger boats, holding from 80 to 120 passengers, the fares 

 on these being is., is. 6d. and 2S. 6d. per twenty miles, 

 according to class. Each of these boats, says Macpherson, 

 in his " Annals of Commerce," was " provided with a coffee 

 house kept by the master ; wherein his wife serves the com- 

 pany with wine and other refreshments." 



The effect of the new canal on the trade and commerce of 

 Manchester and Liverpool was considerable. It diverted to 

 Liverpool the stream of export traffic which had previously 

 gone from Manchester via Bridgnorth and the Severn to 

 Bristol ; it enabled Manchester manufacturers to obtain 

 raw materials more readily from Liverpool, to supplement 

 the cheaper supplies of coal they were already obtaining 

 from Worsley ; and it opened up the port of Liverpool to a 

 wider stretch of country than could otherwise benefit from 

 the facilities thereof, to the advantage both of Liverpool 

 itself and of industrial Lancashire, though other canal schemes, 

 leading to like results, were to follow. 



Even before the Manchester and Runcorn Canal was 

 opened for traffic, Brindley had started on a much bolder 

 project. The new scheme was one for a canal connecting 

 the Mersey with the Trent, and, also, with the Severn, thus 

 opening up direct inland water communication between 

 Liverpool, Hull and Bristol, and affording an alternative 

 to road transport not only for the Potteries, but, by means 

 of branch canals, for the industrial centres of Staffordshire 

 and Worcestershire, then, as it were, more or less land- 

 locked. 



In the same year (1755) in which the Bill for the construc- 

 tion of the Sankey Canal was obtained, the Corporation of 

 Liverpool already had under consideration a scheme for a 

 canal from the Mersey to the Trent ; but no definite action 

 was then taken, and it was left for private enterprise to carry 



