Charnwood Forest Canal
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The Charnwood Forest Canal, sometimes known as the "Forest Line of the Leicester Navigation", was opened to Barrow Hill, near Worthington, in 1794
It marks the beginning of a period of history that saw the introduction of railways to supplement canals and, in the end, superseding them, leading eventually to the Midland Counties Railway. It was also one of the first uses of edge-rails for a wagonway.
(This should not be confused with the Charnwood Forest Railway.)
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[edit] Origin
It was built by the Leicester coalmasters in order to meet competition from the coalfields of Nottinghamshire.
Until the end of the eighteenth century the City of Leicester had received its supplies of coal by packhorse from the Charnwood Forest coal mines around Coalville.
In 1778, the Loughborough Canal opened up the River Soar from the Trent. In 1779 the Erewash Canal opened and provided a ready supply from the Nottinghamshire coalfields.
[edit] History
Its use was limited until the Blackbrook reservoir was finished. During the floods of 1799 this collapsed, destroying some earthworks and an aqueduct, and the canal went out of use for two years. Even after some repairs were carried out, further damage occurred and what little trade there had been did not return. Stevenson suggests "the problems ... stemmed partially from the hybrid nature of its construction." It was part canal, part wagonway.
Among the latter was the section between Nanpantan and Loughborough where the considerable height difference would require a number of locks, for which there was not enough water. It was engineered by William Jessop who used an iron edge-rail railway, in contrast to his partner Benjamin Outram, who, for other such lines, preferred the traditional iron "L" shaped flange-rail plateway.
[edit] After the canal's closure
It was not until 1832 that the opening of the Leicester and Swannington Railway allowed the Leicestershire miners to regain a competitive advantage. The Nottinghamshire coal miners responded to this by proposing a railway line extending from the Mansfield and Pinxton Railway, which had been opened in 1819. This eventually led to the building of Midland Counties Railway, which became a founding partner in the Midland Railway.
Remains of the canal can still be seen in places, particularly: south of Osgathorpe SK427187; alongside the entrance to Longcliffe Golf Club in Nanpantan SK503175; alongside the public footpath in the back gardens of houses on Forest Road in Nanpantan SK505174.
[edit] References
- Stevenson.P.S. (Ed), (1989) The Midland Counties Railway, Railway and Canal Historical Society.
[edit] External links
- Canals & Waterways: Roots & Routes - LEICESTERSHIRE AND SOAR NAVIGATIONS.
- Swannington Heritage Trust
- Map and aerial photo of Charnwood Forest Canal from Multimap.com
- Other map and aerial photo sources