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Croxton Aqueduct, allowing the Trent & Mersey Canal to cross the River Dane, was replaced as a narrow aqueduct after the broad aqueduct, built by James Brindley in 1777, was washed away in a flood about 1935. This is now the southern limit of navigation for broad boats which can no longer reach Middlewich Broad Lock but it is unlikely broad boats ever venture this far. Part of the original Brindley aqueduct can be seen on the banks of the Dane.

The Trent and Mersey Canal is 93·5 miles in length from Derwent Mouth to Preston Brook. The first cut was made by Josiah Wedgwood in July 1766 at Middleport (Stoke-on-Trent). The eastern section between Derwent Mouth and Shugborough (the junction with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal) was already operational by 1770 and the whole canal through to Preston Brook, where it linked with the Bridgewater Canal was open for business by 1777. James Brindley was the engineer until his death in 1772. There are seventy-six locks en route to raise and lower the water level where hills impede the course. There are four tunnels, including the famous Harecastle Tunnel near Stoke-on-Trent.