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The Shropshire Union Canal (from Autherley to Nantwich) was engineered by Thomas Telford and opened in 1835. There are long straight sections of this canal which required either embankments or cuttings to avoid the need for locks. Although this was a more difficult procedure, the end route was shorter and the progress for horse drawn working boats could be maintained with (hopefully) no stoppages. The canal (formerly the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal) was opened at a time when railways were making serious inroads into the canal companies' businesses.

The current Shroppie north of Nantwich was formerly the Chester Canal, opened in 1779, and has wider locks and bridges. Boats up to nine feet in beam can still navigate this section; Telford's canal accommodates only narrowboats up to seven feet in beam.

The Staffordshire and Worcester Canal runs for 46 miles (74 km) connecting to the River Severn at the historic Stourport Basins in the town of Stourport and at its northern end, in Staffordshire, it passes the grounds of the Shugborough Estate, before joining the Trent & Mersey Canal. The canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament on 14 May 1766 and engineered by James Brindley. The canal was completed in 1771 for a cost which exceeded the authorised capital, and opened to trade in 1772. Trade declined when the newer Worcester and Birmingham Canal opened in 1815. Although profits fell steadily from the 1860s it remained independent until the canals were nationalised in 1947. In 1959 it was planned to close the canal, but was saved through the efforts of a volunteer group, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society. The canal was re-classified as a cruiseway in 1968, and all of it was declared to be a Conservation Area the following year. This has resulted in historical buildings and structures being retained and improved sympathetically