2013

SJ5686 : St Helens Canal, Fiddler's Ferry

taken 11 years ago, near to Penketh, Warrington, England

St Helens Canal, Fiddler's Ferry
St Helens Canal, Fiddler's Ferry
First opened in 1757, the Sankey Canal (which is also known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and the St Helens Canal) runs for about 15 miles along the valley of the Sankey Brook from the point where the brook joined the River Mersey, to a location to the north east of St Helens, with short branches to Blackbrook and Gerrard's Bridge. Only two short sections at Widnes and Fiddler's Ferry are open for navigation. Much of the canal is in water although some sections have been infilled.

Built primarily to take coal down to the Mersey and Liverpool, the final traffic on The Sankey was very different, and in the opposite direction; raw sugar for the Sankey Sugar Works at Earlestown, from Liverpool. The ending of the sugar traffic in 1959 led to the closure of the Canal in 1963 after which, the canal was left neglected. It was dirty and ran through an area of chemical works and other industries.

in 1985, The Sankey Canal Restoration Society (SCARS) was formed with the help and encouragement of the St. Helens Groundwork Trust. The principal aim of the Society is to achieve the full restoration of the Canal (LinkExternal link SCARS website).

See other images of The Sankey Canal

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright David Dixon and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Railways Canals Canal: Sankey Canal St Helens Canal other tags: Freight Train Freightliner Diesel Locomotive Canal Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · St Helens Canal [17] Title Clusters: · St Helens Canal, Fiddler's Ferry [2] ·
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SJ5686, 85 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
David Dixon   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Tuesday, 23 April, 2013   (more nearby)
Submitted
Thursday, 25 April, 2013
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 5604 8650 [10m precision]
WGS84: 53:22.4111N 2:39.7323W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SJ 5601 8646
View Direction
Northeast (about 45 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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