Geograph - photograph every grid square

The Leeds & Liverpool canal at 127¼ miles in length from River Lock in Leeds to the Canal Basin in Liverpool, is the longest canal in Britain to have been built and operated by one Canal Company (The Grand Union is longer but was an amalgamation). It has 91 locks, and two main spurs both of 7¼ miles known as the Leigh Branch (2 locks) and Rufford Branch (8 locks) as well as the tiny Springs Branch in Skipton of just half a mile length.
The maximum length of boats that can use the canal is 60' (though from Wigan to Liverpool full 72' boats can use it). The beam is 14'3" and the headroom limitation is 8'
The canal was authorised by parliament in 1770, and the first (lock-free) section was open by 1773. Two significant but unconnected sections had been completed by 1777, but the Napoleonic Wars got in the way of investment in the canal systems, and so the canal was not finally linked up and completed until 1816.
It is now a very popular canal for holidays, being both very scenic in some stretches and historically interesting as it passes through many of the great industrial towns of the North, linking the two great cities of its name. It also passes through the World Heritage site of Saltaire, where Titus Salt built his mill and model village for his workers.