1797 Lancaster Canal opens

Canal barge carrying limestone on the Lancaster Canal
This photograph was taken in the late 19th century

In 1797 the northern part of the Lancaster Canal was completed. It connected Preston with Lancaster and areas further north. The canal carried food and building materials like limestone.

The southern section of the canal opened from Walton Summit to the Wigan in 1798. The canal company planned to link the two canals with an aqueduct. This was a bridge, which would carry the canal across the Ribble Valley. This plan was too expensive. Instead they built a horse-drawn tramway linking the two halves of the canal. The 'tram road', as it was called, brought coal into Preston's town centre. The coal was used as fuel in houses and also in cotton mills to produce steam power.

The canal was used less and less by the late 19th century. This was because trains were faster and connected Preston to more towns and cities. Most of the Preston end of the canal has now been filled in.