Before and whilst making this video, we knew there would be some comments on the controversial topics of which came first. The Foss Dyke (back in Roman Times), The Sankey just a couple of years prior to the Bridgewater or the Bridgewater Canal itself. Whilst opinions differ, we value all comments (polite ones of course). Whilst we learn more about the canals, we value every opinion that comes our way. Sometimes, we may differ, sometimes we may be wrong. But please remember this, It's Nice to be Nice. We will always be nice.

@iankynaston-richards5239

Жыл бұрын

Assuming we are talking UK, not just England, you might also want to look at the Newry Canal, another true canal, completed in 1741.

@sarahstrong7174

Жыл бұрын

Thankyou for sharing.

@neoaliphant

Жыл бұрын

bridgewater canal, not to be confused with the bridgwater canal....

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

@@neoaliphant Yes, just to make it more confusing, there are two Bridgewater Canals. The one in the video and another near Taunton...

I live in Worsley and we are very proud of our heritage. A local primary school is also named after James Brindley and is located in nearby Walkden. With the addition recently of the RHS Bridgewater garden the area is an ideal day out. Thanks for showcasing our village.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Neil, you are most welcome. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and learning about the Delph and of course the Bridgewater Canal.

OMG!! As a kid on the late 60’s and ‘70’s me and my mate would spend ours by this canal as it passed through Grappenhall; whether canoeing, swimming in it, skating on its thin ice in winter or just being naughty in or around it. Brings back so many memories of my childhood 😔

@idocanals

Ай бұрын

As Kids, we all did things outdoors. I loved the canal near where I grew up. Skating on thin ice, and falling through at least once. Happy Days.

@KevinSmith-up1qo

Ай бұрын

@@idocanals when my Mum found out she cried first then bounced me up the stairs; I hurt for days, happy days 🥰

A very educational vlog.......

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Neil. We really enjoyed making the Worsley Delph Vlog

Been fascinated with canals over the last few months. This was a great vlog and history lesson. Thank you.

@idocanals

4 ай бұрын

You're very welcome. We hope to be making more videos soon. Our daughter is very ill, but recovering. We are somewhat distracted.

1963 as a boy I was given an exploratory trip into the mine by a miner. He was walking along the ceiling on an M-boat. Nice if that kind miner.. :-). 😊❤

@idocanals

Ай бұрын

Wow, would love to have seen inside the mine.

A lovely, lovely video, thank you.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Cheryl, we're delighted you enjoyed it.

Fantastic video and information on this canal, ive walked from Boothstown to the trafford centre a few times. Look forward to your future uploads

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for your comment. We could have spent days more, we just ran out of time.

Probably the first canal in what we now know as Britain is a lot older. The Romans dug a canal between Torksey on the River Trent to Lincoln around AD120 (Foss Dyke Canal). The canal was refurbished in 1121 and later improved in 1671 with a lock at Torksey. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foss_Dyke

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Many thanks for your comment. You are right about the Foss Dyke being constructed waaaaaay before the Bridgewater, but it is a River Navigation and not a dedicated canal dug purely without using a river course to do so. In the quite near future, we will be covering the amazing Foss Dyke and several other river navigations.

@johnorchard4

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals What river course? The Fossdyke was constructed to join two rivers and to develop a wharf for Lindum, so to that end it relied on rivers. But, when did being joined to a river preclude a waterway from being classified as a canal?

@iankynaston-richards5239

Жыл бұрын

@@johnorchard4 It follows a paleochannel of the Trent, which at the end of the last glacial maximum, 15,000 years ago, emptied into The Wash. This channel was still a minor waterway when modified and made navigable by the Romans.

@johnorchard4

Жыл бұрын

@@iankynaston-richards5239 That is not in dispute. However, the process included the canalisation of that same waterway in the same way as most similar, much later, waterways in the immediate vicinity. The route of the canalised parts are relatively traight (even from the Roman times) and did not stay with the meandering route that was etched naturally into the surface. This process of canalisation was noo different from dozens of eighteenth and nineteenth century canals which had originally been existing waterways. The Fossdyke follows the course of the river Till. That part is essentially straight, and had been so since the Roman period. Where the Till flows not within the line of the Fossdyke it's course heavily meanders. North of Lincoln the parishes created and settled during the seventh century. Typically in this period the original boundaries utilised water courses (and Roman roads) as boundaries - these were visible in the landscape. However, when the Ancholme (for example) was canalised it was straightened, but the boundaries remained unchanged - even today! That is the nature of building canals, these needed to achieve economic or military benefit and to do so with the least amount of expenditure in terms of cost or manpower. To improve an existing waterway creating a canal did not make it any less a canal. That is especially true of the Fossdyke - and consequently, I return to my original point that the Fossdyke is by far the oldest known canal in England (and the UK).

Thanks so much a super vlog. Paul B

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Paul

Very interesting

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Deborah

Has there been any attempt to send in a remote vehicle of some kind to see what its like inside the mines these days? Obviously not saying send people in but it would be so interesting to try get some sort of 3d map of the workings to show just how much there was, would make a really interesting sculpture as well to represent all the tunnels as a big casting 😊

@idocanals

4 ай бұрын

I Don't know. I will try and find out. Might be tricky tho.

how the nobility and rich folk used to treat the working classes was terrible , great film

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely diabolical. Thanks for your comment John.

Wow, I went to look up the word “palatine”...... and I’ve gone down the most fascinating rabbit hole. So much interesting history. I glanced down the google search page, below the definition info, and started reading about the Palatines and the Huguenots - it’s amazing where a single word can take you when you have a curious mind. Aaaaanyway, thank you so much for sharing this video, much appreciated. All the best to you and yours, and take care. 🙂🐿🌈❤️

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Curiouser and curiouser Secretsquirell. I'm glad you found us. No idea how with the phrase 'Palatines and the Huguenots'. Hope you enjoyed the video none-the-less.

@SecretSquirrelFun

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals Yes, thanks I really did enjoy the video. 🙂🐿

@SecretSquirrelFun

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals P.s - I started with your video, and then looked up the word “palatine” after hearing you say it (when you were reading from the text/letter on the statue). 🙂 THAT then lead me onto reading about the Huguenots and the Palatines 😳 Your video popped up on my homepage and I was curious as I have been watching a few videos regarding the canal’s history etc.

Sankey Valley/ St Helen's Canal was Britain's first canal.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thank Mark. I knew the Sankey would be mentioned. Didn't the Sankey follow the Sankey Brook and was also initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation. You're right, it pre-dates the Bridgewater Canal but it was a 'navigation' or an improved natural water course. The Bridgwater Canal was a pure built canal.

@markwa546

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals Sankey Brook did run along side of it. A bit like the river mersey and the Manchester ship canal.

@markwa546

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals As I live in the warrington area we are surrounded by canals and rivers

@Pilotltd

5 ай бұрын

@@idocanals It was known as that to cheat and bypass legislation needing parliamentary act/permission to build a canal but not a navigation and it conflicted The Duke of Bridgewater's and other's wishes. It is, and always was, a canal. Sankey Brook runs alongside in parts and was used to supply water to some stretches and that's about all. The reason behind "cheating", your face needed to fit and your wallet very fat to grease the palms of MP's to get your request backing (pretty much same as today).

Kayaked the complete Length including the spurs,my favorite canal

@idocanals

4 ай бұрын

Wow Vicky, that sounds fun. Any photos along the way?

I was always disappointed as a child that the swans didn't change colour to match

@idocanals

Ай бұрын

Ooh, rusty coloured swans!

As an American, not really knowing British history intimately well as a person who grew up there, I thought this was very well done and explains at the beginning to an outsider. This is one of the first places in the UK where the industrial revolution began. It makes me think similarly of the Arkwright Mill in Manchester, the first known textile mill, from what I know, that made Manchester the first textile mill town in the world.

@idocanals

4 ай бұрын

Thank you for your very kind comment. We just love all the history, in particular the industrial and engineering. Apologies for the delay in replying. Our daughter is going through chemo.

@seanoconnor8843

2 ай бұрын

The towns around there were the first industrial towns in the world. It's where the modern world started. On the backs of children and slaves

I live in hindley green near the Leeds and Liverpool canal near Pennington flash. I also work for the canal and river trust. Thanks for the info I didn’t even know.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome Woodsy, we get a real kick out of anything canals.

Englands first canal looks beautiful

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thank you Alex. It is so tranquil today. In the past things were very different though.

I think it is not possible to over estimate the importance of this canal! It can reasonably be shown to have kickstarted the industrial revolution with cheap coal into Manchester! The Starvationers were, I believe the first container boats each able to hold 50 (I think) tons of coal. They were moved underground by two methods. One was a series of low "locks". When the simple boards of the lock was removed the boats within were washed down to the next lock. The other method was "Legging it" A person would hook a chain to loops fitted in the tunnel wall and walk (leg it) to the other end of the boat, quickly unhooking themselves and nipping to the front of the boat to repeat the process. They wore a leather harness for this and there is a picture of one lady who was persuaded to dress back up for the photo. She lived in one of the cottages now long gone from the canal side 1/4 mile on the right toward Manchester. The Nail makers Cottage is actually an office, but has had many uses previously. The boat used for Queen Victoria was hosed in the boathouse 100yds on the left with the black and white striped doors (visible at 18:30). Unfortunately (or fortunately) it is now a house with the boathouse being only a facade left in place! There is much more to be told about this place but I will leave the last "nugget" as the disappearance of the Ochre colour ( iron still seeping out of the mine) is due to a publicity stunt by United Utilities who pump the water through a reed bed next to the M60 Barton Moss! You can now see the bottom of the canal right up to Trafford park on a good day!

2:50 - that sir, is a Cobra Chicken. You're lucky it's in a good mood - lol

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Ryan, It was close. Sorry for the delay in reply

In 1615 the new river was dug to supply London with fresh water, it was also used as a navigation way, It also holds the British record for the largest trout.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thanks David. We plan to cover the Lea Navigation later in the year. We'll add the New River to that if we can. I take it the Trout was a natural Brown Trout.

Exeter ship canal built in 1560s predating the canal mania period from the 18th century onward in the UK and is 'one of the oldest' artificial waterways in the UK.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Its did predate Canal Mania and was a navigation. It is also a water way we will try and do a vlog on in the future. Thanks for commenting.

Why isn’t Lincoln’s Fossedyke ever mentioned when it comes to the oldest canal?

@idocanals

Ай бұрын

That's an excellent question Charlie The Fossdyke Navigation, probably engineered by the Romans (not conclusively proven) and subsequently managed and maintained by King Henry 1st, King James 1st, Bishop Alexander of Lincoln and many others. The navigation possibly follows an old line of the old River Trent or other river and therefore is a 'Navigation' and not a singular canal. The Fossdyke and several other River Navigations predate, by hundreds of years, our Canal network.

A terrifying prospect...

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Bryan, I take it you are relating to the kids in the mines?

I've not seen any mention of the Glastonbury Canal which ran from the River Brue to Glastonbury Abbey. It was built by the Abbey in the middle of the 10th century. Archaeological investigation has shown it to be a true canal, rather than a canalised waterway. There is not really any controversy as to the Bridgewater not being the first canal, just lack of accurate information. For reference see Blair. J. Waterways and Canal Building in Medieval England. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. pp. 3-6.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Hello Ian, I've just read up about the Glastonbury Canal, which I confess to have not heard of before now. As far as I can tell, the canal was authorised by Parliament in 1827 and opened in 1834, so pretty much at the height of the canal boom. I'll look into it and see if we can do a video. We are not too far from Bristol.

Identifying the 'first' canal is always going to be problematic. I used to live in a house that backed onto the Bridgewater Canal (in Lymm) back in the 1980s, so I know it fairly well. I now live in a house that backs onto the Wey Navigation (in Surrey) which predates the Bridgewater by about 100 years (in 1653 or thereabout). Yes, it is mostly a river navigation, but it does comprise a number of canal cuts as well as the river sections. The Bridgewater is unusual for its lack of locks, but every canal still has a water inlet and a water outlet, so the Bridgewater is no different from any other canal (apart from being a very long contour watercourse).

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Hi Horsenuts, we know the Wey Navigation very well. We even have a page about it on our website: idocanals.co.uk/wey-navigation.html Sir Richard Weston was the chap behind it. As you say, it is primarily a river navigation. We will do a vlog on it some day not too far in the future.

You might do canals, but you're wrong about the Bridgewater being the first canal. The first canal was the Sankey Canal. Yes the Act called it a navigation, but what was built was a canal (using a loophole that allowed for new cuts where necessary) that ran alongside the Sankey Brook. The Sankey Brook was not made navigable, it never could have been.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment Radman. If you've read up about the Sankey, Foss Dyke and the Bridgewater, you'll know there's lots of arguments for all three. We do our best and thrive on nice criticism. We'll 'Do Canals' until too old to do so.

My lawn boarders the Roman Carr Dyke, allegedly a canal on the edge of the fens.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Graham. I think I heard once that 'carr' means road. That being so, it would be Roman Road Dyke?

sankey canal opened 1757 with double locks

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thank Ken. A few have mentioned the Sankey, which we intend to make a video about including the restoration attempts. Didn't the Sankey follow the Sankey Brook and was also initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation. You're right, it pre-dates the Bridgewater Canal but it was a 'navigation' or an improved natural water course. The Bridgwater Canal was a pure built canal.

@kenpotter4604

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals it was commisioned as a navigation but was built as a totaly seperate channel

@radman8321

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals The Act called for a navigation but it also allowed for new cuts where necessary. The builders of the canal took that "loophole" to its logical conclusion and decided a new cut was required for the entire length of the canal. In a few places the course of the brook was straightened to allow the canal to be kept straight as it ran alongside. The Brook was used as an overflow for the canal. The Sankey Brook is a separate watercourse and much of the canal is still in water, although sadly some of it was infilled in the 1970s.

Thank You! Who needed coloured slaves, when we could treat our own women and children, as such!!!!!!

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

You're right, they were little more than that. Paid an utter pittance for brutal working conditions.

@teresaweeks8214

Жыл бұрын

In the history of slavery, white slaves predated black ones. The white Slavic nations gave their name to it.

Terry pilk st helens sankey canal built 4 years before Bridgewater canal fact

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Terence, I knew the Sankey would be mentioned. As I said to Mark Wa5, didn't the Sankey follow the Sankey Brook and was also initially known as the Sankey Brook Navigation. You're right, it pre-dates the Bridgewater Canal but it was a 'navigation' or an improved natural water course. The Bridgwater Canal was a pure built canal.

@AlecTwiss

Жыл бұрын

The Sankey St Helens canal was the 1st and it was pure built never used any of the Sankey brook as part of it, plus Brindley used to spy on how Henry Berry was constucting and puddling the canal

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

@@AlecTwiss Thanks Alec, you are correct but the Sankey was a 'navigation', it followed the course of Sankey Brook whereas the Bridgewater Canal was dug without a watercourse that predated it. We will be covering the Sankey in the future.

@AlecTwiss

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals the Sankey St Helens canal was built under an act of navigation but it is a pure canal and no matter what it is the 1st industrial canal not the bridgewater and anything said will not convince me otherwise

The next time someone criticises this country for being privileged point out what we have is because our ancestors toiled in unspeakable conditions to make our country what it once was. Think of them the next time you hear someone pass a flippant remark as to our values.

Sadly it was true I wonder if a narrow boat can still travel down the canal or is it now just for show sadly? We must remember there were poor houses which were just work houses some mills others mines some Iron making like nails or for horse shoes some leather and making of tools copper mines coal gold diamond. with the start of the industrial revolution steam power was being used vegetables like potatoes were put on boats to be taken to Manchester until the railways were made.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment Jonathan. I'm fairly sure that you cannot access the mine via the tunnel. We would have taken advantage of an opportunity to go inside. It was a very hard life for folks working in the mine and still pretty tough if you were poor and working above ground.

And the Caribbean slaves thought they had it rough....

It's a pity you know so little about the canal and even less about the mine, 50 years ago I was fortunate enough to enter the mine. There's an inclined plane to transport the starvationers from one level to another.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Well Paul, aside from your unnecessary scathing tone, people cannot go into the mine and information on an inclined plane was not visible despite our lengthy searches. Paul, we do our best and very much value comments. I feel it's unworthy to down-tread rather than say 'Did you know...' Anyway, thanks for the comment none-the-less.

@keepitreal1547

9 ай бұрын

Paul, I frequent the area often & there's absolutely no need for such a comment from you.

What's wrong with the colour?

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Not sure what you mean Charles. I had an ND filter on the drone because of intense sunlight, but that didn't affect the colour detrimentally.

@charlesxix

Жыл бұрын

@@idocanals It's dark with a bluish tint in the first 1:56 mins.

This guy has obviously never heard of the Romans in Britain.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

This guy! Nope nevr wnet to scool nor nuffin. No doubt you refer, in a roundabout way, to the Foss Dyke. No matter where you read about the Foss Dyke, facts remain inconclusive. It's alleged to be of Roman (the all conquering guys from mid-Italy) design, and has been derelict, redug, repurposed and has had its origins heavily debated for years. As much as is possible, we try and get facts right. Comments are welcomed, derisive ones are not. Please keep it nice, thank you.

Maybe trying to compare past times with modern standards is not a great idea, we think they were all mistreated slave workers when in fact all working conditions were bad in those times, people did hard dangerous jobs but made the most of it ?

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

You're right Snowflakemelter, I think the comparison shows us just how fortunate we are.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exeter_Ship_Canal.

@idocanals

Жыл бұрын

Thank Christine. The Exeter Canal is a 'River Navigation' built to bypass the weirs. We are not too far from Exeter, so if we get chance we'll try and cover it as it sounds interesting.