In the years immediately before the rapid industrialisation process canals were perhaps the most

important improvement in transport. There was great demand for large quantities of coal by the middle

of the 18th century. The coal was available, and there were mine owners willing to meet the demand,

but it was difficult to move it by cart or on horseback. Transport costs were extremely high.

The breakthrough came in 1761, when the Duke of Bridgewater built a canal from his coal mines in

Worsley to the centre of the growing industrial city of Manchester. His engineer, James Brindley, used

aqueducts, tunnels and locks to overcome a series of major geographical obstacles while building the

canal along its 14-km route. The cost of transportation went down significantly. One horse could pull

50 tons of coal on a canal barge while one horse could only carry about a quarter of a tonne on its back

on a road. So, the price of coal in Manchester dropped and the enormous demand meant that the duke’s

profits soared.

Between 1759 and 1774, 52 Acts of Parliament were passed to allow canals to be built, mainly in the

Midlands and the north. By 1800, nearly 3000 km of canals had doubled the length of navigable rivers.

Cities were linked to factories and to ports. Bricks and slates needed for city houses and factories could

be easily moved from the brickworks of Bedfordshire and the slate mines of Wales, along with the coal

to warm those houses and provide the energy to drive factory machinery. Many of the early canal

companies returned huge profits for their shareholders, as well as providing substantial employment

for the builders and engineers. Skills learned in canal building were to be vital in the later development

of the rail network, which played a decisive role in industrialisation. Cheap capital, an absence of

obstacles, good support (or at least no opposition) from government all played their part the success of

the canals.