Monument record 4674/1 - Mersey & Irwell Navigation - Old Quay Canal

The Old Quay Canal, also known as the Runcorn to Latchford Canal of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company, was 7 1/2 miles long and opened on the 4th July 1804. It was cut under the powers embodied in the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Act of 1720, which enabled new cuts to be built without further recourse to Parliament.

The canal was constructed to allow boats to bypass the tidal shallows at Fidlers Ferry to reach the canalised River Mersey. It was hoped that this would reduce to the time taken from Liverpool to Manchester to twelve hours, but it rarely took less than eighteen.

It was hoped that this cut would enable more effective competition with the Bridgewater Canal. Competition was keenest for passengers. The down boats from Manchester would complete the journey in one hour less than those on the Bridgewater Canal, the up boats took the same time.

For most of it's length the canal was crossed by light turn-bridges and the absence of locks and fixed bridges allowed the river flats (boats) to use small sails to assist the horses. The passenger boats were of a heavier construction than those on the Bridgewater Canal and we towed by three horses, instead of two.

The canal had been in steady decline for many years before it was swept away by the Manchester Ship Canal. It had a vital role to play in the latter's construction as much of the material used to build Salford Quay was transported along it (1).

Stretches of the canal survive, intact or infilled as a park. Some features such as the Manor Locks (CHER 4674/1/1) also survive (2).

<1> Starkey H F, 1990, Old Runcorn, p.130 & 189 (Book). SCH5469.

<2> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards R 12/04/2011 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.