Liskeard and Looe Union Canal

The Liskeard and Looe - Union Canal is an abandoned channel between Liskeard and Looe in the English county of Cornwall. The canal was almost 12 km long and had 25 locks. It was opened in 1828 and was in operation until 1910.

Planning and preparatory work

Initial plans for the construction of the canal emerged already in the 1770s, but in 1823 began under the direction of civil engineer Robert Coad necessary for the sewer survey work.

Approval and construction of the canal

For the construction of an Act of Parliament was required. This was issued in 1825 and authorized the creation of the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal Company to raise capital ( £ 13,000 in shares at £ 25) and, when required, taking out a mortgage in the amount of £ 10,000.

The canal company was granted the right to water removal, for the construction of the necessary roads and could allow the construction of prospective investors and warehouses. The cost of building the canal was estimated at £ 12,577. The Act of Parliament prescribed a construction period of a maximum of 5 years, but in 1828 was the construction, for the Robert Coad, was completed and the canal was opened to traffic also responsible.

Construction and route

The starting point of the channel was in Tarras Pill on the territory of the municipality Duloe. The route ran from thence in a northerly direction to Moor Water near Liskeard. He was about 1.30 m (4 feet ) deep and at the bottom about 4.25 m ( 14 feet ) wide. At the water line width was approximately 7.90 m ( 26 feet ). The water for the operation was the River Looe and the river Crylla taken, some of which was used for the water supply. The channel had a length of 11,973 m (5 miles 7 Furlong ) in Sandplace there was a branch channel with a length of approximately 1600 meters (1 mile). With 25 locks a difference in height of 47.5 m (156 ft) was overcome.

Operation

The channel met the expectations of its builders. In the early years were in the early years of agricultural products were mainly in the south transported northward it was fertilizer, limestone and coal. In the 1840s, the mining won on the Caradon Hill north of Moor Water in importance, leading to an increase in the mineral transports in southern direction. The ores, mainly copper, tin and lead have been associated with pack-horses from Caradon Hill to Moor Water, where they were loaded onto barges.

Railways

The transport with pack horses was difficult and expensive, so that an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1843, which enabled the construction of the Liskeard and Caradon Railway of bog water to the mines in the Caradon Hill.

In the following years, the channel could no longer cope with the rising by mining quantities of goods. As a replacement, the construction of a parallel to the channel extending railway line, the Liskeard and Looe Railway, tackled. The necessary Act of Parliament was passed in 1853. Liskeard and Caradon Railway The 1917 shut down the Liskard and Looe Looe Valley Railway is a line still in operation today.

Swell

• The Railways, Canal and Mines of Looe and Liskeard by Lawrence Popplewell, Oakwood Press 1977