Bradford Canal
Encyclopedia
The Bradford Canal was a 3.5 miles (5.6 km) English
canal which ran from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
at Shipley
into the centre of Bradford
. It opened in 1774, and was closed in 1866, when it was declared to be a public health hazard. Four years later it reopened with a better water supply, and closed for the second time in 1922. It was subsequently filled in, although consideration has been given to restoring it. There are some remains, including a short section of canal at the junction and a pumping station building, which is now a dwelling.
, starting at Inghay Bridge, near Skipton
, and ending at Cottingley Bridge, near Bingley
, which was the nearest point on the river from which an existing road ran to Bradford. Although the bill reached the committee stage, nothing more became of it.
When the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
was promoted in the 1760s, its course between Skipton and Bingley broadly followed that proposed by the 1744 plan. It was authorised in 1770, and in the same year fourteen merchants, including six who were already on the committee for the Leeds and Liverpool, planned a branch which would serve the town of Bradford
. An Act of Parliament
was obtained on 29 April 1771, which appointed 28 proprietors. They could raise £6,000 in capital by issuing shares, with a further £3,000 if needed, to be used to construct a canal from Shipley
to a place in Bradford called Hoppy Bridge, which is now below Forster Square. They could also build reservoirs, and take water from various brooks.
The canal ran for 3.5 miles (5.6 km), dropping by 86 feet (26.2 m) through 10 locks on its way from Bradford to Shipley. Abraham Balme, one of the original promoters, oversaw the construction, with John Longbotham
giving engineering advice. The locks on the canal were 66 by, and could accommodate boats drawing 5 feet (1.5 m). The sizes were the same as those of the neighbouring Leeds and Liverpool. The work was completed by March 1774, when Mr Balme paid for the bell ringers of Bradford to ring out his arrival by boat. The Leeds and Liverpool opened from Bingley to Thackley
in the same month. The opening was a year later than planned, and the canal
had cost £9,424 14s 2d to build, about £3,500 over budget.
Initially the main cargo was stone, as a number of kiln
s were built beside the canal, and limestone
was brought from Skipton. Coal pits on the south side of Bradford built tramways into the town, but there was no direct connection with the canal, as possible routes were blocked by buildings. However, finished iron products were exported from the town by the canal. The carriage of wool from Australia was an important souce of revenue from the 1820s, and from 1828, packet boats carried passengers to Selby
and Leeds
.
five years later, in which 406 people died, prompted the city council to take action. A wide-ranging sanitation bill was prepared, which included a clause to buy the canal and close it. The action would be funded by a £100,000 public loan. The bill went before parliament, but concerted opposition by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the Aire and Calder Navigation
, the Bradford Canal and other industrialists succeeded in reducing the amount of the loan to £50,000, which was insuffiecient to enable the canal to be purchased.
Hot weather in 1864 led to a fund being opened, so that a court order could be used to close the canal, on the basis that it was a public nuisance. A local newspaper, The Bradford Observer, described it as "that seething cauldron of all impurity, the Bradford Canal." Although the Company argued that the water was polluted before it entered the canal, an injunction
prevented them from taking water from the Bradford Beck after 6 November 1866. An offer by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to take it over and clean it up was rejected by those who had brought the court order. Closure was postponed until 1 May 1867, while both the Bradford Company and the Leeds and Liverpool attempted to obtain an Act of Parliament, but both failed, and so the canal closed and was drained.
With no means to transport their stone, several merchants started to negotiate with the Leeds and Liverpool, the Aire and Calder and Bradford Council. A new company, called the Bradford Canal Company Limited, was formed, and bought most of the canal from the old company for £2,500. The section above Northbrook Bridge was sold to developers, and on 21 March 1870, the old company was wound up. The new company expected to get a water supply from two reservoirs and three streams, and hoped to supplement this with a pipeline running from the top of the Leeds and Liverpool's Bingley locks
. This suggestion was refused, and they resorted to building steam pumping engines at each lock, to pump water up the canal. The section from Shipley to Oliver Lock was reopened in 1872, five years to the day since it had closed, and the top section was reopened the following April. Although the stone traffic, which had been around 125,000 tons per year prior to closure, returned, most of the other traffic had moved to the railway, and did not.
Receipts were inadequate to make the canal pay, and so the owners sold it to a coalition of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Aire and Calder Navigation. They received £27,000, and the buyers also redeemed a £5,000 mortgage. The sale was authorised by the Bradford Canal (Transfer) Act, which was passed in 1878, and the new Bradford Canal Company was dissolved. Traffic rose from 80,674 tons in 1888 to 102,390 tons in 1910, but profits were minimal due to the cost of maintenance. Traffic decreased during the First World War, and was down to 38,821 tons in 1920. With no obvious way to return the canal to profit, a bill to abandon the canal was submitted to Parliament in 1921, but was opposed by West Riding
County Council, Bradford Corporation, and the Bradford Chamber of Commerce
. A second attempt the following year was successful, the Bradford Canal (Abandonment) Act being passed in June 1922. Closure occurred on 25 June, with just the section from the Leeds and Liverpool canal to the bottom of the first lock being retained, to be used as moorings. Subsequently, much of the canal's route has been built upon and filled in. Apart from the junction, several of the bridges which once spanned it are still visible in whole or in part. Near the site of the first lock is a lock keepers cottage and the pumping station building, which has been restored and is used as a dwelling.
Among the many projects conceived in connection with Bradford's bid to be European Capital of Culture
for 2008 (which competition was actually won by Liverpool
), one was a scheme to recreate Bradford Canal. In 2004 Bradford Council, British Waterways
, and Bradford Centre Regeneration jointly established a committee to investigate the possibilities of a new canal. According to "Canal Road News", a full feasibility study
has "concluded that reinstating Bradford Canal is feasible, represents value for money, and opens considerable development opportunities along the five-kilometre canal corridor".
Issue 1 of "Canal Road News" shows a map of the proposed canal: it more or less follows the original path from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
as far as Queens Road bridge. But south of that bridge the map shows it crossing Canal Road, and continuing on the west (city) side of that road, past the Conditioning House and finishing at the proposed Channel Urban Village. The plan shows 11 locks. Another noteworthy item on the map, not directly related to the canal, is Potential Manningham Station
on the Airedale line.
According to a newspaper article of April 2006, "Ambitious plans for a new canal between Shipley and Bradford have been given a cautious welcome by members of the construction industry. ... After the presentation, many of the audience said the plans were exciting and could stimulate regeneration. But others were more cautious and questioned where funding would come from." By April 2010, Bradford Council owned 63 per cent of the route for the renewed canal, and was considering how best to acquire the rest, which was in private ownership at the time. A feasibility study by the civil engineers Arup and the architects Lathams identified the potential for regeneration that such a scheme would have.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
canal which ran from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...
at Shipley
Shipley, West Yorkshire
Shipley is a town in West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, north of Bradford and north-west of Leeds....
into the centre of Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
. It opened in 1774, and was closed in 1866, when it was declared to be a public health hazard. Four years later it reopened with a better water supply, and closed for the second time in 1922. It was subsequently filled in, although consideration has been given to restoring it. There are some remains, including a short section of canal at the junction and a pumping station building, which is now a dwelling.
History
The first plans to provide a navigable route to Bradford were made in 1744, when a number of Gentlemen and Farmers sought parliamentary approval for improvements to 18 miles (29 km) of the River AireRiver Aire
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England of length . Part of the river is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation....
, starting at Inghay Bridge, near Skipton
Skipton
Skipton is a market town and civil parish within the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. It is located along the course of both the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire, on the south side of the Yorkshire Dales, northwest of Bradford and west of York...
, and ending at Cottingley Bridge, near Bingley
Bingley
Bingley is a market town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal...
, which was the nearest point on the river from which an existing road ran to Bradford. Although the bill reached the committee stage, nothing more became of it.
When the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...
was promoted in the 1760s, its course between Skipton and Bingley broadly followed that proposed by the 1744 plan. It was authorised in 1770, and in the same year fourteen merchants, including six who were already on the committee for the Leeds and Liverpool, planned a branch which would serve the town of Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
. An Act of Parliament
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
was obtained on 29 April 1771, which appointed 28 proprietors. They could raise £6,000 in capital by issuing shares, with a further £3,000 if needed, to be used to construct a canal from Shipley
Shipley, West Yorkshire
Shipley is a town in West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, north of Bradford and north-west of Leeds....
to a place in Bradford called Hoppy Bridge, which is now below Forster Square. They could also build reservoirs, and take water from various brooks.
The canal ran for 3.5 miles (5.6 km), dropping by 86 feet (26.2 m) through 10 locks on its way from Bradford to Shipley. Abraham Balme, one of the original promoters, oversaw the construction, with John Longbotham
John Longbotham
John Longbotham was a canal engineer and pupil of John Smeaton who in 1766 suggested a Leeds and Liverpool Canal and did a survey which was approved by James Brindley...
giving engineering advice. The locks on the canal were 66 by, and could accommodate boats drawing 5 feet (1.5 m). The sizes were the same as those of the neighbouring Leeds and Liverpool. The work was completed by March 1774, when Mr Balme paid for the bell ringers of Bradford to ring out his arrival by boat. The Leeds and Liverpool opened from Bingley to Thackley
Thackley
The village of Thackley is a small suburban area to the north east of the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire in England.- Geography :The village is loosely bordered by the village of Idle to the south, and Windhill to the west. The area to the east of the village is largely wooded and rural,...
in the same month. The opening was a year later than planned, and the canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
had cost £9,424 14s 2d to build, about £3,500 over budget.
Initially the main cargo was stone, as a number of kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s were built beside the canal, and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
was brought from Skipton. Coal pits on the south side of Bradford built tramways into the town, but there was no direct connection with the canal, as possible routes were blocked by buildings. However, finished iron products were exported from the town by the canal. The carriage of wool from Australia was an important souce of revenue from the 1820s, and from 1828, packet boats carried passengers to Selby
Selby
Selby is a town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Situated south of the city of York, along the course of the River Ouse, Selby is the largest and, with a population of 13,012, most populous settlement of the wider Selby local government district.Historically a part of the West Riding...
and Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
.
Difficulties
Water supply was a significant issue for the canal company. As Bradford grew, the basin was surrounded by housing, and pollution from sewage occurred. Further down, mills drew water from the canal, used it for industrial processes, and returned it to the canal. The Company had bought up tracts of land at the end of the 18th century, to obtain water rights, and had dammed Bradford Beck, despite the fact that their authorising Act of Parliament had specifically excluded it as a source of water. The Bradford Board of Surveyors commented on the filth and stench in a report made in 1844, and an outbreak of choleraCholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
five years later, in which 406 people died, prompted the city council to take action. A wide-ranging sanitation bill was prepared, which included a clause to buy the canal and close it. The action would be funded by a £100,000 public loan. The bill went before parliament, but concerted opposition by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the Aire and Calder Navigation
Aire and Calder Navigation
The Aire and Calder Navigation is a river and canal system of the River Aire and the River Calder in the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to...
, the Bradford Canal and other industrialists succeeded in reducing the amount of the loan to £50,000, which was insuffiecient to enable the canal to be purchased.
Hot weather in 1864 led to a fund being opened, so that a court order could be used to close the canal, on the basis that it was a public nuisance. A local newspaper, The Bradford Observer, described it as "that seething cauldron of all impurity, the Bradford Canal." Although the Company argued that the water was polluted before it entered the canal, an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
prevented them from taking water from the Bradford Beck after 6 November 1866. An offer by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to take it over and clean it up was rejected by those who had brought the court order. Closure was postponed until 1 May 1867, while both the Bradford Company and the Leeds and Liverpool attempted to obtain an Act of Parliament, but both failed, and so the canal closed and was drained.
With no means to transport their stone, several merchants started to negotiate with the Leeds and Liverpool, the Aire and Calder and Bradford Council. A new company, called the Bradford Canal Company Limited, was formed, and bought most of the canal from the old company for £2,500. The section above Northbrook Bridge was sold to developers, and on 21 March 1870, the old company was wound up. The new company expected to get a water supply from two reservoirs and three streams, and hoped to supplement this with a pipeline running from the top of the Leeds and Liverpool's Bingley locks
Bingley Five Rise Locks
Bingley Five Rise Locks is a staircase lock on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Bingley . As the name implies, a boat going up the lock is lifted in five stages.-Description:...
. This suggestion was refused, and they resorted to building steam pumping engines at each lock, to pump water up the canal. The section from Shipley to Oliver Lock was reopened in 1872, five years to the day since it had closed, and the top section was reopened the following April. Although the stone traffic, which had been around 125,000 tons per year prior to closure, returned, most of the other traffic had moved to the railway, and did not.
Receipts were inadequate to make the canal pay, and so the owners sold it to a coalition of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the Aire and Calder Navigation. They received £27,000, and the buyers also redeemed a £5,000 mortgage. The sale was authorised by the Bradford Canal (Transfer) Act, which was passed in 1878, and the new Bradford Canal Company was dissolved. Traffic rose from 80,674 tons in 1888 to 102,390 tons in 1910, but profits were minimal due to the cost of maintenance. Traffic decreased during the First World War, and was down to 38,821 tons in 1920. With no obvious way to return the canal to profit, a bill to abandon the canal was submitted to Parliament in 1921, but was opposed by West Riding
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
County Council, Bradford Corporation, and the Bradford Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
. A second attempt the following year was successful, the Bradford Canal (Abandonment) Act being passed in June 1922. Closure occurred on 25 June, with just the section from the Leeds and Liverpool canal to the bottom of the first lock being retained, to be used as moorings. Subsequently, much of the canal's route has been built upon and filled in. Apart from the junction, several of the bridges which once spanned it are still visible in whole or in part. Near the site of the first lock is a lock keepers cottage and the pumping station building, which has been restored and is used as a dwelling.
Regeneration plan
In the early years of the 21st century, there is a plan to rebuild the Bradford Canal.Among the many projects conceived in connection with Bradford's bid to be European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
for 2008 (which competition was actually won by Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
), one was a scheme to recreate Bradford Canal. In 2004 Bradford Council, British Waterways
British Waterways
British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
, and Bradford Centre Regeneration jointly established a committee to investigate the possibilities of a new canal. According to "Canal Road News", a full feasibility study
Feasibility study
Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. In its simplest...
has "concluded that reinstating Bradford Canal is feasible, represents value for money, and opens considerable development opportunities along the five-kilometre canal corridor".
Issue 1 of "Canal Road News" shows a map of the proposed canal: it more or less follows the original path from the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line...
as far as Queens Road bridge. But south of that bridge the map shows it crossing Canal Road, and continuing on the west (city) side of that road, past the Conditioning House and finishing at the proposed Channel Urban Village. The plan shows 11 locks. Another noteworthy item on the map, not directly related to the canal, is Potential Manningham Station
Manningham railway station
Manningham railway station was a railway station in Manningham, near Bradford, West Yorkshire, England between 1868 and 1965.It became the first stop out of Bradford on the Midland Railway , built in 1846...
on the Airedale line.
According to a newspaper article of April 2006, "Ambitious plans for a new canal between Shipley and Bradford have been given a cautious welcome by members of the construction industry. ... After the presentation, many of the audience said the plans were exciting and could stimulate regeneration. But others were more cautious and questioned where funding would come from." By April 2010, Bradford Council owned 63 per cent of the route for the renewed canal, and was considering how best to acquire the rest, which was in private ownership at the time. A feasibility study by the civil engineers Arup and the architects Lathams identified the potential for regeneration that such a scheme would have.
Points of interest
See also
- Canals of the United KingdomCanals of the United KingdomThe canals of the United Kingdom are a major part of the network of inland waterways in the United Kingdom. They have a colourful history, from use for irrigation and transport, through becoming the focus of the Industrial Revolution, to today's role for recreational boating...
- History of the British canal systemHistory of the British canal systemThe British canal system of water transport played a vital role in the United Kingdom's Industrial Revolution at a time when roads were only just emerging from the medieval mud and long trains of pack horses were the only means of "mass" transit by road of raw materials and finished products The...