Legging (canals)
Encyclopedia
Adit
An adit is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, and ventilated.-Construction:...
containing water.
Legging in canal tunnels
Early canal tunnels were built without a towpathTowpath
A towpath is a road or trail on the bank of a river, canal, or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land vehicle, beasts of burden, or a team of human pullers to tow a boat, often a barge...
as this would require a much larger bore, and hence cost more to build. Prior to the introduction of motorised boats, legging was one of the few options for getting a boat through such a tunnel.
Two people were required. They would lie on a plank across the bows
Bow (ship)
The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...
of the boat, and holding the plank with their hands, would propel the boat with their feet against the tunnel wall. This was quite a dangerous activity and resulted in many deaths. In later years 'wing' boards were hooked on to the boat to make the operation safer. At Crimson Hill tunnel
Chard Canal
The Chard Canal was a tub boat canal in Somerset, England, that ran from the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal at Creech St. Michael, over four aqueducts, through three tunnels and four inclined planes to Chard. It was completed in 1842, was never commercially viable, and closed in 1868...
, alternate stones in the walls were recessed to provide better tread for the leggers. While the boat was being legged through the tunnel, the horse would be led over the hill.
On short tunnels the legging was done by the boat owner and crew. At long tunnels, professional leggers were available, such as at Blisworth Tunnel
Blisworth Tunnel
Blisworth Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire, England between the villages of Stoke Bruerne at the southern end and Blisworth at the northern end.-Measurements:...
and Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today....
. At the 3 mile long Standedge Tunnel expert leggers could get an empty boat through in 1 hour 20 minutes, taking 3 hours with a full load, for which they were paid 1s 6d.
At Blisworth the boatmen were often terrorised into employing leggers, so in 1827 the leggers were registered and issued with brass armlets for identification.
At Standedge Tunnel
Standedge Tunnels
The Standedge Tunnels are four parallel tunnels that run beneath the Pennines at the traditional Standedge crossing point between Marsden and Diggle, on the edges of the conurbations of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester respectively, in northern England.There are three railway tunnels and a...
, the use of official leggers eventually became a requirement for passage.
At Morwellham
Tavistock Canal
The Tavistock Canal is a canal in the county of Devon in England. It was constructed early in the 19th century to link the town of Tavistock to Morwellham Quay on the River Tamar, where cargo could be loaded into ships...
, boatmen were said to have pushed against the tunnel roof. This tunnel has a considerable flow of water through it, and progress was very slow in one direction.
Berwick Tunnel
Berwick Tunnel
Berwick Tunnel is a canal tunnel located on the Shrewsbury Canal, Shropshire, England, UK.At 970 yards long, it was the first tunnel to be constructed with a towpath. This meant that boats did not need to be legged through the tunnel....
on the Shrewsbury Canal
Shrewsbury Canal
The Shrewsbury Canal was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 1835, when the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal built the Newport Branch from...
, opened in 1797 was the first tunnel to be built with a towpath, negating the need for legging.
Legging was also the main form of propulsion used in the man-made adits in Speedwell Cavern
Speedwell Cavern
The Speedwell Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England.It consists of a horizontal lead miners' adit leading to the cavern itself, a limestone cave...
until the boats were given electric motors. Sometimes the guide will switch off the boat's engine and leg along the roof of the cave to demonstrate how the boats used to be worked by miners.
Canal Tunnels known to use leggers
- Blisworth TunnelBlisworth TunnelBlisworth Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire, England between the villages of Stoke Bruerne at the southern end and Blisworth at the northern end.-Measurements:...
- Butterley TunnelButterley TunnelButterley Tunnel is a one and three quarter mile long canal tunnel on the Cromford Canal below Ripley, in Derbyshire, England, opened to traffic in 1794.-Origins:...
- Dudley TunnelDudley TunnelDudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today....
- Harecastle TunnelHarecastle TunnelHarecastle Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Kidsgrove in Staffordshire. It is made up of two separate, parallel, tunnels described as Brindley and the later Telford after the engineers that constructed them. Today only the Telford tunnel is navigable...
s, Note: only the old James BrindleyJames BrindleyJames Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
tunnel - Islington TunnelIslington TunnelThe Islington Tunnel carries the Regent's Canal Arm of the Grand Union Canal for 976 yards underneath the Angel area of Islington, London. The two other tunnels on the Regent's Canal are Eyre's tunnel and Maida Hill Tunnel....
- Lapal TunnelLapal TunnelThe Lapal Tunnel is a disused canal tunnel on the five mile dry section of the Dudley No. 2 Canal in the West Midlands, England....
- Morwell Down Tunnel
- Norwood TunnelNorwood TunnelNorwood Tunnel was a , and brick lined canal tunnel on the line of the Chesterfield Canal with its Western Portal in Norwood, Derbyshire and its Eastern Portal in Kiveton, South Yorkshire, England.-Origins:...
- Sapperton Canal TunnelSapperton Canal TunnelThe Sapperton Canal Tunnel is a tunnel on the Thames and Severn Canal near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England. It was the longest canal tunnel, and the longest tunnel of any kind, in England from 1789 to 1811....
- Standedge TunnelStandedge TunnelsThe Standedge Tunnels are four parallel tunnels that run beneath the Pennines at the traditional Standedge crossing point between Marsden and Diggle, on the edges of the conurbations of West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester respectively, in northern England.There are three railway tunnels and a...
- Worsley Navigable LevelsWorsley Navigable LevelsThe Worsley Navigable Levels are an extensive series of coal mines in Worsley in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. They were worked largely by the use of underground canals and boats called starvationers....