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Four Counties Ring
The Four Counties Ring is a canal ring which links the four English counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and the West Midlands. Route The Four Counties Ring, which offers a variety of scenery and cruising for a narrowboat holiday, takes in the counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands. Highlights include the Industrial Canal Heritage of the Stoke-on-Trent potteries region, the wealthy pasturelands of Cheshire, to the stunning remote sandstone cuttings of Shropshire. This route, which is 110 miles long and includes 94 locks, is commonly used by holiday boaters. While energetic crews may be able to complete the ring in just a week, those who do not want to be cruising all day for the entire week will typically take two weeks. The ring traverses parts of five canals, listed in anti-clockwise order from Middlewich Junction: *Wardle Canal * Shropshire Union (Middlewich Branch) *Shropshire Union Canal *Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal *Trent an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canal Ring
A canal ring is the name given to a series of canals that make a complete loop. Etymology There have been canals which formed a ring for more than 200 years, but the term was unknown before the 1960s, when the Inland Waterways Association coined Cheshire Ring as part of its campaign to save the Ashton Canal and Peak Forest Canal from closure. Working boatmen were concerned with getting from A to B as fast as possible, or for the lowest toll, rather than in visiting more of the system, and what are now known as rings were simply alternative routes to them, but circular routes allow leisure boaters to see twice as much of the system as is possible with an "out and back" cruise. Hire companies are keen to promote their proximity to popular cruising rings. Since the Cheshire Ring was born, more rings (and variants of them) have been named. The best-known are those that can be completed in one or two weeks, although some three-week rings (such as the Outer Pennine Ring) have been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Rolt
Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt (usually abbreviated to Tom Rolt or L. T. C. Rolt) (11 February 1910 – 9 May 1974) was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Telford. He is also regarded as one of the pioneers of the leisure cruising industry on Britain's inland waterways, and was an enthusiast for vintage cars and heritage railways. He played a pioneering role in both the canal and railway preservation movements. Biography Early life Tom Rolt was born in Chester to a line of Rolts "dedicated to hunting and procreation". His father Lionel had settled back in Britain in Hay-on-Wye after working on a cattle station in Australia, a plantation in India, and joining (unsuccessfully) in the Yukon gold rush of 1898. However, Lionel Rolt lost most of his money in 1920 after investing his capital in a company which failed, and the family moved to a pair of stone cottages in Stanley Pontlarge in Glouces ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Tern
The Indian river tern or just river tern (''Sterna aurantia'') is a tern in the family Laridae. It is a resident breeder along inland rivers from Iran east into the Indian Subcontinent and further to Myanmar to Thailand, where it is uncommon. Unlike most ''Sterna'' terns, it is almost exclusively found on freshwater, rarely venturing even to tidal creeks. This species breeds from March to May in colonies in less accessible areas such as sandbanks in rivers. It nests in a ground scrape, often on bare rock or sand, and lays three greenish-grey to buff eggs, which are blotched and streaked with brown. This is a medium-sized tern, 38–43 cm long with dark grey upperparts, white underparts, a forked tail with long flexible streamers, and long pointed wings. The bill is yellow and the legs red. It has a black cap in breeding plumage. In the winter the cap is greyish white, flecked and streaked with black, there is a dark mask through the eye, and the tip of the bill becomes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Market Drayton
Market Drayton is a market town and electoral ward in the north of Shropshire, England, close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is on the River Tern, and was formerly known as "Drayton in Hales" (c. 1868) and earlier simply as "Drayton" (c. 1695). Market Drayton is on the Shropshire Union Canal and on Regional Cycle Route 75. The A53 road by-passes the town, which is between Shrewsbury and Newcastle-under-Lyme. History Drayton is recorded in the Domesday Book as a manor in the hundred of Hodnet. It was held by William Pantulf, Lord of Wem, from Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. Drayton is listed as having a population of 5 households in 1086, putting it in the smallest 20% of settlements recorded. Domesday also lists Tyrley, which was the site of a castle later (). In 1245 King Henry III granted a charter for a weekly Wednesday market, giving the town its current name. The market is still held every Wednesday. Nearby Blore Heath, in Staffordshire, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audlem
Audlem is a village and civil parish located in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in North West England, approximately south of Nantwich. Close to the border with the neighbouring county of Shropshire, the village is eight miles (13 km) east of Whitchurch and seven miles (11 km) north of Market Drayton. According to the 2001 census, the population of the entire civil parish was 1,790, increasing to 1,991 at the 2011 Census. History Audlem was mentioned in the Domesday Book as ''Aldelime'', and Edward I granted it a market charter in 1295.Scholes, R. (2000). pages 24–25. Geography Audlem is on the Shropshire Union Canal, which has a flight of 15 locks, designed by Thomas Telford, to raise the canal from the Cheshire Plain to the Shropshire Plain. The River Weaver passes west of the village. Audlem railway station closed along with the local railway line in the 1960s. Landmarks Moss Hall is an Elizabethan timber-framed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitchurch Railway Station (Shropshire)
Whitchurch (Shropshire) railway station serves the town of Whitchurch in Shropshire, England. The station is 18¾ miles (30 km) north of Shrewsbury on the Welsh Marches Line. The station is maintained and served by Transport for Wales. History The station opened on 1 September 1858 by the LNWR-backed Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway. It was once the junction for the Cambrian Railways Oswestry, Ellesmere and Whitchurch Railway line to Oswestry and Welshpool (the former Cambrian mainline to ), and the Whitchurch and Tattenhall Railway. The former was closed as a result of the Beeching Axe in January 1965, whilst the latter was closed to passengers by the British Transport Commission in September 1957Disused Stations - Whitchurch Retrieved 11 November 2013 and completely in January 1963. The site of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nantwich Railway Station
Nantwich railway station serves the town of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It is on the Crewe to Shrewsbury line south west of Crewe. Opened in 1858, it was the junction for the Great Western Railway route to Wellington via Market Drayton until 1963. History The town was initially considered as potential calling point for the Grand Junction Railway route between London, Birmingham and Manchester/Liverpool, but opposition from coaching and canal interests therein led to the Grand Junction being routed through instead. The Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway would end up being the first route into the town – authorised by Parliament in 1852, it was eventually opened in September 1858 and was operated by the London and North Western Railway. This subsequently became part of a busy through route between the north west of England and South Wales (the modern day Welsh Marches Line). The Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway linking the titular towns opened five years later, making the sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autherley Junction
Autherley Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Shropshire Union Canal terminates and meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near to Oxley, north Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. History The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal was opened in 1772. It provided a link between the Trent and Mersey Canal at Great Haywood Junction in the north and the River Severn at Stourport in the south. A significant trade soon developed between the Potteries and the south west. to the south of the junction site, the canal was joined by the Birmingham Canal Navigations at Aldersley Junction, which provided a route for manufactured goods to pass northwards. In 1835, the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal opened, connecting the Chester Canal at Nantwich to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire at Autherley. It was one of the new generation of canals, which instead of following the contours, used cuttings and embankments to provide a more direct route, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham And Liverpool Junction Canal
The Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was a canal in England which ran from Nantwich, where it joined the Chester Canal, to Autherley, where it joined the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Forming part of a major link between Liverpool and the industrial heartlands of the Midlands, the canal was opened in 1835, and merged with the Ellesmere and Chester Canal Company in 1845, which became the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company in the following year. History In 1824, the Birmingham Canal was experiencing unprecedented levels of traffic, and asked the civil engineer Thomas Telford to recommend how the canal could be improved. He reported his suggestions in September, and probably also recommended that an additional link northwards from the western end to the River Mersey would be beneficial, since the Birmingham Canal Company described him as the 'originator and proposer' of the route in January 1825. Faced with competition from a proposed railway line from Bir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Llangollen Canal
The Llangollen Canal ( cy, Camlas Llangollen) is a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. The waterway links Llangollen in Denbighshire, north Wales, with Hurleston in south Cheshire, via the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire. The name, which was coined in the 1980s, is a modern designation for parts of the historic Ellesmere Canal and the Llangollen navigable feeder, both of which became part of the Shropshire Union Canals in 1846. The Ellesmere Canal was proposed by industrialists at Ruabon and Brymbo, and two disconnected sections were built. The northern section ran from Ellesmere Port on the River Mersey to Chester, where it joined the Chester Canal, and opened in 1795. Work on the southern section began at Frankton, with a line southwards to Llanymynech, and subsequently, a second section was built westwards towards Trevor. This involved crossing the Afon Ceiriog and the River Dee, which was achieved by building two vast aqueducts, using iron tro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hurleston Junction
Hurleston Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Llangollen Canal terminates and meets the Shropshire Union Canal main line at Hurleston, Cheshire, England. History The Chester Canal was planned as a broad canal running from Chester to Middlewich, with a branch to Nantwich. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1772, but the plans changed and the main line was built from Chester to Nantwich. Lack of finance prevented the construction of a branch to Middlewich. Commercially, the canal was a failure, and after opening in 1779, it lasted eight years until the company collapsed. However, it was reopened three years later in 1790, as the proposed construction of the Ellesmere Canal would make it part of a larger network, and might enable the Middlewich Branch, which would connect with the Trent and Mersey Canal to be built. The Ellesmere Canal as first envisioned was a huge undertaking, running from the River Mersey to the River Dee and on to Shrewsbury, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chester Canal
The Chester Canal was an English canal linking the south Cheshire town of Nantwich with the River Dee at Chester. It was intended to link Chester to Middlewich, with a branch to Nantwich, but the Trent and Mersey Canal were unco-operative about a junction at Middlewich, and so the route to Nantwich was opened in 1779. There were also difficulties negotiating with the River Dee Company, and with no possibility of through traffic, the canal was uneconomic. Part of it was closed in 1787, when Beeston staircase locks collapsed, and there was no money to fund repairs. When the Ellesmere Canal was proposed in 1790, the company saw it as a ray of hope, and somehow managed to keep the struggling canal open. The Ellesmere Canal provided a link to the River Mersey at Ellesmere Port from 1797, and the fortunes of the Chester Canal began to improve. The Ellesmere Canal was also building branches in North Wales, which were intended to link up to the River Dee at Chester, but eventually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
-_Immatures_W_IMG_9725.jpg "Click for more on -> River Tern")
