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The Shropshire Union Canal

The Shropshire Union is an amalgamation of a number of canals formed in 1846 under the Shropshire Union Canal and Railway Company, which was later bought by the London and North Western Railway Company in 1922 after leasing the waterway since 1847. Components included the Chester Canal, which ran from Chester to Nantwich, The Montgomery Canal from Carreghofa to Newton Basin and the Ellesmere canal ( now the Llangollen).

Overall the waterway runs for 66 miles, the oldest section being the Chester canal which is a wide canal winding its way through the countryside from Chester into Ellesmere Port. Here it meets the Manchester Ship Canal and the Mersey, while the southern half of the canal was built towards the end of the canal era and offers long embankments, steep cuttings and grandiose bridges of an entirely different character, showing a far greater confidence and boasting of the engineering feats of the day.

By 1845 the Ellesmere and Chester Company, which owned the broad Chester Canal had taken over the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal which ran from Nantwich to Autherley to join with the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, with whom they had a working agreement to preserve their profits against other competition.

A joint company was formed in 1846 and named the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company with the Act authorising them to take over the Shrewsbury Canal, the Montgomery and the Shropshire Canal with the intention of using the routes to build railways, though within a year the canal were leased to the North Western Railway Company and the plans shelved, effectively forgotten, with the North Western Railway Company now using the canals.

This was followed by the lease and then purchase of the Shropshire canal which ran from Doddington Wood where it met the trench branch of the Shrewsbury canal giving access to Coalport and the River Severn, which was purchased in 1854.

The venture remained in profit until the start of the First World War with the Shropshire Union acting as both carrier and canal management.

By 1921 as a result of economic crisis most of the boats had been sold and the company was bought out by LNWR in 1922 to be taken over almost immediately by London Midland and Scottish Railways.

The canals then went into decline and disrepair until an act of abandonment in 1944 closed 175 miles of canal leaving the Mainline from Ellesmere to Autherley with the branch to Middlewhich intact, with the Ellesmere canal taking on the role of water supply to the Belvide Resevoir which helped ensure its survival.

Renewed interest in the canals started to grow from the 1950s onwards, with a view to preserving heritage and providing leisure facilities. This resulted in the setting up of Canal trusts and societies right across the country, who inspired and goaded authorities into taking a new interest in the waterways.

The Ellesmere canal has now been renamed the Llangollen and provides a delightful facility for pleasure craft and dramatic views of some wonderful countryside. The Montgomery is partially re-opened with many disused sections still ongoing projects, while the large canals have remained navigable.