Waterways of Stoke-on-Trent - Trent
& Mersey Canal
The Trent and Mersey links the River Trent near Derby with the Mersey at Runcorn. The Harecastle Tunnel at Kidsgrove is an amazing feat of engineering in the form of a tiny narrow hole through a hillside. In the first tunnel, 2880 yards long and built in 1766-77, barges had to be 'legged' through the tunnel by men lying on their backs and pushing against the roof with their feet to give the boat momentum. Thomas Telford modernised the tunnel in 1827 by building a new wider tunnel alongside it, complete with a towpath. Telford's tunnel is still used by pleasure boats, as is the whole canal.
Section of Trent & Mersey Canal around Stoke-on-TrentThe canal branch to the right is the Cauldon Canal
From British Waterways
