Abandoned & Vanished Canals of England

A resurgence in canal restoration has seen many English canals reopen in the past three decades, but many are still abandoned, some even vanished under roads, railways and buildings.

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Many thousands of route miles of canal and navigation once used to criss-cross England, serving collieries, iron mines, steelworks, towns and villages. From the start of the twentieth century onwards, many of these canals closed down as a result of lack of trade. Many of the lost canals are in the Midlands, the heartland of Britain's canal network, but they include the exotically named Tamar Manure Canal and the Royal Arsenal Canal. Andy Wood gives us a brief history of each of England's lost canals, from the Adelphi Canal to the Woodeaves Canal.