History of the Manchester Ship Canal from its Inception to its Completion
With Personal Reminiscences

This 1907 two-volume work discusses the conception, planning and construction of the 36-mile waterway linking Manchester to the Mersey estuary.

Bosdin Leech (Author)

9781108071208, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 April 2014

468 pages, 46 b/w illus. 6 colour illus.
29.7 x 21 x 2.4 cm, 1.11 kg

By the late nineteenth century, charges imposed on Manchester companies for the use of Liverpool's docks and the connecting railway had created an atmosphere of resentment within the business community. The Manchester Ship Canal was to play a major part in the city's regeneration following the depression of the 1870s, but it took a lengthy battle for the scheme to gain the backing of Parliament and for construction to begin in 1887. In this two-volume work of 1907, Sir Bosdin Leech (1836–1912) traces the canal's conception, planning and construction. Volume 2 begins with the project's backers having finally raised the capital necessary to begin construction. The difficult process of building the canal is then detailed. The work includes a large amount of illustrative content, enhancing the light shed on the landscape and notable personalities of Manchester at that time.

17. 1887: Crusade for capital
18. 1888: The contractor starts in earnest
19. 1889: Dispute about tidal openings
20. 1890: Death of Daniel Adamson
21. 1891: Gloomy prospects
22. New executive committee at work
23. 1893: Old directors defend their policy
24. 1894: Dr Pankhurst's application for certificate, and speech
25. Dramatis personae
Appendices 1-11
Index.

Subject Areas: Civil engineering, surveying & building [TN]