sentences:  Tolls on the Middlewich Branch were initially maintained at a higher level than on the rest of the canal in order to avoid undercutting traffic on that route.In 1838, the canal carried 60,406 tons of iron to Ellesmere Port, and 10,370 tons along the Middlewich Branch, most of it travelling from North Wales to Manchester.Once the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal was open, the route from Birmingham to Manchester via it and the Middlewich Branch was shorter and contained 30 less locks than the route using the Trent and Mersey Canal.