Shropshire Routes to Roots |Routes | Transport and communication
| Getting goods to market| 3. Beyond Shropshire What new form of
highway would revolutionise the way in which goods were
transported? The new highway The Morda Valley to the south and
west of Oswestry was not always the peaceful rural scene it is
today. From around 1780 the coal, clay and limestone of the area
was mined in greater and greater quantities. The main method of
transport was by horse and cart from mines such as those at
Coed-y-Go, west of Morda, and the limestone quarries at
Llanymynech . Single line, horse tramways were constructed all
along the valley to link various sites to the main turnpike
road. The weight of material being carried along the roads soon
made them into almost impassable, rutted quagmires. The only
effective solution was canal technology. The canal from
Llanymynech to Frankton opened in 1796 By 1805 this had been
extended to the ironworks at Trefor, on the far side of the
Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, and to the Chester