What is Trent & Mersey Canal?
The '''Trent and Mersey Canal''' is a 93<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub>-mile (150 km) canal in [[Derbyshire]], [[Staffordshire]] and [[Cheshire]]. It was made to link the [[River Trent]] in Derbyshire to the [[River Mersey]], connecting the ports of [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] and [[Liverpool]]. The plan was made by the canal engineer [[James Brindley]]. It was agreed by an [[Act of Parliament]] in 1766 and the first sod was cut by [[Josiah Wedgwood]] in July that year at [[Burslem]]. In 1777, the canal was completed, including more than 70 locks and five tunnels. Wedgwood used the canal to bring clay into his potteries and to send the finished products to Liverpool. He built his factory village called Etruria on the outskirts of [[Stoke-on-Trent]], close to the canal. <ref>{{Cite book|title=The Radical Potter|url=https://archive.org/details/josiahwedgwoodma0000tris|last=Hunt|first=Tristram|publisher=Allen Lane|year=2021|isbn=9780241287897}}</ref> Between Middlewich and the northern end of the canal in Preston Brook Tunnel, is the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] Anderton Boat Lift, which lowers boats fifty feet from the canal to the River Weaver. Just North of Stoke is the Harecastle Tunnel. Brindley built the first tunnel which was 2,880 yards (2,630 m) long, and boats were moved through by men lying on their backs and pushing against the roof with their feet. [[Thomas Telford]] built a second, wider, parallel tunnel with a towpath in 1827. The first tunnel was later closed because the land sank. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:1777 establishments]] [[Category:Canals in England]]