significant improvements were made to the river in the 1660s, when a new cut with 10 locks was constructed between stamford and market deeping, and two locks were built on the river section below market deeping. the canal section was known as the stamford canal, and was the longest canal with locks in britain when it was built. the river provided the final outlet to the sea for land drainage schemes implemented in the seventeenth century, although they were not completely successful until a steam-powered pumping station was built at pode hole in 1827. navigation on the upper river, including the stamford canal, had ceased by 1863, but spalding remained an active port until the end of the second world war.