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Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Liverpool Exchange Station

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The Leeds-Liverpool Canal was built in sections, with the section going into Liverpool being the first to be started, in 1770. Though it was not the first to open, this section reached Newburgh in 1774, and Wigan in 1781. It would be 1816 before the canal at Wigan connected to the Lancaster Canal, and hence the rest of the Leeds-Liverpool. Its terminus in Liverpool was originally Old Hall Street Basin, where Old Hall Street becomes Great Howard Street, and meet Leeds Street. I wonder if Leeds Street took it name from the canal. In 1846 a short link was built connecting the canal to Stanley Dock, giving access to the rest of the docks - at least until Georges Dock was filled in, at which point access to the south docks was only possible via the river, until a linking canal was built in 2009. A major railway terminus was built not far from here, Liverpool Exchange, in 1850, and the railway was obliged to raise the tracks to clear the canal. Such was the power of the railway companies tha
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Sedbergh

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Sedbergh (pronounced SED-ber) is about 40 miles north of Preston, 10 miles east of Kendal. A small town with narrow streets, there is really not much to say about it, so just enjoys the photos! The main street is very narrow. With lots of quicky buildings. There is a church. A public school, founded in 1525. I think this is the school library built in 1716, and the site of the original school. And more quicky buildings.
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Bridgewater Canal, Manchester

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The Bridgewater Canal was one of the first in England, the first stretch from Worsley to Manchester opening in 1761. Its construction inspired canal building across the country, and the flow of coal into Manchester kick-started the industrial revolution. It later extended west to Leigh, where it meets the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, and also to Runcorn. On a bright, windless day in October, I got off the train at Deansgate Station, and took a tram two stops to Pomono. From there I walked the last couple of miles of the canal into Manchester. Pomono station is at the west end of Pomona Island, a long sliver of land between the Ship Canal on the north and the Bridgewater Canal on the south. For a time it was home to Royal Pomona Palace, taking its name from the Roman goddess of fruit trees. This was a place of entertainment, and there were pavilions and botanical gardens. However, it was surrounded by industrial sites, one of which exploded in 1887, causing significant damage from which it di
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Inverness

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Inverness is the capital of the Scottish highlands. It was made a city in 2000 - beating Preston by two years! It is at the northeast end of the Caledonian Canal, which follows the the Great Glen. Loch Ness empties into the Beauly Forth via the River Ness, which flows through the city. The river is less than seven miles long, but has one of the highest flows in the country at 300 m 3 /s. It gives its name to the city - Inverness means mouth of the River Ness. The River So let us start at the river mouth! This is the Kessock Bridge, which spans the Beauly Firth, and was built in 1982, taking the A9 into the Highlands beyond Inverness. On the far side is the Black Isle, which is neither black nor an island. To the right is the Moray Firth, while Inverness is behind us. The bridge is notable as the only one in Britain that is proofed against earthquake. Inverness experiences an earthquake about every three years, mostly unnoticed, as the Black Isle, and indeed northwest Scotland, heads sl
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