TT E Commertigl and A[oricuitural Magazine. =“<

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No. XXV.Jas AUGUST, 1801. ou. Vz

_ Lua

A CONCISE ACCOUNT OF INLAND NAVIGATION. (Continued from aur laft, p. 10.) [ACCOMPANTED' WITH A MAP.]

X T is ſaid that the Duke had planned this work before he came

of age, and, with the conſent of his guardians, bad actually made ſome progrefßs in the undertaking before that period ht confers a high degree of honour on this nobleman, that, at an aze generally ſpent in diſſipation by the young nobility, his at- tention was taken up with a work of ſach great importance to his country.

Having fixed in his mind the plan, and his ſurveyor having alſo completed bis, he, in the year 1758, the thirty-ſecond year of the reign of George the Second, obtained an a to make a navigable cut‘or canal from the townſhip of Salford to or near Worſley Mill and Middlewood, and to a place called Hollen’s Ferry, in the county of Lancaſter; and being thus legally autho- riſed began his work,

The firſt deſiga of this intended canal was to- convey coals from the Duke's mine on his eſtate at Worſley to Mancheſter, but his views enlarged as he advanced in the work. He began to cut thereforé ât a place called Worſley Mill, about ſeven computed miles from Manchefter, when he firſt excavated a baſon capable of holding not only all his boats, but a great body of water to ſerve as a reſervoir, or head of his navigation. The coals are dug from a2 hill adjoining, to which works a ſubter- raneous paſſage‘is cut large enough for the admiſlion of flat- bottomed boats for three quarters of a mile, which are towed by hand rails, At the diſtance of three quarters of a mile from the entrance, the paſſage divides into two channels, which have been far extended, and may be carried further at pleaſure.

This paſſage being a curious and intereſting work of art, we ſhall deſcribe it:—In ſome places it is cut through the ſolid rock, and in others arched with brick. There are ſeveral air tunnels cut through'‘near forty yards deep, at certain diſtances, to give air: the entrance is ſix feet wide, and about five feet high above the water; it widens in ſome places for boats to paſs. The coals are brought to the boats in low carriages, and as the paſſage 1s on a deſcent, although they hold a ton each, they are eafily drawn along by men, on a railed way, to a ſtage over the canal, and then hot into the boats. Theſe boats, which contain about Cor:& Ag. Mag. Vol. FV. M