Runcorn to Latchford Canal

Runcorn to Latchford Canal
Original owner	Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company
Date of act	1720
Date of first use	1804 (1804)
Date closed	1890s
Status	Closed

The Runcorn to Latchford Canal (also known as the Old Quay Canal or locally as "Old Quay Cut" or "Black Bear Canal") ran from Runcorn,^[1] Cheshire to the Latchford^[2] area of Warrington, then in the historic county of Lancashire. It connected the Mersey and Irwell Navigation to the River Mersey at Runcorn.

The canal was built to bypass the shallow stretches of the Mersey at Fiddlers Ferry. It extended for 7 miles (11 km) and ended to the east of Runcorn Gap close to the centre of the township of Runcorn.^[3] The canal cost £48,000.^[4] At its terminus a dock was built which became part of the Port of Runcorn. The canal was built under powers embodied in the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Act (1720) which permitted new cuts to be made without the necessity of further recourse to Parliament. It opened in July 1804.^[3] The canal closed in the early 1890s when it was virtually obliterated by the Manchester Ship Canal.

Traces of the canal still exist in Wigg Island and in Moore Nature Reserve.^[5] The route of the canal forms the basis of the designated "Linear Park" that runs parallel to the river Mersey at Lower Walton and is clearly visible looking west from Chester Road (A5060) whilst standing on the road bridge over the River Mersey. In the distance is the "Twelve Arches Bridge" where arch number 3 (counted south to north) passes over where the canal would have passed. The largely dried out canal basin can be traced westwards after the bridge towards Moore Nature Reserve and then Runcorn. The canal passes east under the A5060 where it joins the Manchester Ship Canal at Walton Locks (site of the proposed Port of Warrington). Thereafter it re-emerges in Stockton Heath just past the London Road Swing Bridge (A49) where it runs north-easterly passing under Loushers Lane Bridge until eventually passing under Knutsford Road at the site of the former Black Bear Public House. The course of the canal runs a short distance then to terminate and re-join the River Mersey close to Kingsway North Bridge.

See also

UK Waterways portal

• Canals of the United Kingdom
• History of the British canal system

References

1. ^ 53°20′06″N 2°43′44″W / 53.335°N 2.729°W / 53.335; -2.729
2. ^ 53°22′48″N 2°34′08″W / 53.380°N 2.569°W / 53.380; -2.569
3. ^ ^{a b} Starkey 1990, p. 130.
4. ^ Nickson 1887, p. 162.
5. ^ Starkey 1990, p. 189.

Bibliography

• Nickson, Charles (1887), History of Runcorn, London and Warrington: Mackie & Co. 
• Starkey, H.F. (1990), Old Runcorn, Halton: Halton Borough Council