What's left of The Sankey - England's Oldest Industrial Canal

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The first in a two part-series looking at the Sankey (or St Helens) Canal, England's oldest artificial waterway from the industrial era. Opened in 1757 as a method for getting coal and other goods from the town of St Helens to the port of Liverpool, its brief was to make the little Sankey Brook more navigable for larger boats to use. But instead the engineers decided to build a completely separate channel next to the brook, thereby creating the first true canal in mainland Britain. In later years it was extended to Fiddler's Ferry and Widnes but closed in the mid 20th century and infilled along much of its length.

In this video we'll follow the line of the canal from St Helens town centre, all the way to Warrington, taking in a number of historical highlights along the route: the two oldest lock staircases in Britain, the old Winwick Quay, and the famous Sankey railway viaduct, built by George Stephenson to carry the historic Liverpool-Manchester Railway across the Sankey Valley.

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Winwick - pronounced "winnick" 😉

Great video, great to see my hometown of St Helens.

Fun fact... The Liverpool - Manchester railway intersects and goes underneath the Widnes - Runcorn Gap railway, which was the first railway-over-railway in the world.

Looking forward to the next video

lygase
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Definitely tropical fish in the hotties my uncle caught some and gave them to my sister and I in the 60s

daveh
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Great video! By the way, I'm still singing "Everybody Loves Runcorn" periodically, as I'm sure many of your other viewers are as well.

robincoope
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Thanks a million. My uncle used to tell me about a place where the first railway in the world passed over the first industrial canal. Never thought I would ever see it as I now live in Aus and he has sadly died. I do remember the hotties when I was a kid. It steamed most of the year.

niceviewoverthere
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All my favourite places to walk the dog 🐕 lots of bats under that Railaway bridge by Newton too. So pretty, such a shame they haven't preserved the old locks and the canal all through Sankey Valley would be great for recreational use to canoe etc. Learning SO much about places I know and places I don't know. Love this page ❤️

WhiteRabbit-
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Brilliant film and lovely weather too. The phrase 'use it or lose it' comes to mind and I wish St Helens Council/Planners would get this. Although, give them their due, they have included the 'St Helens Canal' in their current regeneration plans.

sthelenshistorychannel
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Excellent presentation. Sad to see most of the lock construction now rotting away.

joebryant
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17:09 it's pronounced "Winnick" Olly. Thanks again for a great video. You could do a similar vid on the nearby OLd Quay/Runcorn and Latchford/Black Bear Canal which is in a similar state...some sections in water some filled in but it's an excellent subject. Just a thought mate. Best wishes and take care

jimmyviaductophilelawley
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I remember the lock keepers cottage at Winwick, and also the old lock keeper (flat cap, waistcoat and collarless shirt) he kept about 6 or 7 dogs which were always barking, as a kid we use go there lots of times (sometimes over the iron railway bridge, waiting for the steam trains) before continuing to the next set of locks (towards the St the Helens direction), where we use to go swimming (in Summer) jumping off top of the lock gates into the canal (great stuff) we lived in Dallam just up the road.

paulhoughtonhhoughton
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That was great Ollie, thanks! Your production skills are fantastic mate... Already looking forward to Pt 2

mikeclarke
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Was down that way back in the early 80s what a change....Great video..thanks....

terryalmond
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Another belter there mate.
Just a thought, on the subject of canals, have you thought about the Hollinwood Branch that leaves the Ashton Canal at Droylsden and heads through Littemoss, Crime Lake and originally ran through to Hollinwood where it was meant to join the Rochdale but never did. It has features such as the aforementioned Crime Lake, the remains of the coal tipper on the Bardsey Branch and of course that section originally went to park Bridge. Features such as the pumping engine that Henry Ford took to the museum in Dearborn, USA.

redhmanchesteruk.
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Awesome to see my hometown St Helens. The bit near the World of Glass had sprays of water all along it and they looked amazing early in the morning. The canal looks a bit sad (too much litter) on certain sections and some stretches have disappeared completely

timyorke
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This is great! I grew up in Great Sankey in the '70s and '80s. My wife's mum worked at Pilks and I remember mates from school fishing in the 'otties for great big fish. Looking forward to the next part.

ShedTV
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Looking forward to the next video. I grew up in Penketh and Sankey and that part of the canal is a huge part of my childhood.

greguk
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Great intro. Always love a good canal story and this was spot on. Your use of maps and old B&W photos really helps move the story along. Your skill improves with every video you do, music, narration, editing and information "history." Thanks for your HOURS of work you put into your videos. Stay safe, Stay strong.

jetsons
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My uncle brought us some fish he got in a work hat. They turned out to be guppies and gourami babies. Lots of tropical fish dumped in, survived near the outlets, plus it never froze over. Cool vid

dn
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Brilliant video. I grew up and spent most of my life in St. Helens. At blackbrook you were a few minutes walk from my mam and dad's house. Its been a few years since I've been down the canal, still looks the same as when I used to play down there as a kid!

flangejoj
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Used to swim in Hulme lock when we were kids. Thanks for the video Olly👍

davewhyte
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Just realised I need to watch part 1 first. 😂. I love watching your videos, so knowledgeable and so much history on our doorstep. Keep up the videos, loving them. Del 👍

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