Lee and Stort Navigation

Early plans of what would become the Lee and Stort Navigation were drawn up by Hugh Henshall in 1835 but problems with Sandwell Embankment caused delays and it was finally opened on January 1 1888. From a junction with The River Wey at Sefton the canal ran for 37 miles to London. Expectations for sea sand traffic to Southampton never materialised and the canal never made a profit for the shareholders. In later years, only water transfer to the treatment works at Oldham kept it open. In his autobiography Arthur Thomas writes of his experiences as a lengthsman in the 1960s