Terry Wyke

Canals, Rivers, and the Industrial City: Manchester's Industrial Waterfront, 1790–1850

This article presents new data on mill location in Manchester in 1850 to show that water-transport infrastructure played a key role in determining the intra-urban pattern of factory development.The shift from water to steam power introduced new patterns of industrial water use, rather than the relocation of factories away from waterways. Five new public canals and 23 private canal branches activated a major expansion of Manchester’s waterfront, providing the majority of the manufacturing sites that enabled the town to become the world’s foremost factory centre. Without effective municipal water supplies, canals were the best available water source for steam engines.

Water Transport in the Industrial Age: Commodities and Carriers on the Rochdale Canal, 1804–1855

Manchester was a major centre of transport innovation in industrial Britain. Research has focused on the pioneer transport links with Liverpool, neglecting the towns extensive eastern canal network. This article analyses the commodities conveyed from 1800 to 1855 on the Rochdale Canal, the most heavily trafficked of the towns eastern waterways. It highlights the canals importance in carrying corn to feed Lancashires industrial work force as well as its role in transporting cotton textiles to east-coast ports and in supplying Manchester with building materials. The article also analyses the types of firm carrying goods on the canal and assesses the canals importance in relation to Manchesters other major water routes.