The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of 127 miles (204 km), it crosses the Pennines, and includes 91 locks on the main line. It has several small branches, and in the early 21st century a new link was constructed into the Liverpool docks system.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal main line is 127 miles (204 km) long and crosses the country from Liverpool, Merseyside to Leeds, West Yorkshire. It has two main side-branches, the Leigh Branch and the Rufford Branch. The summit level is at 487 feet (148 m). The canal was built with locks 60 ft (18 m) long and 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) wide to accommodate the Yorkshire Keel barges already in use on the Rivers Aire and Humber. However, the locks on the Leigh Branch and the mainline between Wigan and Liverpool (and Rufford Branch), were extended to a length of 72 feet (22 m) to accommodate the longer boats trading on the rest of the canal network following the building of the Leigh Branch.
The original Liverpool terminus was at Clarke’s Basin in present-day Old Hall Street. This later moved to Pall Mall when land was sold to a railway company. A direct connection to the docks via Stanley Dock was built in 1846. From Liverpool to Appley Locks, the canal runs for 27 miles (43 km) without locks, across the West Lancashire Coastal Plain.
The two main side-branches both connect to other waterways. The Rufford Branch links into the River Douglas and, via the Ribble Link and the River Ribble to the previously isolated Lancaster Canal. The Leigh Branch from Wigan leads to the Bridgewater Canal and thus to Manchester and the Midlands.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is said to be the longest single canal in England constructed by one company, but it is shorter than the Grand Union Canal which was made up of many smaller canals merged. The Leeds Liverpool Canal includes the southern part of the Lancaster Canal between Johnsons Hillock and Wigan Top Lock.
The canal at Aintree passes close to the racecourse and gives the name to the course’s Canal Turn. The canal has one of the country’s most photographed canal features – the Bingley Five Rise Locks at Bingley. Bingley Five Rise and the Burnley Embankment are two of the original Seven Wonders of the canal world chosen by Robert Aickman.
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