Editing Lancaster Canal (section)

===Construction===
Work started almost immediately on the level section from Preston to Tewitfield. Contracts for {{convert|27|mi|km}} of canal southwards from Tewitfield to Ray Lane near Catterall was awarded to John Murray of Colne and John Pinkerton. Although Pinkerton was a well-known canal contractor, Millar complained that the quality of his work was poor, and that he failed to follow instructions. Murray and Pinkerton were dismissed in 1795, to be replaced by several contractors each building smaller lengths of canal.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |p=186}} In January 1794 work began on the [[Lune Aqueduct]], which was built of stone, although Rennie thought brick should have been used, as it would have been considerably cheaper. By 1797 the [[Navigable aqueduct|aqueduct]] was completed, carrying the canal {{convert|62|ft|m}} above the river, and boats were able to travel the {{convert|42.4|mi|km}} from Preston to Tewitfield, known as the North End. Single span aqueducts carried the canal over the [[River Keer]] and the [[River Wyre]]. As the [[River Brock]] was on almost the same level as the canal, a weir was built above the canal and its bed was lowered beneath an aqueduct. Syphons were constructed to carry the [[River Calder, Wyre|River Calder]] and a stream near Ashton Hall under the canal. A formal opening ceremony was held on 27 November 1797, when six boats made the journey from Lancaster to the Lune aqueduct and back again, after which dinner was served at the King's Arms. £269,406 had been spent to get this far.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |pp=187–188}}

The section south of the River Ribble was a little more complex, because part of it was close to the intended route of the [[Leeds and Liverpool Canal]]. Work had been started on the South End, as it was officially known, in July 1793, when a contract for the length from Bark Hill near Wigan to Nightingales, near Chorley, had been let to Paul Vickers of Thorne. Negotiations with the Duke of Bridgewater had led to plans for an extension southwards from Westhoughton to the [[Bridgewater Canal]] at Worsley, but the bill presented to Parliament to authorise it was defeated,{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |p=186}} largely due to objections by the owner of [[Atherton Hall, Leigh|Atherton Hall]].{{sfn |Tomlinson |1991 |p=36}} The committee felt that a connection to the Leigh branch of the Bridgewater Canal, which was soon to be constructed, might be a better option.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |p=186}} By February 1798, Vickers had completed construction of the canal from Bark Hill to Knowley Wharf near Chorley, and it was open for traffic. William Cartwright had been appointed as assistant resident engineer in January 1794, during the construction of the Lune aqueduct, but by July 1799 was resident engineer for the whole canal. He announced that {{convert|12|mi|km}} of the South End was then open, as far north as Johnson's Hillock, and that the next section to Clayton Green was nearly completed, with the exception of the Whittle Hill tunnels. Meanwhile, the committee were struggling with cash flow problems, but the open sections brought in some much-needed revenue.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |pp=187-188}}

Attention then turned to how to join the North End to the South End. Several options were considered, including linking to the [[Douglas Navigation]], and although the Leeds and Liverpool agreed to improve that waterway, the Lancashire committee could not afford their part of the work. They asked Cartwright for his opinion in 1799, and he suggested a {{convert|5|mi|km|0|adj=on}} tramway, to run from Clayton Green on the South End to a little short of the current terminus of the North End, which would be extended slightly.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |p=189}} The committee then asked Rennie and [[William Jessop]] to consider Cartwright's tramway and another one that had been suggested, and to advise on a canal connection between the two sections. They suggested that an embankment should be used to support a canal at the same level as the section to Lancaster, with an aqueduct over the Ribble. Locks would be required to raise the level to meet the South End at Clayton Green. Their report included a design for an aqueduct with three arches, each of {{convert|117|ft|m}}, and a total length of {{convert|640|ft|m}}. Cartwright also submitted plans for an aqueduct, as did Thomas Gibson. Rennie and Jessop approved Cartwright's plan for a tramway as a temporary solution to the problem. They thought it would cost around £21,600, and work on it started shortly afterwards.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |p=190}}

The existing South End canal was extended by {{convert|1|mi|km}} from Clayton Green to Walton Summit, and a {{convert|259|yd|m|adj=on}} tunnel was constructed at Whittle Hill. This proved to be difficult to build, and it was 1 June 1803 before the first boat was able to pass through it. By that time, the North End had been extended to a new basin near Fishergate in Preston, but the tramway had only reached Bamber Bridge, and finally opened at the end of 1803. The tramway had two tracks and three inclined planes, each powered by a stationary engine and an endless chain. A wooden trestle bridge carried it over the Ribble. Cartwright died shortly after it was completed, on 19 January 1804. One of his other achievements was the cutting of a tunnel between the canal at Preston and the River Ribble, to provide a water supply for the canal. After his death, the project was completed by William Millar of Preston, and in July 1806, a [[Boulton and Watt]] steam engine began pumping water through the tunnel.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |pp=190-191}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Lancaster Canal Navigation Act 1807
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = 
| year                  = 1807
| citation              = [[47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2]]. c. cxiii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
[[File:Turning bridge Kendal.jpg|thumb|left|[[Change Bridge, Kendal|Change Bridge]] on the route of the canal through Kendal]]
When the committee had been set up in 1792, most of the members had been from Lancaster, with one from Preston and one from Kendal.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |pp=185-186}} This continued to be the case, and resulted in the extension northwards to Kendal being continually deferred. Millar surveyed two routes in 1805, and also considered the possibility of a tramway. The tramway was much cheaper, but the committee obtained a new act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Lancaster Canal Navigation Act 1807}}''' ([[47 Geo. 3 Sess. 2]]. c. cxiii), to authorise variations to Rennie's route between Tewitfield and Hincaster, which also reverted to having all of the locks at Tewitfield. After much debate and several changes of plan, terms were finally agreed with the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which would allow them to use much of the South End. The Lancaster Canal would construct two branches, a short {{convert|0.5|mi|km|1|adj=on}} length from Bark Hill to Wigan top lock, and a longer branch rising {{convert|64|ft|m}} through seven locks from Johnson's Hillock. In order to provide a water supply to the Kendal level, they bought {{convert|86|acre|ha}} of land at Killington for a reservoir, but the cost of the branches and the reservoir meant that there was no money left to construct the canal, and so the link to Kendal was deferred again.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |pp=191-192}}

Thomas Fletcher became the engineer in 1812, and his first task was to prepare estimates for the canal to Kendal. An agreement to start work was reached in 1813, and construction of the canal north of the locks, including [[Hincaster Tunnel]] and [[Peasey Beck|Killington Reservoir]], was managed by William Crosley from May 1817. The tunnel was finished on 25 December 1817, but the finishing of the locks took a little longer. The embankment for Killington Reservoir was raised several times, so that it now covered an area of {{convert|153|acre|ha}}, and it was full by the time the locks were completed. The opening ceremony for the Northern Reaches, as this section would become known, was held on 18 June 1819, with a flotilla of boats followed by dinner and a ball at the Town Hall in Kendal.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |pp=192–193}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Lancaster Canal Navigation Act 1819
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to alter and amend the several Acts passed for making and maintaining the Lancaster Canal Navigation.
| year                  = 1819
| citation              = [[59 Geo. 3]]. c. lxiv
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 14 June 1819
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo3/59/64/pdfs/ukla_18190064_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The next project would be the {{convert|2.5|mi|km|0|adj=on}} [[Glasson Dock]] branch, which had been authorised by the act of Parliament obtained in 1792. There was opposition from Preston, who felt that the canal crossing of the Ribble was much more important, but the makeup of the committee meant that the Glasson Branch was preferred. They obtained another act of Parliament, the '''{{visible anchor|Lancaster Canal Navigation Act 1819}}''' ([[59 Geo. 3]]. c. lxiv) in 1819, to authorise the raising of more capital, and to retrospectively sanction the construction of Killington reservoir and the branch to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Johnson's Hillock. Crosley had taken over as superintendent of the entire canal from Fletcher in 1820, and work commenced in 1823. It was finished in December 1825, with six locks carrying the canal down {{convert|52|ft|m}} to the basin and dock. The company was short of money, and the lack of warehouses and wharves initially led to trade developing slowly. With the project complete, Crosley left in June 1826 to become engineer on the [[Macclesfield Canal]], and was replaced by Bryan Padgett Gregson.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |pp=195–196}}

A canal crossing of the River Ribble was never constructed. In 1813, when the northern extension to Kendal was about to be built, some of the Preston proprietors, led by a man called Shuttleworth, proposed a scheme to cross the Ribble on the level, which Fletcher decided was not practicable. They then proposed an aqueduct at a lower level, with locks on both sides of the river. Fletcher estimated the cost as £160,537, and while it could be done, that amount of money was not available, and providing a water supply for the locks would be difficult. Shuttleworth then demanded a special general meeting in 1817, at which he suggested that the cost could be obtained by applying to the [[Exchequer Bill Loan Commission]], but his proposal was defeated.{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970a |p=193}}