Editing Lancaster Canal (section)

===Demise===
[[File:Bridge 1, Glasson branch.jpg|thumb|Bridge 1 of the Glasson branch, next to the junction with Lancaster Canal]]

Following the nationalisation of the railways and canals and the formation of the [[British Transport Commission]] as a result of the [[Transport Act 1947]], the Docks and Inland Waterways Executive (DIWE) were responsible for the newly nationalised canals.{{sfn |Squires |2008 |p=21}} In late 1952, the DIWE formed plans to sell off some {{convert|600|mi|km}} of canals which were no longer commercially viable, including the Lancaster Canal, to county and local authorities.{{sfn |Squires |2008 |p=31}} These plans were published by the British Transport Commission in April 1955, as part of a report entitled ''Canals and Inland Waterways''. By then the Lancaster Canal was part of {{convert|771|mi|km}} of waterways that formed group III, earmarked for disposal. Following its publication, the [[Inland Waterways Association]] organised a series of protest meetings, with the Lancaster Canal Boat Club being formed after the one held in Lancaster.{{sfn |Squires |2008 |p=35}} The annual British Transport Commission bill was expected to contain details of what would happen to these waterways, but when it was published on 28 November 1955, the bill only contained proposals to abandon the derelict [[Nottingham Canal|Nottingham]] and [[Walsall Canal|Walsall]] canals. The Inland Waterways Association detected a softening in official attitudes towards revival of the canal network.{{sfn |Squires |2008 |p=36}}

Nevertheless, parts of the canal were abandoned, using discretionary powers contained in the [[Transport Act 1953]], which allowed the DIWE to close unused or little-used canals. Around {{convert|5.75|mi|km}} of canal from Stainton Crossing Bridge to Kendal were drained because of leakage through fissures in the underlying limestone, and the last {{convert|2|mi|km}} in Kendal were filled in. Although the land was sold to landowners, the towpath was retained as a public footpath, and many of the bridges remain in place. At the Preston end, around {{convert|0.75|mi|km}} of canal from Aqueduct Street southwards were gradually drained and partly filled in. Above Tewitfield locks, a {{convert|100|yd|m|adj=on}} section at [[Burton-in-Kendal]] was drained because of problems with leakage, and replaced by a pipe, so that the water supply to the lower canal was maintained, but navigation north of Tewitfield ceased. The gates of the Tewitfield locks were removed, and replaced by concrete cills, to act as weirs.{{sfn |Biddle |2018 |p=118}}

From January 1963, responsibility for the canal passed to the newly formed British Waterways Board.{{sfn |Biddle |2018 |p=118}} The Association for the Restoration of the Lancaster Canal was formed in December 1963, to campaign for retention of the canal. It later became the Lancaster Canal Trust.{{sfn |Biddle |2018 |p=120}} When the Ministry of Transport were developing plans for the [[M6 motorway]] north of Preston, they were not prepared to fund bridges where the route crossed the canal, and published plans to abandon the canal north of Tewitfield in mid 1965.{{sfn |Squires |2008 |p=56}} There was a local campaign for bridges to be built, so that restoration would be possible in the future, but the canal was [[culvert]]ed at the three locations where the motorway crossed it,{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970b |p=427}} and at three more sites, where other roads were re-routed as part of the construction.{{sfn |Biddle |2018 |p=118}} The channel below Stainton could still be used by small boats, as it delivered water from Killington Reservoir to the lower canal, and also fed a pipeline which ran from the canal near [[Garstang]] to a chemical works near [[Fleetwood]].{{sfn |Hadfield |Biddle |1970b |p=427}}

The Kendal to Preston section now terminates at Ashton basin, but previously continued to the centre of Preston where there are a number of streets and pubs whose names give clues: Wharfe Street, Kendal Street, the Lamb and Packet (the lamb being the crest of Preston), the Fighting Cocks (formerly the Boatmans). Most of the ground formerly occupied by the canal basin is now part of the [[University of Central Lancashire]] site. A Trust was formed in 2003 to extend the canal back to a new marina at Maudland, but as no progress was made, the university plan to landscape the area, in a way that will not preclude restoration of the canal in the future.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/11463/1/11463_uclan_masterplan_report_web.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717164011/http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/11463/1/11463_uclan_masterplan_report_web.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2022 |url-status=live |title=Masterplan Report |publisher=University of Central Lancashire |date=16 January 2015 |pages=16–17}}</ref>