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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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James Brindley
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(1716–72) The father of British canals. He built more than 300 miles of inland waterways, solving extraordinary engineering problems even though he was semi-literate and never committed any of his designs or calculations to paper. The son of a small farmer in Derbyshire, he made a name for himself repairing machinery for mills. In 1759 the duke of Bridgewater asked his advice on a proposed canal to take coal 16km/10m from the duke's mine at Worsley into Manchester.
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The duke had in mind a conventional system of locks down to the river Irwell. Brindley proposed instead an aqueduct to carry the barges over the Irwell at Barton; the ease of the resulting journey halved the cost of coal in Manchester and made the duke a fortune. This first part of the Bridgewater canal was completed in 1761; it was extended to Liverpool in 1776, joining the *Mersey at Runcorn. Brindley was immediately in demand for other canals, the most important of which was the Grand Trunk, joining the two coasts of England by linking the Mersey to the Trent.
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