Kendal Canal – the Black and White Canal:
The Kendal canal opened in 1819 as an extension to the Preston to Lancaster canal.
The canal’s main purpose was to transport coal north from the Lancashire Coalfields, and limestone south from Cumbria.
Due to the nature of these cargoes, the waterway was given a local nickname – the Black and White Canal.
By providing cheap coal to replace water power with steam power, it enabled Kendal’s manufacturing industry to expand.
This expansion allowed Kendal’s yards to develop as workshops and workers’ housing.
The canal terminated at Canal Head with warehouses, wharves, and stables, the whole complex being designed by the Kendal architect George Webster.
Barge horses would be led along the towpath with a towrope attached to the barge.
Evidence can be seen in the photo below of towropes leaving deep grooves in the stonework of the bridge.
However, the opening of the Kendal railway in 1847 led to a decline in canal traffic and, in 1856, the warehouse became an engineering works.
A final nail in the canal’s coffin was in the 1960s, when the M6 motorway was built, cutting off the northern reaches at Tewitfield, leaving the canal to deteriorate.
The section from Stainton to Kendal was closed down and, in 1947, the last two miles were filled in.
On a more positive note, the route of the canal south of Kendal is still evident with most of the bridges still in place.
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