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Original Text (Annotation: EAW012334 / 693967)
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The Sankey Canal, which is also known as the Sankey Brook Navigation and the St Helens Canal
Opened in 1757 and then subsequent extensions; gradually abandoned between 1931 and 1963.
1775 extension to St Helens
1830s extension to Widnes
1931 closed North of Newton-le-Willows
The Sankey Canal usage was primarily to move coal from the Lancashire Coalfield mines to the chemical industries of Liverpool, though iron ore and corn were also important commodities.
Typical craft would be sail powered, requiring roads and railways over the canal to be on swing bridges. By 1877 the water was highly acidic and contaminated with arsenic.
Restoration of the canal began in 1980 '