1.
Morley, West Yorkshire
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Morley is a market town and civil parish within the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately 5 miles south-west of Leeds city centre, the town had a population of 44,440 in 2011 and is made up of the Morley North and South Wards. The civil parish had a population of 27,738, the town is built on seven hills, like Rome, Scatcherd Hill, Dawson Hill, Daisy Hill, Chapel Hill, Hunger Hill, Troy Hill and Banks Hill. Morley is first mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Morelege, Morelei, Morley means open ground by a moor, from Old English mōr moor, clearing, pasture + lẽah open ground, clearing. It also gave its name to Morelei Wapentac, a wapentake which probably met at Tingley, the town was later famous for its textile industry, notably the cloth, shoddy, which was worn by both sides in the American Civil War. Schoolgirl Sarah Harper was murdered by Robert Black in Morley in 1986, giving the town brief, historically, Morley was the centre of one of two divisions of the wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley. Morley became a Municipal Borough in 1889 and under the Local Government Act 1972, was incorporated into the City of Leeds Metropolitan District, Morley is represented on Leeds City Council by three wards each with three councillors. Balls narrowly lost the seat at the 2015 general election to Conservative Andrea Jenkyns, a town council was established in 2000, though it no longer governs Drighlington, Gildersome, Tingley and East and West Ardsley - areas formerly part of the municipal borough. The towns coat of arms featured the symbolic principal industries of the borough, textile manufacturing. Morley Town Hall is sometimes used for music recordings, television programmes, Heartbeat and Emmerdale have used its disused magistrates court and a cobblestoned street to one side. It hosts concerts by local schools and performances by the Morley Amateur Operatic Society, orbit<ref</ref> nightclub hosted the worlds biggest techno, trance and hard house DJs. during the late 1990s, the club became a mecca of Northern rave culture until its sudden closure in 2003. Morley annually holds one of the largest St Georges Day parades in the country and has named the most patriotic town in England. Morley Market has been a feature since the town was formed, now with more than trading units, the market building has a large trading hall split up into units housing fruiterers, delicatessens, butchers, fishmongers, fashion shops and a café. Supermarkets in Morley include Morrisons in the centre and there is also a 24-hour ASDA superstore. Scatcherd Park in the centre of Morley, by the Morley Leisure Centre, has a playing field. Events are held on the field in the summer months. On 21 February 2010, a statue of Ernie Wise was erected outside Morley Post Office to divided opinion and unveiled by his widow, Wise had performed in the old nearby cinema, just around from the Post Office, of which is no longer in use and now derelict. On 25 June 2012, the Olympic Torch paused at the Morley Academy on its tour of Britain ahead of the London Olympic Games 2012, Morley railway station is half a mile from the town centre on the Huddersfield Line
2.
Leeds
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Leeds /liːdz/ is a city in West Yorkshire, England. Historically in Yorkshires West Riding, the history of Leeds can be traced to the 5th century when the name referred to an area of the Kingdom of Elmet. The name has applied to many administrative entities over the centuries. It changed from being the appellation of a small borough in the 13th century, through several incarnations. In the 17th and 18th centuries Leeds became a centre for the production. During the Industrial Revolution, Leeds developed into a mill town, wool was the dominant industry but flax, engineering, iron foundries, printing. From being a market town in the valley of the River Aire in the 16th century Leeds expanded and absorbed the surrounding villages to become a populous urban centre by the mid-20th century. The city has the third largest jobs total by local authority area with 480,000 in employment and self-employment at the beginning of 2015. Leeds is also ranked as a world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Leeds is served by four universities, and has the fourth largest student population in the country and has the fourth largest urban economy. After London, Leeds is the largest legal and financial centre in the UK, with over 30 national and international banks located in the city. Leeds is also the UKs third largest manufacturing centre with around 1,800 firms and 39,000 employees, the largest sub-sectors are engineering, printing and publishing, food and drink, chemicals and medical technology. Outside of London, Leeds has the third busiest railway station, Public transport, rail and road communications networks in the region are focused on Leeds and there are a number of twinning arrangements with towns and cities in other countries. The name Leeds derives from the old Brythonic word Ladenses meaning people of the fast-flowing river and this name originally referred to the forested area covering most of the Brythonic kingdom of Elmet, which existed during the 5th century into the early 7th century. An inhabitant of Leeds is locally known as a Loiner, a word of uncertain origin, the term Leodensian is also used, from the citys Latin name. Leeds developed as a town in the Middle Ages as part of the local agricultural economy. Before the Industrial Revolution it became a centre for the manufacture of woollen cloth. Leeds handled one sixth of Englands export trade in 1770, growth, initially in textiles, was accelerated by the building of the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1699 and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816
3.
Bradford
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Bradford /ˈbrædfərd/ is in the Metropolitan Borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, in the foothills of the Pennines 8.6 miles west of Leeds, and 16 miles northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897. Following local government reform in 1974, city status was bestowed upon the metropolitan borough. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Bradford rose to prominence during the 19th century as a centre of textile manufacture. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, the textile sector in Bradford fell into decline from the mid-20th century. However, Bradford has faced challenges to the rest of the post-industrial area of Northern England, including deindustrialisation, social unrest. It was recorded as Bradeford in 1086, after an uprising in 1070, during William the Conquerors Harrying of the North, the manor of Bradford was laid waste and is described as such in the Domesday Book of 1086. It then became part of the Honour of Pontefract given to Ilbert de Lacy for service to the Conqueror, there is evidence of a castle in the time of the Lacys. The manor then passed to the Earl of Lincoln, John of Gaunt, The Crown and, ultimately, by the middle ages Bradford, had become a small town centred on Kirkgate, Westgate and Ivegate. In 1316 there is mention of a mill, a soke mill where all the manor corn was milled. During the Wars of the Roses the inhabitants sided with House of Lancaster, Edward IV granted the right to hold two annual fairs and from this time the town began to prosper. In the reign of Henry VIII Bradford exceeded Leeds as a manufacturing centre, Bradford grew slowly over the next two-hundred years as the woollen trade gained in prominence. During the Civil War the town was garrisoned for the Parliamentarians, Sir Thomas Fairfax took the command of the garrison and marched to meet the Duke of Newcastle but was defeated. The Parliamentarians retreated to Bradford and the Royalists set up headquarters at Bolling Hall from where the town was besieged leading to its surrender, the Civil War caused a decline in industry but after the accession of William and Mary in 1689 prosperity began to return. The launch of manufacturing in the early 18th century marked the start of the development while new canal. In 1801, Bradford was a market town of 6,393 people. Bradford was thus not much bigger than nearby Keighley and was smaller than Halifax. This small town acted as a hub for three nearby townships – Manningham, Bowling and Great and Little Horton, which were separated from the town by countryside
4.
Factory
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Factories arose with the introduction of machinery during the Industrial Revolution when the capital and space requirements became too great for cottage industry or workshops. Early factories that contained small amounts of machinery, such as one or two spinning mules, and fewer than a dozen workers have been called glorified workshops, most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production. Large factories tend to be located with access to multiple modes of transportation, with some having rail, highway, factories may either make discrete products or some type of material continuously produced such as chemicals, pulp and paper, or refined oil products. Oil refineries have most of their equipment outdoors, discrete products may be final consumer goods, or parts and sub-assemblies which are made into final products elsewhere. Factories may be supplied parts from elsewhere or make them from raw materials, continuous production industries typically use heat or electricity to transform streams of raw materials into finished products. The term mill originally referred to the milling of grain, which usually used natural resources such as water or wind power until those were displaced by steam power in the 19th century. Because many processes like spinning and weaving, iron rolling, and paper manufacturing were originally powered by water, according to translations of Demosthenes and Herodotus, Naucratis was a, or the only, factory in the entirety of ancient Egypt. A source of 1983, states the largest factory production in ancient times was of 120 slaves within 4th century BC Athens, although The Cambridge Online Dictionary definition of factory states, a building or set of buildings where large amounts of goods are made using machines elsewhere. The wheel was invented circa 3000 BC, the spoked wheel c.2000 BC, the Iron Age began approximately 1200-1000 BC. However, other sources define machinery as a means of production, according to one text the water-mill was first made in 555 A. D. by Belisarius, although according to another they were known to Pliny the Elder and Vitruvius in the first century B. C. By the time of the 4th century A. D. mills with a capacity to grind 3 tonnes of cereal an hour, the Venice Arsenal provides one of the first examples of a factory in the modern sense of the word. Founded in 1104 in Venice, Republic of Venice, several hundred years before the Industrial Revolution, the Venice Arsenal apparently produced nearly one ship every day and, at its height, employed 16,000 people. One of the earliest factories was John Lombes water-powered silk mill at Derby, by 1746, an integrated brass mill was working at Warmley near Bristol. Raw material went in at one end, was smelted into brass and was turned into pans, pins, wire, housing was provided for workers on site. Josiah Wedgwood in Staffordshire and Matthew Boulton at his Soho Manufactory were other prominent early industrialists, the factory system began widespread use somewhat later when cotton spinning was mechanized. Richard Arkwright is the credited with inventing the prototype of the modern factory. After he patented his water frame in 1769, he established Cromford Mill, in Derbyshire, England, the factory system was a new way of organizing labour made necessary by the development of machines which were too large to house in a workers cottage. Working hours were as long as they had been for the farmer, overall, this practice essentially reduced skilled and unskilled workers to replaceable commodities
5.
Saltaire
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Saltaire is a Victorian model village located in Shipley, part of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, in West Yorkshire, England. Saltaire was built in 1851 by Sir Titus Salt, a leading industrialist in the Yorkshire woollen industry, the name of the village is a combination of the founders surname and the name of the river. Salt moved his business from Bradford to this site near Shipley to arrange his workers and to site his large textile mill by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Salt employed the local architects Francis Lockwood and Richard Mawson. Similar, but considerably smaller, projects had also started around the same time by Edward Akroyd at Copley. The cotton mill village of New Lanark, which is also a World Heritage site, was founded by David Dale in 1786, the village had a school for the children of the workers, almshouses, allotments, a park and a boathouse. With the combination of quality housing, employment, recreation, educational facilities, in October 1872, Saltaire, along with Dean Clough Mill in Halifax, were featured highlights of the Japanese Governments Iwakura Mission tour of modern industrial Britain. Sir Titus died in 1876 and was interred in the adjacent to the Congregational church. When Sir Titus Salts son, Titus Salt Junior, died, Sir James Roberts had worked in wool mills since the age of eleven. He had significant business interests in Russia, and spoke Russian fluently, Roberts came to own Saltaire, but chose to invest his money heavily in Russia, losing some of his fortune in the Russian Revolution. He endowed a chair of Russian at Leeds University and bought the Brontës Haworth Parsonage for the nation and he is mentioned in T. S. Eliots The Waste Land. Roberts is buried at Fairlight, East Sussex and his legacy can still be seen in Saltaire in the park to the north of the river, which he named Roberts Park after his son when he gave it to Bradford Council in 1920. In December 2001, Saltaire was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and this means that the government has a duty to protect the site. The buildings belonging to the village are individually listed, with the highest level of protection given to the Congregational church which is listed grade I. The village has survived complete, but further protection is needed as the village is blighted by traffic through the Aire Valley. A bypass is proposed to relieve traffic pressure, Roberts Park, on the north side of the river, suffered from neglect and vandalism but has been restored by Bradford Council. Victoria Hall is used for meetings and concerts, and houses a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ, the village is served by Saltaire railway station. The Saltaire Festival, which first took place in 2003 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Saltaire, is every year over eleven days in September. Saltaire Arts Trail is an arts festival that takes place each May
6.
Wakefield
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Wakefield is a city in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Calder and the eastern edge of the Pennines, which had a population of 77,512 at the 2011 Census. Wakefield was dubbed the Merrie City in the Middle Ages and in 1538 John Leland described it as, so that all vitaile is very good and chepe there. A right honest man shall fare well for 2d, there be plenti of se coal in the quarters about Wakefield. The Battle of Wakefield took place in the Wars of the Roses, Wakefield became an important market town and centre for wool, exploiting its position on the navigable River Calder to become an inland port. In the 18th century, Wakefield traded in corn, coal mining and textiles, in the Domesday Book of 1086, it was written Wachefeld and also as Wachefelt. Flint and stone tools and later bronze and iron implements have been found at Lee Moor and this part of Yorkshire was home to the Brigantes until the Roman occupation in AD43. Wakefield was probably settled by the Angles in the 5th or 6th century and they divided the area into wapentakes and Wakefield was part of the Wapentake of Agbrigg. The settlement grew near a place on the River Calder around three roads, Westgate, Northgate and Kirkgate. The gate suffix derives from Old Norse gata meaning road and kirk, before 1066 the manor of Wakefield belonged to Edward the Confessor and it passed to William the Conqueror after the Battle of Hastings. After the Conquest Wakefield was a victim of the Harrying of the North in 1069 when William the Conqueror took revenge on the population for resistance to Norman rule. The settlement was recorded as Wachfeld in the Domesday Book of 1086, the manor was granted by the crown to William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey whose descendants, the Earls Warenne, inherited it after his death in 1088. The construction of Sandal Castle began early in the 12th century, a second castle was built at Lawe Hill on the north side of the Calder but was abandoned. Wakefield and its environs formed the caput of an extensive baronial holding by the Warennes that extended to Cheshire and Lancashire, the Warennes, and their feudal sublords, held the area until the 14th century, when it passed to their heirs. Norman tenants holding land in the region included the Lyvet family at Lupset, the Domesday Book recorded two churches, one in Wakefield and one in Sandal Magna. The Saxon church in Wakefield was rebuilt in about 1100 in stone in the Norman style and was enlarged until 1315 when the central tower collapsed. By 1420 the church was rebuilt and was extended between 1458 and 1475. In 1203 William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey received a grant for a market in the town. In 1204 King John granted the rights for a fair at the feast of All Saints,1 November, the market was close to the Bull Ring and the church
7.
Alpaca
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An alpaca is a domesticated species of South American camelid. It resembles a small llama in appearance, there are two breeds of alpaca, the Suri alpaca and the Huacaya alpaca. Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike llamas, they were not bred to be beasts of burden, Alpaca fiber is used for making knitted and woven items, similar to wool. These items include blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, a variety of textiles and ponchos in South America. The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru,12 as classified in Australia and 16 as classified in the United States, in trade, distinctions are made between alpacas and the several styles of mohair and luster. An adult alpaca generally is between 81–99 centimetres in height at the shoulders, alpacas have been domesticated for thousands of years. The Moche people of northern Peru often used images in their art. There are no known wild alpacas, and its closest living relative, the alpaca is larger than the vicuña, but smaller than the other camelid species. Along with camels and llamas, alpacas are classified as camelids, alpacas are too small to be used as pack animals. Instead, they are bred exclusively for their fiber and meat, Alpaca meat was once considered a delicacy by Andean inhabitants. Because of the high price commanded by alpaca on the growing North American alpaca market, in 2014, a company was formed claiming to be the first to export US-derived alpaca products to China. Alpacas and llamas can successfully cross-breed, the resulting offspring are called huarizo, which are valued for their unique fleece and gentle dispositions. Alpacas are social animals that live in family groups consisting of a territorial alpha male, females. Alpacas warn the herd about intruders by making sharp, noisy inhalations that sound like a high-pitched bray, the herd may attack smaller predators with their front feet, and can spit and kick. Their aggression towards members of the family is exploited when alpacas are used as guard llamas for guarding sheep. Not all alpacas spit, but all are capable of doing so, spit is somewhat euphemistic, occasionally the projectile contains only air and a little saliva, although alpacas commonly bring up acidic stomach contents and project it onto their chosen targets. Spitting is mostly reserved for other alpacas, but an alpaca will occasionally spit at a human, for alpacas, spitting results in what is called sour mouth. Sour mouth is characterized by a lower lip and a gaping mouth
8.
Liverpool
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Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in North West England.24 million people in 2011. Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the south west of the county of Lancashire and it became a borough from 1207 and a city from 1880. In 1889 it became a county borough independent of Lancashire, Liverpool sits on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and its growth as a major port is paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, raw materials such as coal and cotton, the city was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic and others such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, tourism forms a significant part of the citys economy. Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby, the world-famous Grand National horse race takes place annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city. The city is home to the oldest Black African community in the country. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and colloquially as Scousers, a reference to scouse, the word Scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Pool is a place name element in England from the Brythonic word for a pond, inlet, or pit, cognate with the modern Welsh. The derivation of the first element remains uncertain, with the Welsh word Llif as the most plausible relative and this etymology is supported by its similarity to that of the archaic Welsh name for Liverpool Llynlleifiad. Other origins of the name have suggested, including elverpool. The name appeared in 1190 as Liuerpul, and it may be that the place appearing as Leyrpole, in a record of 1418. King Johns letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, the original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape, Bank Street, Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street, Moor Street, in the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, in 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. Since Roman times, the city of Chester on the River Dee had been the regions principal port on the Irish Sea
9.
Charles Dickens
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Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the worlds best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era and his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity, born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors prison. Dickenss literary success began with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers, within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered the publication of narrative fiction. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audiences reaction, and he modified his plot. For example, when his wifes chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities and his plots were carefully constructed, and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the poor chipped in hapennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up. Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age and his 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also adapted, and, like many of his novels. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London, Dickens has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for his realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of depth, loose writing. The term Dickensian is used to something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings. Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, at 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport in Portsea Island and his father was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam, rigger to His Majestys Navy, gentleman, Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickenss eponymous Dombey and Son. In January 1815 John Dickens was called back to London, when Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness, and thence to Chatham, Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he himself a very small. Charles spent time outdoors but also read voraciously, including the novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding, as well as Robinson Crusoe
10.
River Aire
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The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England,148 miles in length. In the Handbook for Leeds and Airedale, it notes that the distance from Malham to Howden is 58 miles direct, part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The Aire starts its journey at Malham Tarn, after Cononley, the river enters West Yorkshire where it passes through the former industrial areas of Keighley, Bingley, Saltaire and Shipley. It then passes through Leeds and on to the villages of Swillington, at Castleford is the confluence of the Aire and Calder, just downstream of the confluence was the ford where the ancient British road, used by the Romans, crossed on its way north to York. The river re-enters North Yorkshire near Knottingley and in its lower reaches forms part of the boundary between North Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, the River Aire empties into the River Ouse at Airmyn, myn being an old English word for river mouth. The name possibly derived from Common Brittonic *Isara, meaning strong river, still others have claimed that it is actually the name of the battle and not the body of water itself. Between Malham Tarn and Airmyn, the river drops 400 metres, tests have been conducted to authenticate the actual source of the Aire. The tarn at Malham has been dammed and then allowed to flood, observers have noted that whilst water surged at Aire Head, it also surged at the bottom of Malham Cove. There was a significant difference of 30 minutes between the two surges with Malham Cove being slower to react to the floodwater, the section between Malham Tarn and the confluence of the becks at Aire Head is known as Malhamdale. Thereafter the valley is known as Airedale and encompasses Bradford, and by the time it reaches Leeds, the river is darcy and ðarcy in 963, in the same source. It is Eyr’ in 1135 in The Coucher Book of Selby, eir is given in 1175-7 in one of the Dodsworth Manuscripts in Farrers Early Yorkshire Charters. Air from c.1160 to 1577, Air’ in the thirteenth century, the Aire was forded by a paved way by the Romans at Castleford. The Roman Road connected Doncaster with York and went north through the town near to the church, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1699 to make the river downstream of Leeds navigable with a further act to extend the navigable part of the river upstream to Bingley. This second act formed the basis of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, between the middle part of the nineteenth century to the latter part of the twentieth, the River Aire was devoid of fish life downstream of Shipley due to its pollution. Efforts have been made to return the river to a good wildlife status and fish, there are three power stations alongside the River Aire east of Castleford, Ferrybridge C, Eggborough and Drax. Drax takes its water from the Ouse, but both Ferrybridge and Eggborough draw their water from the Aire. Both of these plants stopped generating in 2016, with Eggborough being a stand-by for capacity problems until March 2017, due to the Aire flowing through the former industrial landscape of West Yorkshire, it had a reputation as being heavily polluted. In 2007, Yorkshire Water carried out improvements to Esholt Sewage Works at a cost of £110 million under the EUs Fresh Water Fish Directive
11.
Leeds and Liverpool Canal
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The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of 127 miles, it crosses the Pennines and it has several small branches, and in the early 21st century a new link was constructed into the Liverpool docks system. In the mid-18th century the towns of Yorkshire including Leeds, Wakefield. While the Aire and Calder Navigation improved links to the east for Leeds, Bradford merchants wanted to increase the supply of limestone to make lime for mortar and agriculture using coal from Bradfords collieries and to transport textiles to the Port of Liverpool. On the west coast, traders in the port of Liverpool wanted a cheap supply of coal for their shipping and manufacturing businesses. Inspired by the effectiveness of the wholly artificial navigation, the Bridgewater Canal opened in 1759–60, a canal across the Pennines linking Liverpool and Hull would have obvious trade benefits. A public meeting place at the Sun Inn in Bradford on 2 July 1766 to promote the building of such a canal. John Longbotham was engaged to survey a route, two groups were set up to promote the scheme, one in Liverpool and one in Bradford. A counter-proposal was produced by John Eyes and Richard Melling, improved by P. P, Burdett, which was rejected by the Bradford committee as too expensive, mainly because of the valley crossing at Burnley. In 1768 Brindley gave an estimate of a distance just less than 109 miles built at a cost of £259,777. A commencement ceremony was held at Halsall, north of Liverpool on 5 November 1770, the first section of the canal opened from Bingley to Skipton in 1773. Also completed was the branch to Bradford, on the western side, the section from Liverpool to Newburgh was dug. By the following year the Yorkshire end had been extended to Gargrave, on the western side it reached Wigan by 1781, replacing the earlier and unsatisfactory Douglas Navigation. By now, the funds and further borrowing had all been spent. The war in the American colonies and its made it impossible to continue for more than a decade. By this time planning for the competing Rochdale Canal was under way and it was likely to offer a direct journey to Liverpool via Manchester. The same year John Rennie surveyed a branch of the Rochdale between Todmorden and Burnley, in 1794 an agreement was reached with the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal company to create a link near Red Moss near Horwich. With this in mind in the year, the route was changed again with a further Act
12.
Midland Railway
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The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. It had a network of lines managed from its headquarters in Derby. It became the third-largest railway undertaking in the British Isles, the Midland Railway Consolidation Act was passed in 1844 authorising the merger of the Midland Counties Railway, the North Midland Railway, and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway. These met at the Tri-Junct station at Derby, where the MR established its locomotive and later its carriage, leading it were George Hudson from the North Midland, dynamic but unscrupulous, and John Ellis from the Midland Counties, a careful businessman of impeccable integrity. James Allport from the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway found a place elsewhere in Hudsons empire with the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, though he later returned. Almost immediately it took over the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway and the Erewash Valley Line in 1845, passengers from Sheffield continued to use Rotherham Masborough until a direct route was completed in 1870. Meanwhile, it extended its influence in the Leicestershire coalfields, by buying the Leicester and Swannington Railway in 1846, after the merger, London trains were carried on the shorter Midland Counties route. The former Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was left with the traffic to Birmingham and Bristol, the line south was the Birmingham and Bristol Railway, which reached Curzon Street via Camp Hill. These two lines had been formed by the merger of the standard gauge Birmingham and Gloucester Railway and they met at Gloucester via a short loop of the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway. In the event all that was necessary was for the later LNWR to share Birmingham New Street with the Midland when it was opened in 1854, the MR controlled all the traffic to the North East and Scotland from London. The LNWR was progressing slowly through the Lake District, and there was pressure for a line from London to York. Permission had been gained for the Northern and Eastern Railway to run through Peterborough and Lincoln, two obvious extensions of the Midland Counties line were from Nottingham to Lincoln and from Leicester to Peterborough. They were approved while the bill for the line was still before Parliament, forming the present day Lincoln Branch. The Leeds and Bradford Railway had been approved in 1844, by 1850 it was losing money but a number of railways offered to buy it. In spite of the objections of Hudson, for the MR and others, the London and York Railway led by Edmund Denison persisted, after Hudsons departure, the MR was in financial difficulties. Opposition to the Great Northern bill had cost a fortune, a deal of maintenance was overdue. Added to this, the Great Northern was taking much of the traffic from the North East, in 1851 the Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway completed its line from Grantham as far as Colwick, from where a branch led to the MR Nottingham station. The Great Northern Railway by then passed through Grantham and both railway companies paid court to the fledgling line, meanwhile, Nottingham had woken up to its branch line status and was keen to expand
"Salt, Titus". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
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