Today, the canals of Wales are ideal leisure spots, but it wasn’t always that way. The canals once provided crucial transport links for industry at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Join us this month as we discover the secrets of the canals of Wales.

 When steam trains thundered into Wales in the early 19^th century they were hailed as an answer to all the transport conundrums of the Industrial Revolution. They were a fast, convenient and relatively cheap way of transporting goods from where they were produced to where they were sold.

However, long before the steam locomotive was invented, a much quieter and more sedate method of transport had already started turning the unstoppable wheels of the revolution…..the humble canal. The history of canals dates back many thousands of years. In Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq and Syria) enormous irrigation canals were built as far back as 4,000 BC, and the Grand Canal of China is not only the longest canal in the world but its origins go back to at least 480 BC.

In Britain, canals were introduced in the 18^th century. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the country needed a quick and reliable way of transporting raw materials and finished goods across the country. Until then, a horse pulling a cart along muddy tracks and long roads was the only way of transport, and the industrialists and owners of factories, mines and quarries needed more.

Britain was the first country in the world to have its own nationwide canal network and the origins of this magnificent feat of engineering is said to be the work of the 3^rd Duke of Bridgewater. He needed a way to get the coal from his Lancashire mines to the coal hungry mills that were popping up all over Manchester.

The result was the Bridgewater Canal, which was completed in 1761 and connected Manchester with the towns of Leigh and Runcorn. Engineer James Brindley designed and constructed the canal for the Duke, and although it was at a huge cost (roughly £23 million in today’s money), the Bridgewater Canal was a huge success. Within a year of opening, the cost of coal in Manchester had more than halved because it was so much cheaper to transport it. This helped fuel the fire of the Industrial Revolution as it kept the busy cotton mills of the city topped up with as much fuel as they needed.

Following the completion of the Bridgewater Canal was an intense few years of canal building in Britain, dubbed as Canal Mania, which lasted for about 20 years between 1790 and 1810. And it wasn’t just the canals themselves that were ingeniously built. Engineers and builders had to come up with clever solutions to find ways around various obstacles such as steep land, rivers and gorges. This is one reason that canals are packed with clever features like locks, aqueducts, bridges and tunnels.

Of course, one of the most famous aqueducts in the country is Thomas Telford’s Pontcysyllte Aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee. It is the longest, and highest, aqueduct in the world. It is over 200 years old but is still standing tall as one of North Wales’ finest, and most remarkable structures.

You’ll also find canals in South Wales – the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal, the Swansea canal and the Montgomeryshire canal. But as you’re enjoying the tranquillity of a stroll along the water’s edge, just spare a thought for a time when the canalside was anything but peaceful – these essential transport links would once have been bustling with noisy industrial activity. See you on the towpath!