Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.
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Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead. |
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Born in Nottingham and joined the Trent Navigation in 1887, became engineer in 1896 and later General Manager. Resigned due to ill health in 1928 but retained a seat on the board until his death.
1887 | He joined the company as junior engineer. | |
1896 | He became engineer and oversaw the deeping of Cranfleet Cut and one or two new craft launched. | |
Late December 1914 | He left the company for service in the First World War. | |
October 1919 | He returned from millitary service to face the problem of the end (on 31 August 1920) of the Government war subsidy and no powers to raise tolls. | |
April 1928 | He resigned as engineer due to ill-health and was given a seat on the board and was appointed consulting engineer. |
Engineer.
1835 | He enlarged the sea-lock and basin. | |
July 1846 | He was asked by the company to report on a scheme for converting their canal to a railway. He estimated it would cost £685,000 to build a line from Paddington station to the Regent's Canal Dock, using the line of the canal where ever possible, with a branch to the West India Dock. | |
1850 | He wrote a report recommending improvements to the river. | |
1851 | About this date he surveyed the river made a report to the commiittee on Nene drainage. | |
1852 | He is appointed engineer and began a major dredging and embanking project costing an estimated £124,800. |
Engineer son of a famous father. Son of John Rennie and brother of Sir John Rennie.
March 1825 | He proposes, with his brother, "a ship canal from London to Portsmouth, capable of conveying Line of Battleships and the largest Merchantmen" 86 miles long, 300 feet wide and 24 feet deep. The route was to be via Guildford, Loxwood and the Avon Valley. The cost was estimated at £7 millon. They were later asked to survey alternative lines. | |
1827 | He and his brother were consulted by the Admiralty on a proposed canal to be called the Grand Imperial Ship Canal but they thought the scheme was not financially viable. | |
1827 | Reporting jointly with his brother he said that some of the Ford to Huston section of the canal had only been partially puddled, and part not at all, though it ran through soil 'incapable of holding water'. This lead to salt water damaging farmland. They also estimated it would cost £28,333 for the various works required on the navigation. | |
Late July 1827 | He reported with his brother on the Portsea Canal saying " there was no water in it , nor has it, we understand, been used to any considerable extent on account of the very defective manner in which it has been executed, as it is incapable of holding water." | |
1830 | Jointly reporting with his brother he blamed the shoals in the river on the admission of tidal water through Scots Float sluice into the upper Rother. |
Engineer born at Phantassie, East Lothian. Died in London. Father of Sir John Rennie, employed J Dean, assisted by Richard Coates, assisted by William, Senior Crosley, assisted by Netlam Giles, supervised Charles Wedge and confirmed his survey Ralph Dodd.
Spring 1787 | He proposes that the size of the planned canal should be increased to 27 feet 4 inches wide at the surface, 14 feet wide at the bottom and 4 feet deep. | |
1789 | It was decided to apply for an enabling Act based on his proposals for a canal from Bishop's Stortford, through Saffron Waldon to Brandon Creek, with branches to Cambridge and Burwell Lode. He estimated the cost as £168,257. | |
Late 1789 | The Basingstoke Canal committee asked him to survey the route to Salisbury which was to be built on the same scale as the Basingstoke Canal. He poited out difficulties on the summit which would need to be supplied with water by steam-pumps but considered the rest of the route straightforward. The line was to join the Andover Canal for some way before continuing to Salisbury. The estimated cost was £135,770 for the cheapest alternative which excluded widening the Andover Canal. | |
November 1790 | He reports that the water supply for the proposed canal is adequate, thus allaying doubts raised by Robert Whitworth's survey. | |
1791 | He surveyed a branch from the Rochdale Canal's line at Todmorden through Holme Chapel, Ormerod, Burnley Ridge and Colne to the summit above Barrowford Locks. An alternative junction near Burnley was planned in case the company decided to take their line that way. | |
June 1791 | He is choosen to survey the line with William Crosley senior assisting him. | |
August 1791 | He is told to survey branches into Rochdale and Oldham, and from Todmorden to limeworks at Craven on the proposed line of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. | |
October 1791 | He was asked to resurvey Robert Whitworth's line and extend it southward to Worsley. | |
13 December 1791 | Started a three day survey of the navigation construction and reported a week later. The section from Stowmarket to Needham Market was almost complete but the towpath needed raising. He recommended swing bridges for small roads, timber fixed bridges for larger roads and brick for public road bridges. | |
1792 | He surveyed a line to extend the navigation to Horsham and estimated the cost as £18,133. | |
1792 | Charles Wedge surveyed a line to Heybridge Basin under his direction. | |
1792 | Having been commissioned by the Duke of Argyll and the Earl of Breadabane to make a survey he reported on two passages, one called the Daill and the other the Achnashelloch passage. The canal itself was to be 66 feet wide at the surface, 30 feet at the bottom and 12 feet deep. | |
Early 1792 | He proposes the use of steam engines for keeping the canal supplied with water, three on the Yorkshire side and eight in Lancashire. | |
Early 1792 | He surveyed the route and produced a plan for a 1 mile 3 furlongs ship canal from Hammerside point on the coast to the town. The estimated cost was £3,084 including a sea lock. | |
January 1792 | He did a survey in December and January and recommended a broad canal from Westhoughton, in the coalfield between Bolton and Wigan, running north on a 15½ mile level to Clayton Green. Here it would descend 222 feet in 32 locks to the embankment and aqueduct over the river to Preston to join Whitworth's line. | |
23 April 1792 | He estimated it would cost £12,762 to complete the navigation, including £6,600 for 12 locks at £550 each. | |
4 May 1792 | Having examined the lower end of the navigation he reported that the best junction with the Orwell was the one proposed by William Jessop. He reiterates an earlier concern over timber built locks and recommends reconstruction of these 'when the navigation begins to pay'. | |
July 1792 | He is appointed engineer to reside five months a year at Lancaster and to attend at other times as requested for a salary of £600 a year. | |
December 1792 | He was asked by the committee to superintend the work, to provide iron tools, carts, wheel-barrows, and 'other wheel carriages', coal, meal, stone, sand, clay, timber, iron, lead and huts at 'different stations', and to treat with the landowners for their ground. | |
28 December 1792 | On his advice the trustees applied to parliament for a second Bill to raise a further £15,000. He gave evidence in support of this. | |
1793 | Matthew Hall carried out a survey of the canal under his direction. | |
1793 | He was asked to make a new survey and communicate the results to Robert Whitworth, who was to advise the committee.He selected a route through Devizes with two branches one to Marlborough and the other to Calne and Chippenham. | |
Early 1793 | He estimates a cost of £291,929 for the whole canal from Sowerby Bridge with no junction with the Ashton Canal. This was a narrow canal with a 3,000 yard tunnel and eleveb reservoirs. | |
January 1793 | At a meeting of subscribers in London it was proposed that the canal be built with a depth of 15 feet so he revised his estimate for the canal to £107,512. | |
January 1793 | His plans for the Glasson branch were approved. | |
July 1793 | Richard Coates started work on the construction of the navigation under his direction. | |
14 October 1793 | Having surveyed the line of the canal assisted by William Smith he presnets his report proposing a line from the Kennet & Avon Canal at Limpley Stoke up the Dunkerton valley, with a branch up the Wellow valley. The costwas estimated as £80,000. | |
December 1793 | He told the company clerk that American oak was the 'worst of all oak' and 'would not last six years in the work'. | |
1794 | He, with two assistants, reviewed the line and suggested many changes to William Jessop and John Longbotham's route. | |
April 1794 | He was empowered to buy a steam engine for removing earth. Most of the commitee were in favour of reducing the depth of the canal to 12 feet but he and Captain Huddart favoured the 15 feet depth. | |
Late July 1794 | Having surveyed the whole river down from Maidenhead he reported that improvements to the river were a better course than the various canal bypass schemes that were being proposed. His bill for his work was £474. | |
January 1795 | He changed his mind on the depth of the canal and a decision was made to build it 12 feet deep. It was also decided that the Daill route should be followed and the locks should be 96 by 24 feet. | |
August 1795 | Having employed John Murray to resurvey the line he issued a preliminary report which envisaged the navigation joining the Bude Canal and ejoying a prosperous future. | |
30 November 1795 | He reported on the construction of the canal saying 'throughout the whole of the Work, very little attention indeed has been paid to Mr Jessop's original design, by which not only many thousand Pounds have been thrown away, but the Works rendered much less secure'. | |
December 1795 | Following proplems with the construction of the canal he was asked to advise. He was critical of Thomas Dadford junior's work and estimated that £20,000 was needed to complete the Southnet to Leominster section and £135,937 to finish the rest. | |
December 1795 | He approves the plans to improve the river by dredging where necessary and estimated the cost as £80,803. | |
1796 | He was appointed consulting engineer. | |
1796 | He surveyed the route as a proposed extension to the Kennet & Avon Canal. | |
1796 | He was consulted by Lord Stanhope on the idea of a 'pendenter' that was a type of vertical boat lift. | |
1796 | About this time he directed James Murray in a survey for the 5½ mile canal from Wadebridge along the western side of the river past Polbrock to Dunmere, with a ½ mile branch to near Ruthernbridge. | |
1796 | He was asked to comment on the plans and suggested a canal using pairs of narrow boats 35 feet long and 7 feet 6 inches wide. Although he expected useful traffic from the coast inland he did not forsee much coast to coast use of the navigation and suggested a navigation from Guinea Port near Wadebridge to Bodmin - see the Polbrock Canal. | |
1796 | He was asked his opinion on the works and was critical of the decision to deepen to 7 foot and build a basin at Nutstakes. He proposed that the canal section be 3 feet deep with a 20 feet width at the surface to take 10 to 12 ton boats if locks were used or 5 to 6 tons if inclined planes. Boats had to be kept small so they could use the inclined plans on the Bude Canal should a connection ever be made. | |
January 1796 | He supported James Barnes' proposal for Blisworth Tunnel to be built on a slightly different line to overcome various problems. | |
February 1796 | He gave up his previous half-year's salary because he had not found it necessary to visit the works as often as he expected when he took the job. This 'liberal offer' was repaid with a piece of plate valued at 20 guineas. | |
1797 | He was asked to comment on four proposed lines for the canal. He responded proposing a fifth line further north through Ratho, Winchburgh, Linlithgow, Falkirk, Cumbernauld and Hillhead or Drumpellier. | |
1798 | He thought that the canalwould be used not only by busses and fishing boats but also, because of the war, by vessels returning from the Baltic to the ports of the English Channel. | |
1798 | He reported on the two lines being considered at the time - his northern route and the Baton-moss line that ran by Ratho, Midcalder, Baton-moss and Cleland. He supported the Baton-moss line which was claimed to have inexhaustible supplies of coal. | |
Mid 1798 | He reported that bacause of lack of money he could not fix a completion date. The dimensions of the canal were to vary according to the ground conditions the width varying from 48 to 84 feet at the surface, 25 to 48 feet at the bottom and the depth from 13 to 14 feet. | |
January 1798 | He was called in to inspect the Southampton tunnel which had 200 yards cut. He wrote that 'those parts that are likely to stand are ill formed and seem to have been done with little care or Judgement'. | |
June 1798 | He inspected the whole line and reported that the works 'are generally proceeding in a workmanlike manner'. | |
1799 | The canal committee received complaints about the management of the company affairs which developed into an attack on Rennie. He was later exonerated. | |
After 1799 | He was asked to survey the river to see if it could be flooded as a defence against an invasion by Napoleon. He raised a number of objections to such a scheme but the government went ahead with the works although they were never completed. | |
May 1799 | Having employed James Hollingsworth to measure the work actually done in comparison to the charges made he reported to the company criticising both their engineer Joseph Hill and the contractors. | |
25 May 1799 | Following complaints about shoals appearing after every flood he surveyed the navigation. In his report of 5th June he offers to contribute his time to rectify defects in the navigation. | |
Summer 1799 | He and William Jessop arbitrated on behalf of the company in a dispute with the contractors. | |
15 October 1799 | He reported that on the previous day he had carried out a survey and that the navigation between Dalderby and the Witham was crooked and imperfect. He recommended retaining the navigation on the West side of the Bain and making an independent cut 30 feet wide at the surface, 28 feet wide at the bottom and 3½ feet deep at the estimated cost of £8,291. | |
1800 | He made a survey, plan and report on Saltcoats Harbour and gave his authority to the canal scheme. | |
1800 | He was consulted and confirmed Ralph Dodd's line but advised a tunnel rather than a 2,000 yard cutting unless the ground was found to be very stable. He raised the estime to £57,433. | |
Before April 1800 | He reported on the experimental boat lift that had been on trial on the canal. | |
8 October 1800 | He reported on the canal line that Ralph Dodd had surveyed wirh inclided plans and on one with locks which was to use a different route through Penge Common, Sydenham, Brockley, New Cross and Deptford to Rotherhithe. The former, estimated to cost £46,516 would take boats of 5 to 7 tons while the locked canal, costing £64,100, would take narrowboats. He was not expecting much trade on the canal and pointed out problems with water supply. | |
1801 | While the canal Bill was going through parliament the Grand Surrey Canal Act was passed so the Croydon Canal was shortened to join it at New Cross. His estimate for inclined plane canal set out in the Bill was £50,847. £4,500 of this was for inclined planes at New Cross and Deptford and £6,200 for two steam engines for hauling boats up the planes. | |
1801 | Under the conditions of the authorising Act he was to act as arbitrator should a dispute arise between William Jessop and James Creassy on the dimensions of the canal. | |
1801 | The Deeping Fen Act was passed based on two reports, one of which he prepared with William Jessop. | |
1801 | He together with William Jessop produced a report on the outfall. | |
After 1801 | He approved Robert Whitworth's line and proposed an increase in the size of the canal to take 150-ton vessels, a dock area at the sea entrance and a side lock to the Stour. He estimated the cost at £86,000. | |
3 February 1801 | He wrote to the company 'When is Mr Jessop and myself to look for payment of our Bill for the arbitration business of the Salisbury and Southampton Canal - besides the Arbitration there is a considerable sum due to me for the former Surveys and Reports. | |
May 1801 | He and William Jessop reported on the schemes for crossing the Ribble and recommeded a 640-feet long aqueduct 57 feet high with three 116-feet elliptical arches. | |
9 November 1801 | He produced a report based on his survey recommending the building of catchwater drains and the widening and deepening of the river, construcing two new locks and reconstructing the road bridge at Brigg. He estimated the cost as £53,921 which included £6,063 of navigation improvements. These plans were later modified and re-estimated at £25,413. | |
1802 | He was engineer for the third rail line between Froghall and the Caldon quarries. This was a four mile double line of plateway rising 649 feet through a combination of inclined planes and normal gradient track. | |
1802 | He surveyed the route and estimated the cost as £33,382. | |
1802 | Netlam and Francis Giles he surveyed the route as part of his check of Alexander Sutherland's work. He confirmed Sutherland's main line and Lamberhurst branch and added another to Ashford and Wye. He estimated the cost at £175,653 | |
Early 1802 | He was asked to advise on Kirkstead Lock which was in poor condition and had collapsed in a flood. He recommended removing the lock and rebuilding at a new site. | |
5 October 1802 | He started a three-day survey of the river and later recommended that either the navigable drains should be used to reach Boston below the Grand Sluice, or that the Grand Sluice should be by-passed by a new cut to the south. | |
1803 | He proposed drainage and other works estimated at £12,260. | |
1803 | He put forward a canal route to rival William Jessop's proposal for a railway connection. The canal was to be 100 mile long with 41 locks and a 4,400 yard tunnel between Coulsdon and Merstham. From the Croydon Canal it was to run through Merstham, Crawley, Ifield, Horsham Common, Pulborough, Mundham, Chichester, Emsworth and Havant to Portsmouth. He also suggested branches to the Medway, Ouse, Adur and Arun. He estimates the cost without branches to be £720,649 for a broad canal and £571,621 for a narrow canal. | |
1803 | He recommended the replacing of High Bridge with a bridge giving a clear waterway of 34 feet. The estimate for his proposals that included substantial drainage works was £58,400. | |
July 1803 | He estimated that £9,950 was needed to complete the canal and £2,000 to repair deterioration. | |
1804 | He estimated that £415,100 more was needed for construction. | |
15 March 1804 | The Bill for his planned canal was defeated. | |
15 September 1804 | Following a survey of the navigaion he made a report proposing two new cuts. The first was to avoid the mills and millstreams at Enfield, Tottenham and Lee Bridge. The second was to avoid the course from Old Ford to Bow Bridge. No actiion was taken on this. | |
October 1804 | He reported on the route estimating that a canal for vessels of 25 tons would cost £130,960 or £166,711 if 60-ton vessels were to be used. | |
October 1804 | He is retained as consultant. | |
October 1804 | He described the Scots Float sluice, used for access between the river and the Royal Millitary Canal, as being 'very inconvenient and illadapted to the present vessels which navigate the Rother'. | |
1805 | He recommended James Hollinsworth as resident engineer. | |
1805 | Gave guidance to Robert Frazer in drawing up his plan for the canal. | |
1805 | He and William Jessop surveyed the river from Kew to Boulter's Lock and recommended contracting and deepening the channel or preferably the building of long cuts and 5 pound-locks. | |
March 1805 | He wrote 'In respect to the contractors, I am sorry to say they have greatly disappointed my expectations, founded upon the diligence and accuracy with which I have seen other great Works done by them'. | |
25 November 1805 | Following complaints of water loss from millers at Moulsham, Barnes, Sandford, Little Baddow, Paper and Hoe he did a survey and reccomended improvements costing £4,918. | |
1807 | He proposes the scrapping of Kirkstead and Barlings locks and the construction of a new lock near Washingborough church. | |
February 1807 | He produces a report for the Department of Woods & Forests into the development of transport in the area. He suggests a wet-dock or basin at Nass Point beyond Lydney, perhaps with a canal up to Lydney and a basin there. | |
1809 | He wrote to the company clerk asking for his bill to be paid and was told that there were two plans for the future of the canal but it was difficult to get creditors together.The clerk ends the reply 'It is now running to ruin very fast'. | |
1809 | Following land owner's objections to the long cuts that he and William Jessop had proposed in 1805, he suggests nine pound locks instead. | |
Early 1809 | He estimated the cost of the canal with a tunnel at its summit would be £440,790. | |
1810 | He said 'the Arun is a very bad navigation, and barges navigating it experience great detention, from floods in winter and droughts in summer'. | |
1810 | He surveyed the route and estimated the cost as £410,896. | |
1810 | Was surveyed under his supervision. | |
1810 | W Bond and J Dean surveyed the line of the canal under his direction. | |
1810 | He was consulted on Samuel Jones' plans which he expanded. He estimated the upgraded plan as £155,207 of which £94,178 was for the harbour and wet dock, £54,042 for the barge canal and branch, and £6,987 for the approach road to the basin at Canterbury. | |
Mid 1810 | He surveyed a 38¼ mile line with a 149 feet rise from the extended Peak Forrest Canal at Chappel Milton and a fall of 530 feet to the Cromford Canal. From Chapel Milton through a 2¾ mile tunnel to Edale, then down the Hope and Derwent valleys. Crossing the Derwent near baslow it ran through a one-mile tunnel to the Wye valley near Bakewell, so avoiding Chatsworth, and on to Great Rowsley before following the Derwent to Matlock.Another tunnel (1½ miles long) took the line to the Derwent Aqueduct on the Cromford Canal. | |
April 1810 | As company engineer he starts the construction of the canal near Holcombe Rogus. | |
Autumn 1810 | He surveyed the route for the canal which he considered favourable. | |
8 October 1810 | He reported on his resurvey of the line which was to be 13½ miles and terminate at Old Market Street, Bristol. The cost was estimated at £343,030 including a branch to the Bristol floating harbour. | |
1811 | He was asked to report on the canal and the proposed line to Hock Crib. His estimate to complete the canal to this point was £128,656, higher than the estimates of John Hodgkinson and William Jessop the previous year. He also criticised the present standard of work on the canal. | |
1811 | He supervised a new survey for the canal carried out by Netlam and Francis Giles. | |
May 1811 | He was called in to report on the Tardebigge lift which he found to work but needed to be carefully attended and he thought would not be robust enough for gereral use on the canal. | |
Summer 1811 | He found that St Nicolas Bay bottom was quicksand and accepted the suggestion that a smaller harbour tham planned should be built. | |
1812 | He produced an estimate of £180,807 for a 15 mile canal between Bedford at the head of navigation on the Great Ouse and Fenny Stratford on the Grand Junction Canal. | |
1812 | After it was decided only to complete the canal between Holcomb and Tiverton he encountered many unforseen difficulties and expenses. | |
1812 | He was asked to look at the advantage of a railway or canal from Stockton by Darlington and Winston. He reported in favour of a canal from Stockton to Winston, which he estimated at £179,578, and branches to Yarm, Croft Bridgenear Darlington, and Piercebridge estimated at £26,040. | |
1812 | In support of the Bill he told the Lord's Committee that 'it is without exception the finest piece of country to cut a canal through I ever saw'. | |
1813 | He supervised a survey, carried out by Netlam Giles, for the canalisation of the river from Newenden bridge through Robertsbridge to near Mayfield. | |
1814 | He prepared a plan for the extension of Grangemouth Docks which was estimated to cost £125,000. | |
1814 | He reported to the Bedford Level Corporation on a Nene outfall cut which included the recommendation for a 3½: mile staight cutby-passing Wisbech on the north side. The passage to Wisbech was to be controlled by flood gates and a lock. | |
December 1814 | He explained to the committee his plan for taking branches from his 'level line' into the counties of Ayr, Lanark, Haddington, Berwick and Roxburgh. | |
1815 | The Admiralty having been approached for approval of the scheme by the canal promoters asked him for his advice and he recommended acceptance. | |
1815 | He and Thomas Pear both reported on the bad condition of Deeping Fen. | |
1816 | He reported that if through trade increased the summit would be short of water in dry seasons. He suggested that priorty be given to the more profitable merchandise traffic rather than have the water used by cargoes such as limestone which paid lower tolls. He also recommended the enforcement of the 20 ton rule under the 1770 Act which allowed for a minumum toll at the twenty ton rate for boats carrying less or empty boats. | |
1816 | He made an estimate of £141,460 for a canal from Stockton to Darlington with a railway on to Winston. This was less than the cost of a canal for the whole route. | |
1816 | He notes that in addition to the drains around Boston four other drains are navigable, these are Timberland Dyke, Carlton Dyke, Nocton Delph and Branston Delph. | |
Early 1816 | He employed Francis and Netlam Giles to survey the line on behalf of the canal promoters and reported to them proposing a barge canal from the tidal Arun at Ford to Salterns in Chchester Harbour, with a branch from Hunston to the city of Chichester. Existing dredged bargeways across Chichester Harbour would allow barges to sail or be towed to the Portsea island canal and a new 1½ mile cut with 2 locks would give access to Portsmouth Harbour. His estimate was £118,990 and later increased to £125,452. | |
1817 | He was asked by the Don company to advise on river improvements following the destruction of Doncaster mills in a fire. | |
1817 | He was appointed to direct work on behalf of the Eua Brink Commisionners jointly with Telford on behalf of the Lynn Corporation. | |
1818 | He was asked to review the proposals made by Robert Whiworth and Robert Stevenson and expressed doubts about the financial benefits of any canal to Forfar. He suggested the line might be extended west along the valley. | |
1818 | He and Thomas Pear both reported on the bad condition of Deeping Fen. | |
1818 | He was aked by Yaremouth corporation to examine William Cubits plans to improve the river. His view was that the plan would reduce the scour of Breydon Water but would leas to the silting of Yarmouth Harbour. | |
October 1818 | He was to survey a line to the River Ouse. | |
30 December 1818 | He was surveying the Dutch River for the Aire & Calder and found the bottom uneven, full of shallows and liable to silt and the banks in a poor state. He also said the river was 'much contracted at the three bridges, and consequently the current is so strong that it requires the upmost attention to pass the barges through them in safety - I was told by an experienced bargeman that vessels drawing 5½ feet water are frequently in ordinary neaps two tides in getting up to Newbridge'. | |
1819 | Southwark Bridge, for which he was engineer, was opened. | |
6 January 1819 | He reports proposing a line from the Knottingley cut to Goole with a cut back into the River Aire at Bank Dole to give access to the Selby Canal, and a branch to the Dutch River at Newbridge. He estimated the cost as £137,700. | |
August 1819 | He was asked for an estimate for a canal from Sprotbrough to Wentmouth with a branch to Womersley. | |
1820 | He surveyed the Harecastle Tunnel and recommended it should be closed for a year for repair and that traffic should be diverted to a tramroad over the top, a by-pass along the Bath Pool valley, or a new tunnel. | |
Late 1820 | He produced an estimate of £32,296 for a cut from Doncaster to Stainforth. | |
6 January 1820 | He reported on the deterioration of Sothwold Harbour which he attributed to the embanking of the saltings but could not identify a practicable remedy. | |
1821 | He was employed to survey for a reservoir in the Silkstone valley. It was never built. | |
July 1821 | He proposes that there should be "an intermediate basin & locks" at Goole where the canal was to join the Ouse. He also ageed with the company board that the canal depth should be 7 feet rather than 6. | |
Before 1823 | He and Thomas Pear both reported on the drainage of Deeping Fen and recommend the use of steam power. |
Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.