The 200th anniversary of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, England's longest man-made waterway, is being celebrated with a nine-day voyage recreating the inaugural 1816 boat passage. The journey began on Saturday in Leeds aboard the former working boat Kennet, with members of the Canal and River Trust and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Society participating.
The 127-mile route will require navigating 91 locks, climbing nearly 152 metres over the Pennine hills, and passing through the one-mile Foulridge Tunnel. Brass bands and crowds have greeted the boat along the way, mirroring the celebrations of the original voyage.
Trip organiser Harold Bond said: 'Back in 1816, press reports state that the ceremonial first boat was greeted by pealing church bells, brass bands and cheering crowds, and canal barges were bedecked in flags and streamers. We are hoping to recreate that amazing atmosphere of celebration again.'
Chantelle Seaborn, local waterway manager with the Canal and River Trust, said: 'The opening of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal played a key role in Britain's Industrial Revolution and encouraged the development of the textile industries in Lancashire and West Yorkshire.'
The canal, which runs from Liverpool through East Lancashire and the Pennine countryside to Leeds, was primarily used for coal transport, with the last coal cargo carried in 1972. The Ribble Link, opened in 2002, connects it to the Lancaster Canal, and a £22m link now extends it to Liverpool's Albert Dock.
