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Issue Date:- 01 April 2009

NEW CANAL SET TO BRING PROSPERITY TO LIVERPOOL

ON Wednesday, 25 March 2009, a new feature was officially unveiled in Liverpool as a brand new stretch of canal was officially unveiled in Liverpool. Two and a half centuries after the Duke of Bridgewater kick-started the 'canal mania' that would fuel the world's first industrial revolution. Re-establishing an historic connection between the city's currently underused South Docks and the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, the £22million project opens up the city's waterfront to the previously untapped leisure and tourism industry already thriving on Britain's 2,200-mile UK canal system; echoing a time past when waterways brought economic prosperity to Liverpool.

Despite the cold over cast day, people came from all over the UK to see the opening of the link. This will now allow the 30,000 boats on Britain's inland waterways to be able to navigate the current 127 mile Leeds & Liverpool Canal straight into the heart of Liverpool, into the stunning surroundings of the Albert Dock.

Overshadowing the site is another new development that is focused on making Liverpool's past part of it's future, the Liverpool Life Museum.

Cutting a course through the World Heritage Site in front of the famous Three Graces; the Liver, Cunard and Port of Liverpool buildings; the new 1½-mile Canal Link is predicted to generate 200,000 extra visitors annually to Liverpool's Pier Head and docks with an additional tourism spend of £1.9million.

Robin Evans, chief executive of British Waterways, commented that:- "The construction of the Liverpool Canal Link is a further boost for the renaissance of the nation's inland waterways. Given that Britain's canal system was pretty much viewed as a lost cause, and was actively being filled in and maligned, during the 20th century, it's remarkable the way that the waterways have been reinvented for the 21st century and that we're still building canals today. Many decades after most canals finished serving their original purpose to move goods and raw materials, the waterways are still creating jobs and facilitating trade. The Liverpool Canal Link follows the restoration and building of an additional 220 miles of canals around the country ten years ago, and is one of a new tranche of projects that are seeing waterways restored in places like London, Manchester, Falkirk and Droitwich."

Councillor Warren Bradley, leader, Liverpool City Council, said:- "The opening of the canal link is a significant day in the recent history of Liverpool. We want the new-look Pier Head to be a must-see destination for visitors to the city and the new canal will add life and vibrancy to our waterfront. Bringing life back to the waterfront has been one of our main priorities in regenerating the city and the new canal link has been a vital element in that. For the first time in over a century, narrowboats will sail once again into the heart of this famous city and they will get a great reception. This project has been assisted with the co-ordination by Liverpool Vision and supported by a number of agencies, showing what can be achieved when we work together."

The previous connection from the South Docks to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal was abandoned in the early 20th century when the Three Graces were built over a dock following the decline in the carriage of waterways freight. Now, boaters will once again be able to book a trip on the new canal link with the first regular passages scheduled for 20 April 2009.

Unlike today's leisure and tourism-led benefits of the nation's waterways, the previous canal connection with Liverpool's docks facilitated a range of merchandise to be transported, including grain taken by horse drawn barges to East Lancashire's flour mills and wool to Yorkshire. Coal transported to Merseyside from Wigan was pivotal in the rapid expansion of
Liverpool's industry in the late 18th century, whilst textile machinery from Lancashire and Yorkshire started its journey on
the canal before export overseas.

The £22 million cost of the Liverpool Canal Link has included funding from British Waterways, European Regional Development Fund, North West Development Agency, Homes and Communities Agency and Peel Holdings. The Liverpool Canal Link project will support the continuing regeneration aims of partner organisations for the Liverpool Waterfront and the wider Merseyside area.

We will be adding a video to our Southport.TV website of the opening very soon.

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