Milestones

• On the move

Many canals have (or had) milestones along the way. I guess they would mark progress for the bargees making their way to a destination with their load of coal, iron, wheat or whatever.  In the case of the Trent and Mersey, it may even have been Wedgwood pottery.  Josiah Wedgwood (who, incidentally, was  Charles Darwin’s grandfather) invested in canals because he realised he could move his raw material and valuable but fragile products in bulk and safely on a canal.  Previously he relied on pack horses going overland, resulting in a lot of breakage and very much smaller loads.

Anyway, this is a picture of a typical milestone on the Leeds and Liverpool canal:

A milestone on the canal

This is one side of the milestone:

Liverpool distance

And this is the other:

Leeds distance

As you can see, we are roughly half way between Liverpool and Leeds.  But here’s the thing.  Whoever worked out the distance was obviously somewhat pedantic as they measured it to an accuracy of 1/4 mile. Having put it on the first milestone, they then had to have it on EVERY milestone as they are all 1 mile apart! I bet the mason who made the stones had a few choice words to say about that. 😉

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