Robin Longbottom explores how the canal – nearly three quarters of a century ahead of the railway – brought massive change to the area

ON Tuesday, July 31, 1770, an advert appeared in the Leeds Mercury newspaper: "Canal from Leeds to Liverpool, All Masons, Brick-Makers and Delvers who are disposed to work upon this Canal betwixt Skipton and Leeds are desired to deliver their Proposals…at Mr John Slack's the Sign of the White Bear near Kildwick in Craven".

Known locally as the 'Cut', because it literally cut through the countryside, by 1777 the section to Skipton was connected to the Aire and Calder Navigation in Leeds – and so linked to the port of Hull. However, it would not be until 1816 that the whole project was completed to Liverpool. Before the canal opened to Skipton most goods arrived in South Craven by packhorse, but a packhorse could carry little more than the weight of two small men and trains of them were required to transport goods in bulk. Now one horse could pull a barge holding 20 tons.

One of the investors in the canal was Sackville Tufton, 8th Earl of Thanet. His land holdings in Skipton included Haw Park limestone quarry (Skipton Rock). Lime was such an important commodity that Thanet built a spur from the canal, which ran round the back of Skipton Castle and was connected to his quarry by a horse-drawn tramway. Whilst the canal brought great benefits to the Earl of Thanet, it was the incoming goods that had the greatest impact on the region – changing the towns, villages and landscape forever.

The speed of local industrialisation during the late 18th century and early 19th century was largely due to the arrival of the canal. Lime kilns along its length provided the mortar and plaster to build mills and houses and the link to Hull brought timber from the Baltic for beams, trusses and floorboards. Iron came from the forges at Kirkstall, near Leeds, and the foundries at Low Moor and Bowling in Bradford to the nail makers of Silsden and the machine makers in Keighley. Coal arrived by the ton from collieries on the edge of Bradford to supplement that produced from small local pits. Wool for worsted spinning came along the waterways from Lincolnshire and once woven into cloth was exported through Hull.

The canal also affected the landscape. Prior to its arrival cereals, principally oats, were grown locally. However, the canal brought wheat, barley and oats from the Vale of York and beyond and slowly local arable land gave way to more pasture and meadow.

Luxury goods such as wine from Portugal came in huge casks called pipes that held 130 gallons. Olive oil, for lighting and for industrial use, also came in pipes from Gallipoli in Turkey and Leghorn (Lugarno) in Italy. Groceries such as oranges, lemons, currants and raisins arrived in light casks called hogsheads. Other goods for the domestic market, such as tableware, arrived packed in baskets and hampers.

Warehouses were built at Riddlesden, Silsden, Kildwick and Skipton and freight companies employed local agents to act on their behalf. Although canal transport was slow, express services for both goods and passengers were available in the form of 'fly boats' – light barges that travelled by both day and night and for which other traffic had to give way, particularly at locks.

When the link was completed to Liverpool it opened the area more directly with trade from the Atlantic, Wales, Ireland and western Scotland. Many goods no longer came via Hull and new goods, such as Welsh and Cumberland slate, arrived for the first time and introduced a new building material to the area.

Although the railways are often considered to have brought about the greatest period of change, it was perhaps the canals that had had the most impact almost three quarters of a century earlier.