In Operation
At first, the canal was praised by the citizenry, who saw shipments of building materials, coal, and agricultural tools come in to the area. However, the canal owners' tolls soon became excessive, and led to mass discontent. When the first railways arrived in the 1840s, a number of shippers quickly abandoned the canals. Throughout the 19th century the canal was in continuous decline as a transport route, and it was finally abandoned altogether in 1936. The following year the Great Northern Railway Company which owned it shut down the main stretch of the canal, with a portion of the Nottingham Canal (between Trent and Lenton) being transferred to the Trent Navigation Company, to officially become part of the River Trent Navigation.
Although abandoned, the canal still caused some problems. There were complaints that in times of heavy rainfall, the canal caused surrounding areas in the city to flood, and so Nottingham City Council bought the section running through the city. From 1955, a programme of filling in the canal began, and most of the route has subsequently been built over. The final section from Derby Road to Lenton Chain was, however, re-used as a new course for the River Leen, and so is still in water.
Read more about this topic: Nottingham Canal
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