Bridge 147a

Numerically this is the last bridge on the Shropshire Union canal. Bridge 147a by the National Waterway Museum in Ellesmere Port. The stretch of canal leading up to the end isn't the most picturesque as it is surrounded by light industry and there is invariably a lot of litter around. This bridge is a relatively new one that leads to the museum and Stanlow oil refinery. 

The earliest section of the Shropshire Union canal system was the Chester canal which was completed in 1775 and linked Chester to Nantwich.  Business on the Chester canal was poor and it was saved by a link with the Ellesmere Canal company which had been set up in the 1790s to link Ellesmere in Shropshire and the  quarries and industries of North Wales with the Mersey at Netherpool. They built the section of the canal that links Chester to the Mersey and it lead to a turnaround in the fortunes of the canal.

Until I read this it never occurred to me that there was such a direct link between the naming of Ellesmere in Shropshire and Ellesmere Port. I have now discovered that during, or just before, the construction of  the canal the village of Netherpool changed its name to the Port of Ellesmere and it then became Ellesmere Port in the early 19th century. It all seems so obvious now.

Bridge 147, close to where I took the picture, is one of the original bridges and is a lot more attractive but I will save that for another day.