Leeds Liverpool Canal Halsall

John Longbotham was the canal engineer put in charge of the building of the Leeds Liverpool. As you can imagine this was a bit of an interesting one given it was necessary to team up Lancastrians and Yorkshiremen! To try and deal with this in a balance way they stare at both side of the country. In Lancashire that , for some reason, was not at Liverpool but was at Haskayne. One of the few cuttings through a hill, maybe they wanted the stone.

We went through Halsall today and we love the memorial to the men who built the canal . The Navvy , by Thomas Dagnall, is in Millstone Grit and is brilliant. Whilst most people believe that the navvies were all Irish this is probably not true, most were local men after a job. It was only later that more Irish men appeared. The work was undertaken by small contractors and few records survive to be absolutely sure.

Thompson Dagnall Navvy memorial Halsall Leeds Liverpool canal
Thompson Dagnall Navvy memorial Halsall Leeds Liverpool canal