GLOUCESTER & SHARPNESS CANAL THROUGH TIME

Originally authorised as a ship canal between Gloucester and Berkeley in 1793, the entrance on the Severn estuary was changed to Sharpness to provide better access for large ships, and the canal opened in 1827. Raw materials such as timber, wheat, oats and barley were unloaded from ocean-going ships from Ireland, Europe and North America to be carried on by canal for the growing industrial towns of the Midlands. Badly affected by the loss of trade with mainland Europe during WWI, traffic did not fully recover, but the canal played a vital role carrying cargos inland from the Bristol Channel ports during WW2. Nationalised in 1948, the canal attracted new trade post-war, only to see it die away in the 1980s. Sharpness remains a successful port, and this book shows how the buildings at the Gloucester Docks have found new uses. What is brilliant are archive black and white photos at the top of each page accompanied by exactly the same shot in colour today as a comparison. With extended captions, a number one bestseller from the Local History series, map. 96 page large softback.