User:ShakespeareFan00/Rail Transport in Britan/Before the Railways

Before the railways.

Before the railways, both cargo and passengers in Britan moved by roads which were often inadequate, and even by the eighteenth century things had not improved. Although by this time there were turnpikes, they imposed a cost on trade, and it was not unknown for locals upset at unfair tolls, to voice their bitter concerns in an unbecoming manner. The rich rode, or had carriages, but most ordinary people got where they were going on foot.

Where the cargo was heavy, or bulky, such as gravel, sand or fuel, it frequently went by river, or as the trade of the country increased beyond the reach natural waterways, by ones artificially created for the purpose. In the North of England, the Duke of Brigdewater, built one of the first of these artificial waterways "cut" into the landscape. The Bridgwater Canal as it later became known linked the Duke's mining interests with the developing industrial centre of Manchester.

Elsewhere, the textile trade was also also seeing the limits of the regions roads, The early mills, seeking access to ports such as Liverpool, utilised 'pack' horses routes over the Pennines, and these were among some of the first rural roads in Britan (since the Romans) which were partially paved, by the addition of stones upon which the horse hooves and waggon wheels could rest without sinking into the boggy ruts on the moorland tracks.

Elsewhere, limited road improvements were made by Telford, and others. However, for the growing industrial trade to prosper something had to change.