Nottingham Canal

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The canal runs close to the Nottingham railway station which you cross to get to the station.  I grabbed a filled roll and went for a walk, and this made me do a double take.  I like reflections and interesting buildings.

From Wikipedia:

The Nottingham Canal was a 23.6 kilometres (14.7 mi) long canal between Langley Mill in Derbyshire and Nottingham, England. It opened in 1796, and most of it was closed in 1937. The southern section is now part of the River Trent Navigation, and the northern section is a nature reserve.

The idea for the canal first rose in 1790. The opening of the Cromford Canal would favour coal transport from Pinxton over pits nearer Nottingham. Moreover transport to Nottingham itself was by the circuitous route down the Erewash Canal and along the River Trent. It was also felt that the canal proprietors would exploit their position.

In 1791 the charter group called in surveyor William Jessop, who had experience with the successful Cromford Canal. Jessop himself was ill at the time and employed James Green of Wollaton to carry out the actual survey, with Jessop preparing the report and assisting its passage through Parliament. The canal would begin at the Cromford Canal, just north of its junction with the Erewash, and proceed to the Trent at Nottingham with a branch to the river at Lenton.  In 1792 the canal was promoted through Parliament, opposed vigorously by the Erewash owners who were fearful of possible loss of their water. Jessop proposed a reservoir at Butterley, which would provide a sufficient supply (not mentioning that it would alleviate his own problems at Cromford).

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.