In the 1760s, Lincolnshire coal was transported to Grantham via the Trent and then by road. The road haulage was relatively expensive and so coal in Grantham could be twice the price of that in Nottingham. In 1792, pressure from the businessmen of Grantham resulted in a Bill to Parliament proposing a canal to transport coal from Nottingham to Grantham. This Bill was defeated by pressure from several sources. These included the Witham Navigation Commissioners, who feared it would deplete their water levels and the Lincolnshire coal merchants who feared a threat to their business. A revised Bill, which included measures to allay these various fears, was put before Parliament in 1793 and received Royal Assent in April having passed the whole gamut of legislative procedures in less than a month. The Act enabled the Proprietors of the Grantham Canal Navigation to raise working capital of £75k with a further £30k as a contingency. The money was raised rapidly and work started the same year. The work was completed in 1797. The canal started near Trent Bridge and was 33 miles long and rose 140 feet up to Grantham through 18 wide locks. In addition to coal, the canal carried various bulk materials such as stone and lime and, rather less obviously, 'night soil'. The round trip for a load of coal, including loading and unloading, was about 10 days. This may seem slow by today's standards but proved commercially viable. The canal company rarely achieved its maximum allowed dividend of 8% but nevertheless, by 1806, was producing a small but steady return. The peak year was 1841 when receipts rose to £18,000. From 1830 the railways began to make inroads into the profits. The opening of the Grantham to Nottingham railway in 1850 foreshadowed the eventual demise of the canal. In 1861 the railway company obtained control of the canal. By 1921, after a series of mergers and takeovers, control was vested in the London and North Eastern Railway Company. A Closure Act was passed in 1936 but with the proviso that a two foot level of water should be maintained to support agricultural needs. In the 1950s all but 23 of the 69 bridges over the canal were flattened to make way for road improvements. In 1947 the railways, and hence the canal, were nationalised and in 1963 control of the canal passed to British Waterways. In 1968 the canal was placed into a 'remaindered' state, which involved maintenance of the water level and general maintenance of the line. It is perhaps interesting to note that the Grantham fared better than some canals where, in some cases, the line was totally obliterated. {1} This is the longest of ten canals engineered by William Jessop in south Nottinghamshire and adjoining counties. It was constructed between 1793 and 1797 as a 33 mile waterway connection, with 18 locks, between Grantham and the River Trent at West Bridgford, near Nottingham. It was the first canal to draw its water supply almost entirely from reservoirs, of which there are two, at Knipton and Denton. The canal is no longer navigable (except by canoes) but the towpath is walkable throughout its length. It was abandoned in 1936 but a canal society has taken on the task of clearing the towpath and the canal bed, and hopes to restore the canal for navigation. {2}