Shropshire Union Canal

The Shropshire Union Canal, sometimes nicknamed the "Shroppie", is a navigable canal in England. It is the modern name for a part of the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company network. In the leisure age, two of the branches of that network have also been renamed. These are the Llangollen and Montgomery canals, both of which lie partially in Wales. The canal lies in the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire in the north-west English Midlands. It links the canal system of the West Midlands, at Wolverhampton, with the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, 66 miles (106 km) distant. The "Shropshire Union main line" runs southeast from Ellesmere Port on the River Mersey to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal at Autherley Junction in Wolverhampton. Other links are to the Llangollen Canal at Hurleston Junction, the Middlewich Branch at Barbridge Junction, which itself connects via the Wardle Canal to the Trent and Mersey Canal, and the River Dee branch in Chester. With two connections to the Trent and Mersey via the Middlewich Branch and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, the Shropshire Union is part of a circular and rural holiday route called the Four Counties Ring. The Shropshire Union main line was the last trunk narrow canal route to be built in England. It was not completed until 1835 and was the last major civil engineering accomplishment of Thomas Telford. The name "Shropshire Union" comes from the amalgamation of the various component companies, including the Ellesmere Canal, the Chester Canal, the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal, and the Montgomeryshire Canal, that came together to form the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company in 1847. The main line between Nantwich and Autherley Junction was almost built as a railway although eventually it was decided to construct it as a waterway.