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MANAGING THE RIBBLE FOR LAND RECLAMATION AND SHIPPING

If allowed to follow its own inclinations, the river would dissipate across a broad tidal estuary. The almost geometrical embankments that now contain it served the two-fold purpose of reclaiming fertile land and rendering the river navigable for maritime trade. However, the wash of the tide from the sea and the silt brought down by the river are liable to obstruct the channel, and during the heyday of shipping regular dredging was necessary to maintain sufficient draught for sea-going vessels.

Posts embedded at regular intervals along the riverbank were used to anchor the dredgers, and some still trail mooring cables and chains into the silted banks below.

THE LANCASTER CANAL

A little further upstream on the opposite bank is the outflow of Savick Brook, recently made passable to allow pleasure barges access to the Ribble from the Lancaster Canal. Begun in 1792, the canal had originally been intended to run between Wigan and Kendal via Preston and Lancaster. The Lancaster Canal was constructed to transport coal, textiles, gunpowder and other manufactured commodities as factory production became established in Lancashire.