Information on the plaque
James Brindley was born at Tunstead in this parish in 1716. His ability to solve difficult problems of engineering earned him a reputation which let to his appointment as Engineer for the Bridgewater Canal from Worsley to Manchester. Opened in 1761 this was the first arterial canal and its commercial success ushered in the canal era. Brindley engineered much of the network of canals which then grew across the country providing cheap and reliable transport for the raw materials and products of the quickening industrial revolution. His vision of a Grand Cross of canals linking the ports of London, Bristol, Liverpool and Hull was completed after his death. He is remembered today as the first of the great civil engineers and the Father of the English canal system.
The picture shows The Harecastle Tunnel with Brindley’s original one begun in 1766 on the right with Telford’s of 1827 on the left
The map shows all of Brindley’s canals
