4. Life with the canal (working life)
What was it like in Market Drayton when the new canal came?
Goods
With the canal came new jobs. In some other towns, wholly new industries were established. At Whitchurch, for example, two corn mills were built, as well as a silk mill and a gas works. The canal didn't have such a great effect on Market Drayton, but there were still goods to be loaded and unloaded.
A wharf and warehouse on Market Drayton canal
[Shropshire Archive reference: PH/M/6/3/B1739B]
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 I managed to get a job working at a wharf, where the boats were unloaded. I worked for William Tomkinson on Old Wharf, unloading goods such as corn and salt. It was hard work. A train of three tub boats could carry twenty tons, which had to be unloaded by shovels and wheel barrow.
The canal did make things less expensive. Because produce could be transported more quickly and in bulk, prices for everyday things like coal or salt fell.
Whenever a boat was unloaded, this was logged in an accounts book. These detailed various pieces of information, such as the date, the number of the boat(s), the owners, where the delivery is going from and to, the species [type] of goods and their weight.
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This extract from an account book is for goods sent from Wappenshall Wharf, south of Wellington. They are dated September 30th, 1835, about six months after the canal was opened.
- Can you find the different types of goods which were delivered?
- The first cargo ever received at Market Drayton was from William Hazeldine's colliery at Wombridge (now in Telford). Can you find his name on the extract?
- How many tons of coal did William Hazeldine's boat 6 deliver to Market Drayton on September 30th?
- How many tons of coal did William Hazeldine's boats 1, 3 and 7 deliver to Market Drayton on September 30th?
Boat 6 carried as much as the three other boats put together. This is because boat 6 was a narrowboat, whilst the others were smaller tub-boats.
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![A handwritten, ruled account book [Opens in new window: image size 23kb]](../../images/tra_a40b.jpg)
A wharf account book for Wappenshall, 1835
Larger image, detail from book, in a new window [23kb]
[Shropshire Archive reference: 972/175]
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John might also have seen some very strange goods being transported. Perhaps he even saw a piano forte carried on a boat!
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This letter was written by John Parry of Oxford Street, London. John Parry writes that he is sending a piano, "a very fine mellow rich and sweet toned instrument of such quality as will improve by use" to the Reverend R.J. Davies at Welshpool, on the Ellesmere canal. The piano will cost £75.
- Where is the piano being loaded?
- How is the piano being transported?
- How long will the piano take to arrive?
The letter suggests that ordinary people (those with some money), as well as companies, used the canals for transporting goods.
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![A letter neatly written in ink [Opens in new window: image size 28kb]](../../images/tra_a03b.jpg)
Part of a letter to Reverend Davies, regarding the transportation of his new piano
Larger image and transcript, in a new window [28kb]
[Shropshire Archive reference: 448/285]
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The boats
At first, horses were used to pull the boats. The horses walked along the towpath to the side of the canal, attached to them by a harness and rope.
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This photograph shows a boat heading in to Tyrley locks at Market Drayton, drawn by two horses.
One account claimed that each horse could pull an astonishing 140 tons. This seems very optimistic.
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![A black and white photograph of a horse pulling a boat into a lock [Opens in new window: image size 33kb]](../../images/tra_a16b.jpg)
Boats entering Tyrley Locks
Larger image, in a new window [33kb]
[Shropshire Archive reference: PH/M/6/3/B1026]
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But in 1844, we started using steam tugs to pull the boats. There were eight tugs working on the Canal.
As well as the new tugs, slimmer and faster boats were designed. They were known as 'fly boats'. These would carry passengers but they were never very popular.
Continue
Find out more about John's home life with the canal: Next
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![A handwritten, ruled account book [Opens in new window: image size 23kb]](../../images/tra_a40a.jpg)
![A black and white photograph of a horse pulling a boat into a lock [Opens in new window: image size 33kb]](../../images/tra_a16a.jpg)
![Black and white photograph of five men with scythes clearning a canal bank of weeds. On the canal is a wooden steam tug. [Opens in new window: image size 30kb]](../../images/tra_a02a.jpg)