Description:During 1796, a fierce debate was raging in Stoke-on-Trent over controversial proposals to build a new canal.
The new canal promised to link Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire with the Cheshire Canal in the north west. In doing so, it would pass through the Potteries.
River boats
Engineers suggested that the canal might use river boats instead of narrower traditional craft, enabling the canal to carry far more cargo.
The Trent and Mersey Canal Company, who were well-established, opposed the scheme because of the competition it would bring.
This pamphlet, Comparative Calculations, calculates the logistical and financial benefits of the proposed canal.
It was commissioned by a committee that had been established to manage the project, and was persuasively aimed at local pottery manufacturers.
This item is now part of the collections of Stoke-on-Trent Museums.