The Canals Secretary’s Challenge
This Challenge took place at our January 2016 Meeting
In our anniversary year the Secretary’s Challenge for our New Year meeting was another anniversary — it was 300 years since the birth of James Brindley, widely acknowledged to be the father of the English canals. He was born in 1716 in Tunstead, Derbyshire and died on 25th September 1772.
In his lifetime he was responsible for the Bridgewater Canal and later the Trent & Mersey Canal, although he died before its completion. He designed the Barton Aqueduct on the former, the Harecastle Tunnel on the latter and numerous watermills. (Although both canals still exist, the Barton Aqueduct was replaced by a swing aqueduct a century later when the Manchester Ship Canal was built, and the tunnel suffered from subsidence and was replaced by one designed by Thomas Telford).
Anyway — to the challenge! It was to build something connected with canals, whether or not Brindley had anything to do with it, although our members picked up bonus points if it did! Simple as that!