Day 35 - Manchester: Canal Tour

Today we went on the water to learn a bit more about the canal system and to possibly cool off a bit. It was 90 degrees when we hit the water. Not hot by Texas standards, but many places do not have air con, so it’s hot.

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. This was the first chance to bring together industry, transport, and tech and turned Manchester into a commuter town, because now it was easily accessible.

There was a rivalry between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, long before football. Remember, Liverpool is on the water and Manchester is not. Manchester wanted to route their goods straight through to Runcorn, and not go through Liverpool. Rail was not reliable, but was cheap and fast; Canal was reliable and cheap, but not fast; Lorries (trucks) were reliable and fast, but not cheap. Manchester chose to ship products and built the Bridgewater Canal which effectively cut Liverpool out of Manchester’s trade routes. This was the largest civil engineering project ever and it took 8 years to complete. These are some pics from the trip today.

And finally, we learned from John yesterday that salt is very valuable. Without its preservation qualities, armies could not carry their rations for long distances. Being so valuable, soldiers in the Roman army were sometimes paid with salt instead of money. Their monthly allowance was called "salarium" ("sal" being the Latin word for salt). Eventually the word made it into the English language as the word "salary."  That is where the term “worth your weight in salt” comes from, meaning worth the price they paid or that it otherwise holds immense value.